ABU DHABI, 10 March 2008 — The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) that kicks off tomorrow and runs till March 16 has confirmed the names of 25 international authors who will be participating in the fair, highlighting ADIBF’s increasing prestige in the global book publishing world.
The fair that opens daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. offers access to industry professionals and key market players in the Middle East and North Africa expects 400 publishers from 30 countries with Arabic, English, various Indian languages, French, German, Chinese and many other titles.
Organizers said that 25 authors, including three from Saudi Arabia, are lined up to participate in the fair’s activities. The Saudi authors who have agreed to participate are Badriya A-Bishr, Leila Al-Juhani and Samar Al-Murqin. Other participants include Wasseeni Al-Araj (Algeria), Alaa al-Aswany (Egypt), Gamal Al-Ghitani (Egypt), Ibrahim Al-Koni (Libya), Mohammed Al-Murr (UAE), Bas Boettcher (Germany), Geneviève Chauvel (France), Jabbour Douaihry (Lebanon), Elias Farkouh (Jordan), Mustafa Farouk (Egypt/USA), Dr. Frauke Heard-Bey (Germany/UAE), Khaled Khalifa (Syria), Marianne Koch (Germany), Kareem Matouq (UAE), Said Makkaoui (Egypt), May Menassa (Lebanon), Michael Morgan Hamilton (US), Hassouna Mosbahi (Tunisia), Khairy Shalaby (Egypt), Samuel Shimon (Iraq/UK), Baha Taher (Egypt) and Basima Younes (UAE). As a number of renowned publishers from the Western and Arab World will be attending the fair, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and KITAB, the new joint venture between ADACH and Frankfurt Book Fair, will organize an international conference to emphasize the importance of translations and translation funding initiatives.
Publishers from the UK, Germany, France, Lebanon, Egypt and the UAE will present their views on publishing translations — from the intellectual as well as the trade angle. They will highlight examples of their work, draw conclusions from their experiences and discuss the challenges with their Arab counterparts. The subject of translations will also be tackled from the perspective of literary agents as well as from important translators themselves.
This conference is set to mark the start of a series of activities around the theme of translations. KITAB has created a cultural program featuring new venues such as the Discussion Forum, the Kitab Sofa and The Textbox. Activities, such as “Reading and Book Signing,” “Please have a seat!” and “Talking Literature,” will feature select authors, such as Mohammed Al-Murr and Basima Younis, Alaa Al-Aswany and Khairy Shalaby. The winner and short-listed authors of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (a prestigious literary prize managed in association with world famous Booker Prize Foundation in London and supported by the Emirates Foundation), will also be incorporated in the program.
French and German experts in the field of promoting reading will also come to the fair to discuss ways to enhance the love for reading in children from an early age.
They will also present examples of their work as part of the German-French project “Lasst uns lesen — lire, c’est un plaisir! (Let’s read!)”.
The two experts are invited by the German and French embassies in Abu Dhabi, the Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region and the Alliance Francaise Abu Dhabi.
According to statistics, the UAE publishing industry is growing at 15 to 20 percent annually with total worth estimated between 8 to 10 billion dirhams.
