By the year 2002, two key studies linking Arab human development to the book industry had been published: The UNESCO report on Arab book production and the Arab Human Development Report, ADHR.

As a literary agent specialized in representing Arabic literature for world translation rights, I am often asked how visible Arabic literature is on the international scene. This question most of the time translates into: ‘how many copies do books translated from the Arabic sell?’

Samar Yazbek, author of ‘Clay’ and ‘Cinnamon’, has very recently published ‘In her mirrors’, that RAYA agency also represents for world translation rights.

Amérka !
Rabih Jaber, Amerka
Dar al Adab, Al markaz al thaqafi al arabi, Beirut, 2009, 430 pages.

Reviewed by Yasmina Jraissati, published in L’Agenda Culturel, Beirut.

The 16th edition of the Lebanese Francophone book fair was held in Beirut, at the BIEL exhibit center, from October 23rd through November 1st, and was particularly successful.

Frankfurt 2004, London 2008, BEA 2009 all three international events featured the ‘Arab world’ as a focus – not to mention the Turin 2009 fair, which a couple of years after turning into an international event had Egypt as a guest of honor. The least we can say is that the ‘Arab world’ is getting a lot of attention in the international publishing industry, after having been reported missing for years.