The British Council and London Book Fair announced the 2008 Arab World Market Focus Cultural Programme, which saw over 40 leading writers, commentators and industry professionals from the Arab World take part in a three-day cultural programme celebrating the strength and diversity of Arabic literature.
At London Book Fair (14-16 April), the “Arab World” refered to the twenty countries and the two states that make up the Arab League and have Arabic as their registered official language.
Leading Arab writers took part in a series of talks, discussions and debates aimed at strengthening cultural relations with the Arab World, by developing meaningful dialogue between writers, publishers, translators and readers.
The seminars also provided a platform for new voices from the Arab World to promote their books to a global publishing audience, highlighting current trends in contemporary Arabic literature, with a view to increase the quantity and quality of literary work translated between Arabic and English.
Leila Abuzeid
Visit www.britishcouncil.org/newarabicbooks a 'shop window' for new literature in Arabic. Visit the site to find cover images, short descriptions and contact details for the rights owners for each work. There will also be exclusive interviews withand features on the key people in the Arab World literary and publishing scenes. A section on working with the Arab World will include all the information publishers need to build a network of contacts for doing business. The site is currently under construction and it is expected that it will be updated regularly during
Find out more about the market focus seminar programme
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