28th Sharjah Book Fair – 11-21st of November 2009
This 10 day annual event bridges cultures and supports reading by showcasing the books of 750 publishers from over 42 nations, with average 400,000 visitors annually.
Opening hours: Saturdays & Thursdays: (10:00 – 22:00); Fridays: (16:00 – 22.30); Boys’ Schools: Mondays & Wednesdays ( 10:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs); and Girls’ Schools: Sundays, Tuesdays ( 10:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs).
For more information visit: http://www.swbf.gov.ae/english/
To make sure you have the book of the month in time to read it before our discussions, we suggest you try to order them in advance. Sometimes it is hard to find certain titles locally either in one or both languages.
Resources we suggest include the following. Please let us know if you have other suggestions!
For Arabic books:
For English books:
Beirut39 inspires a fresh look at modern Arab literature. A collaboration between the Hay Festival and Beirut World Capital of the Book 2009, the project will bring together 39 of the best known and loved writers of Arab heritage under 39 years of age.
The 39 writers under 39 years will be chosen by a group of respected Arab writers, academics and journalists. Nominations are solicited from publishers and literary critics across the Arab world and internationally. You are also invited to nominate. The judging panel will be aided by research and specialist knowledge from Hay Festival and Banipal, the magazine of modern literature.
The 39 writers selected to participate in Beirut39 will be invited to Beirut for four days, and around 50 events will be organized all over the city, in libraries, bookshops, cafés, universities and schools etc. The events will be structured around literary topics and will take the form of panel debates between three and five writers with a chairperson. All events will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The events will be free and entry will be open to the general public; the Festival hopes to attract a diverse audience, reflecting the power of writing to stimulate social cohesion and cultural understanding.
The Abu Dhabi Book Fair will return for its 20th edition — 2nd – 7th of March 2010 — and promises to continue strong programing with authors’ talks, publishing industry panel discussions and of course lots of books for sale from around the Arab world and international booksellers. The list of authors and translators attending the Abu Dhabi Book Fair is coming soon.
Stay tuned here or visit the Abu Dhabi Book Fair website – http://www.adbookfair.com
The dates of the second EAIFL – International Festival of Literature have been announced.
The Festival takes place in Dubai, UAE from 10-13 march 2010. For more information and a continually updated lineup of authors who will participate, stay tuned here or visit the EAIFL site: http://www.eaifl.com/
The 7th International Publishers Association Copyright Symposium will be hosted by KITAB from 28 February – 1 March 2010 in Abu Dhabi. The event promises to bring together the Arab and International Publishing worlds, for workshops, networking, panel discussions and more. Details can be found at: http://ipa2010.ae/en/default.aspx
The 19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair took place on March 17 – 22, 2009. Organised by KITAB, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the fair brought together over 482 exhibitors from 42 countries, a host of authors and translators from across the Arab world, and an amazing selection of books. Click here to download more information about ADIBF 2009
It is with sadness that we note the passing of novelist Al-Tayyib Salih (الطيّب صالح). He was born 12 July 1928in Karmakol, in northern Sudan and died 18 February 2009.
Salih is most well known for Season of Migration to the North ( موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال Mawsim al-Hiǧra ilā ash-Shamāl ), a classic post-colonial Sudanese novel originally published in Arabic in 1966. Salih was a writer of truly universal proportions, and one whose work will continue to resonate through coming generations. He is survived by his wife, Julia, and three daughters, Zainab, Sara and Samira.
For more about the author and his life:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/936/cu1.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/feb/20/obituary-tayeb-salih
http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/saliht/b-aut.html
http://collegerelations.vassar.edu/2001/677/
http://maduba.free.fr/mawsim.htm -”Lire Saison de la migration vers le Nord de Tayeb Sâlih”, by Salah NATIJ, in Website : Maduba/Invitation à l’adab
Tayeb Salih (Alain Mourgue. In french)
Dubai’s first literature festival, The Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature (or EAIFL), was held from 26th February – 1st March 2009 at Dubai Festival City. The festival featured several renowned translators (including the venerable Denys Johnson-Davies) for a series on Arab Literature Through the Translators’ Eyes – and an international host of poets for A Celebration of the Life & Work Of Mahmoud Darwish.
On December 9th, 2008 the names of six novels in the shortlist of the 2009 “International Prize for Arabic Fiction” (Arabic Booker) were announced in London, following meeting of the prize jury in London.
The shortlisted works include: “Hunger” by Mohammed Al Bisatti (Egyptian); “The Scents of Marie Claire” by the Al Habib Al Salmi (Tunisian); “The Unfaithful translator” by Fawwaz Haddad (Syrian); “The American Granddaughter” by the Iraqi Inaam Kachachi; “Time of White Horses” by the Palestinian Ibrahim Nasrallah and “Azazil” by Youssef Zidane (Egyptian).
