As part of the British Council’s Near East and North Africa Literature/New Writing project we have worked with regional and UK partners to develop opportunities for meaningful dialogue between writers, translators and publishers in the Arab World and the UK.
Key activities have been:
- two seminars on literary translation between Arabic and English in Damascus and London
- a delegation of UK publishers visiting the Cairo International Book Fair 2007
- a ‘Wicked Issues’ session on translation at the London Book Fair 2007 featuring writers Ahdaf Soueif and Bahaa Taher, translator Catherine Cobham and academic Dr Sabry Hafez
- two training sessions for Arab publishers on working with and marketing to UK publishers
- a delegation of UK rights’ buyers, jointly organised by the London Book Fair and the General Egyptian Book Organisation, at the Cairo International Book Fair 2008
The British Council is now working closely with the London Book Fair and other partners to deliver a programme of seminars and information resources based on the Arab World market focus at the London Book Fair 2008.
During their visits to the Cairo International Book Fair UK publishers all agreed that they want to do more business with the Arab World and translate more books from the region, but are hindered by two things:
- they don’t have a network of contacts in the region
- as they don’t read Arabic themselves they are unable to judge the quality of books available for translation and publication
Based on this feedback the British Council has created this website – New Arabic Books – to provide a ‘shop window’ for books not yet translated into English that we feel deserve a wider audience and to feature the people, in the Arab World and the UK, who are making things happen.
- information on a selection of Arabic books with translation rights for sale – a short summary in English on each book and contact details for whoever is selling the rights
- features on key players in the literary/publishing scene
- information about the British Council’s cultural programme and the people participating in it
- a ‘business’ section giving the information you need to make working with the Arab World as simple as possible
- ‘success stories’ focusing on authors and books already in translation and selling in the UK
- Links to key UK publishing and translation organisations
The books featured will mostly be literary fiction for adults, but will also include titles which promote intercultural dialogue as well as children’s books.
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