‘With piracy, we cannot pay for either rights or good translations,’ says publisher Hassan Yaghi. His Dar al-Tanweer has offices in three nations and sees the Arabic publishing world’s challenges well.
Publishers in the Middle East Hustle to Cope with Instability
Publishers in the Middle East describe how they are trying to get around daily challenges, in particular falling book sales, resulting from instability.
IPAF-winner Shukri Mabkhout: Defending Freedom and Arabic
Winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Shukri Mabkhout spoke of his inspiration in the Tunisian revolution and use of Modern Standard Arabic.
Tunisian Calligraffitist eL Seed’s Universal Messages…in Arabic
Franco-Tunisian street artist eL Seed, as depicted in his book “Lost Walls,” has found an audience by re-contextualizing the art of Arabic calligraphy.
Publishing in the Maghreb Challenged by Colonial Legacy
Publishing in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco still struggles to forge a market and identity distinct from that of its French forebears.
Digital Islam: Tunisian Start-up Targets Muslims with E-books
Tunisia’s ISLAMeBooks, one of several new digital start-ups in the Arab world, is looking to help explain Islamic practice and theology to a wider readership.
Arabic and Hebrew: The Politics of Literary Translation
This article is part of a series on publishing in the Middle East which is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. By Olivia Snaije Anyone involved in the art of translation knows the delicate balancing act it entails: remaining faithful to the original text but allowing the work to stand on its own in its new incarnation. It also …
Arab, Western Publishers Have a Responsibility to Egypt
By Edward Nawotka For obvious reasons, if you want customer service this week from Kotobarabia, Egypt’s predominant e-book store, you’re out of luck. The lifting of censorship will bring a flood of new books, but it’s up to Arab and Western publishers to ensure there’s a pluralism of views. Ramy Habeeb, founder and CEO of Kotobarabia, who spoke to us from …
Forthcoming French Titles Focus on Tunisia
Olivia Snaije Over the years French publishers have printed many books on the political situation in Tunisia as well as fiction by Tunisian writers such as Habib Selmi or Aroussia Nalouti (Actes Sud). France occupied Tunisia from 1881 until the country’s independence in 1956. Never a colony, Tunisia was nevertheless a French protectorate and the ties between the two countries …