By Edward Nawotka ABU DHABI: On the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), the organization responsible for the event, has launched Abu Dhabi Distribution (ADD), a new private company to facilitate book distribution to the GCC countries, the Maghreb and the Levant, as well as servicing Arab communities …
Saudi Author Abdo Khal Wins Arabic “Booker”
By Edward Nawotka Saudi Arabian author Abdo Khal won the $60,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the Arab Booker) for his novel Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles, which is also known as She Throws Sparks, and is published by Al-Jamal Publications. Taleb Alrefai, who served as chair for this year’s panel of judges, said, “The winning novel is a brilliant …
Even in Peace, Lebanon’s Literary World Remains at War
By Yasmina Jraissati BEIRUT: This year, with Beirut serving as the World Book Capital for 2009, the city’s literary world remains linguistically and cultural divided: the city will be hosting two distinct book fairs, the Lebanese Francophone Book Fair (Salon francophone du livre de Beyrouth) which took place in October and November, and the International Beirut Book Fair (Maarad al …