Delayed in its jury deliberations, AUCPress’ prize program releases a shortlist of authors from Egypt, Syria, Algeria, and Yemen.
Naguib Mahfouz Medal Goes to Egyptian Author Adel Esmat
Egyptian author Adel Esmat wins Naguib Mahfouz Medal for his book on the plight of Egyptian Christians, as Reuters reports a bombing at a Coptic church in Cairo.
Egypt’s Hoopoe Takes Wing for the UK
With a mission to showcase literature from Arabic writers, the American University in Cairo Press has launched Hoopoe, a translation imprint for English-language consumers.
Replacing Cancelled Cairo Fair, AUC Press Plans New “Tahrir Book Fair” for March
By Edward Nawotka In the wake of the cancellation of the Cairo International Book Fair, the American University of Cairo Press has announced its intention to launch it’s own fair, to take place at the end of March. Dubbed the Tahrir Book Fair, the event will take place on the AUC Downtown Campus on Tahrir Square. The publisher says the …
Report from Cairo: Mid-East’s Biggest Book Fair Cancelled, 600+ Publishers Affected, Significant Sales Lost
By Oliva Snaije The 43rd Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) has been, of course, cancelled. The CIBF was due to open January 29 and continue through February 8, with China as the guest of honor. The cancellation of the CIBF will hit the bottom line of Middle East publishers, many of whom depend on book fairs to sell the majority …
Second Careers, or Why You Never Really Leave Publishing
By Chip Rossetti In the fall of 2004, I was an editor at a New York publishing house, acquiring serious narrative nonfiction and history. I had been working in trade publishing for nine years. I had also, in the wake of 9/11, been studying Arabic in the evenings, going to a teacher’s house in the outer boroughs once a week …
Looking at Arabic Fiction in Translation
By Chip Rossetti The January 18 issue of the New Yorker has a great piece by Claudia Roth Pierpont (already available online) on Arabic novels in translation: I worked with some of these authors during my time at the American University in Cairo Press, so it’s a pleasure to see the New Yorker giving this growing literary landscape some well-deserved …