Sharjah: It is not a writer’s job to categorise his or her book into any particular genre, it is for readers or critics to decide, a panel of Arab writers echoed during a literary session on the first evening of Sharjah International Book Fair 2015.
In a session on similarities between literary genres, a panel of renowned Arab writers Dr Shukri Al Makhbout, Fatima Sultan Al Mazroui and Hoda Barakat shared their thoughts on the similarities between genres and how writers are least bothered about the issues of classification of their …

Publishers Weekly, November 28th, 2014
Ever since I started Interlink Publishing 30 years ago, I’ve been a passionate advocate of literature in translation. Literature is universal, and great literature travels well. It can thrive at home, in exile, and, yes, in translation. So why do translated titles make up less than 3% of books published annually in the U.S.? I asked this question when I participated in a panel discussion at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.
But when I was invited to speak at the 2014 Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) …

When asked about the challenges of selling world translation rights of Arabic fiction, one’s first response is naturally always focused on the potential acquirers. It is a fact that Arabic is not widely read in the international publishing industry, and this indubitably has consequences on the access non-Arab publishers have to Arabic literature

For the 30th year, Sharjah is getting ready to welcome its international book exhibit. Starting on November 16th through the 26th, readers in the Emirates will be able to attend talks, events, and buy books from all over the Arab world and more.

Starting tomorrow, Thursday May 13, 2011, Khaled Khalifa is on a tour in Europe for the launch of his book ‘In praise of hatred’, coming out in three languages at the same time.

Between 2008 and 2009, the book’s rights had been sold in six languages. Two years later, the book is finally out in three of them: French (Sindbad, Actes Sud), Italian (Bompiani) and Dutch (De Geus), while we still eagerly wait for the English (Transworld, Random House), Spanish (Lumen, Random House) and Norwegian (Minuskel) versions to come out.

Wandering what the reception the press and the readers will reserve to this dense and intense story, we can only be struck by the coincidence of the book’s publication in the West and the current events in Syria.
In praise of hatred is the story of the Syrian regime’s repression of the Muslim brotherhood in 1982, told through the eyes of a religious and activist young woman. The protests started last March are the first time the Syrian people dare defy the regime so massively in thirty years.

Abu Dhabi’s international book fair opens its doors today.
The 21st edition of the fair features a cultural focus on France and a market focus on Korea.