3

CONTENTS
3 Welcome Ahmed Al Ameri
4 Literature in the Arab world and the Sharjah International Book Fair
His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi
6 SIBF Preview Roger Tagholm
7 The SIBF Translation Grants Nicholas Clee
8 APAC A preview of the most ambitious Arab Publishing Association
Conference to date
10 The SIBF Awards Roger Tagholm
11 Copyright and the Arab world Emma House
12 A growing collaboration between the American Library Association
and SIBF Mary Mackay and Michael Dowling
14 Authors at SIBF: interviews with Susan Abulhawa and Darren Shan
16 Map of the Arab literary world
18 Comics come of age at the new comics pavilion Kuo-Yu Liang
19 The Sharjah Book Authority; Sharjah and China, a growing relationship
20 Reawayat, a new young adult imprint Tamer Said
21 Online booksellers Jamalon and nwf Roger Tagholm

Bookbrunch/Publishers Weekly A World of Words BookBrunch Ltd and PWxyz

Published by BookBrunch Ltd and Publishers Weekly
Registered office: BookBrunch Ltd, McKelvie and Co, 82 Wandsworth Bridge Road, London SW6 2TF
Publishers Weekly, 71 West 23rd Street, New York, New York, 10010, USA
Editors: Nicholas Clee and Louisa Ermelino
Publishers Weekly Publisher and Vice President: Cevin Bryerman
Design and Production: Jane McKenna

WELCOME AHMED AL AMERI,

CHAIRMAN, SHARJAH BOOK
AUTHORITY
The 34th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair
(SIBF), gateway to the publishing world in the Middle East,
North Africa and Asia, takes place under the patronage of His
Highness, Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, the United
Arab Emirates Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.
This year, Sharjah welcomes the prestigious Arab Publishers
Association for its bi-annual conference.
I would like to thank again all our partners and friends in
the UAE and internationally for their support of the Fair. The
partnerships we have forged across the world and which join
us here in Sharjah are of great importance to SIBF. In particular,
we welcome members of the American Library Association
who, after last years successful inaugural event, have come
again to meet their counterparts from the Arab world. This year,
registration numbers are looking as strong as last year, when
more than 600 librarians attended.
2015 marks our sixth International Cultural Program and
the fifth Matchmaking Program. This year, we are delighted
and proud to be welcoming international writers of great
stature, including John McCarthy, Darren Shan, Ben Okri, Susan

Abulhawa and Fatima Bhutto.

This years Matchmaking Program welcomes over 250
publishing professionals from more than 30 countries,
with several new countries represented, including Albania,
Argentina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Mongolia and Serbia. The
SIBF Translation Grant which was launched in 2011 has to date
facilitated the translation of over 390 titles, and continues to
grow. It awarded 168 grants in 2014, a 50% increase over the
previous year.
SIBF also won the prestigious Market Focus Achievement
Award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards
2015; the judges commented that SIBF is raising the profile of
Arabic literature in translation.
I hope you enjoy World of Words, designed to showcase
the Arab market and to deepen our understanding of the huge
opportunities that exist within it, and its place in the international
publishing world.
I welcome you to Sharjah and I wish you, on behalf of
the Sharjah International Book Fair team, a productive and
interesting visit.

LITERATURE IN THE ARAB WORLD

AND THE SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL
BOOK FAIR
HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH DR SULTAN BIN MOHAMED AL QASIMI
reflects on the rich history behind the development of the Fair

History and archeological discoveries over the years tell us

that our region, the Arab world of today, is the cradle
of writing. Our ancestors realized the need for written
communication thousands of years ago, and wrote on stones,
clay slabs, walls of temples, papyrus rolls and other media in
different areas.
In the relatively more recent history, scholars and writers
from our region contributed significantly to the preservation
of prior knowledge of different civilizations. From the seventh
century AD, scholars from our region translated into Arabic
many of the scholarly texts of distinguished scholars and
thinkers of earlier times.
The contributions continued for centuries after that, not
only in translation but also in generating highly intellectual and
scientific texts. Scholars from our region built on the knowledge
of previous civilizations and made significant scientific and
scholarly contributions and raised the frontiers of knowledge to
greater heights in many fields. They documented their work in
handwritten books in Arabic, many of which have been translated
into Latin and modern languages, and were made available to
scholars and scientists in Europe. Some of these books have been
printed and are still available today in print form.
Unfortunately, the golden era of dominance of scholars and
writers from the Arab world slowly faded during the last five
centuries, and other regions in the world took centre stage in
the writing and publishing arena.
We, and other concerned individuals and groups in the Arab
world, have realized the urgent need to advance the publishing
industry in our region, and enhance significantly the reading
habits of our people, especially the younger generations. We
have also realized the importance of making available the works
of Arab scholars and authors to readers outside the Arab world
in their native languages, and vice versa.
Nowadays, about 400 million people in our region
dominantly speak the Arabic language. Arabic is also the
language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and over one
billion people all over the world recite and read verses in Arabic
every day. All of them are potential readers with considerable
literary thirst for quality published content in Arabic and other
languages. These are formidable challenges, but we decided to
try to make a difference.
The approaches adopted by different countries in our region
varied and are too many to mention in this very brief article. We

shall limit ourselves to some highlights of the approaches we

have adopted in Sharjah.
We established the Sharjah International Book Fair in 1982.
This annual Fair is now the fourth largest book fair in the
world. In 2014, it hosted over 1,250 exhibitors from about 60
countries and was visited by about 1.4 million individuals of all
ages in its 10-day duration. The Fairs activities typically include
a wide range of seminars, workshops, and literary events
featuring notable authors, poets, and thinkers from all domains
of cultural activity.
To encourage all members of our communities to enhance
their reading habits, we upgraded the libraries in every school
and donated mini libraries, for all ages, in every household.
Stemming from our firm belief in the central role reading
has on childrens development, in 2007 our daughter Bodour Al
Qasimi established Kalimat Publishing, the first publishing house
dedicated to production of quality original Arabic childrens titles
in the Gulf region. We also established major multi category
prizes for the best books for children and for the youths. The
prizes are awarded annually at the Fair.
In the international domain, we established in 1998 the
UNESCO-Sharjah prize for Arab culture to encourage cultural
communication between the people of the world. Each two
years the prize is awarded to two laureates who through their
work and outstanding achievements have contributed to the
awareness and knowledge of Arab art and culture.
In 2004, the Arab world was the Guest of Honor at the
Frankfurt Book Fair. We worked with eight German publishing
houses to translate many key books from Arabic to German
for presentation to the German public at the Fair. In 2013 we
established translation grants to be awarded annually at Sharjah
to promote the translation of books to and from Arabic and
other languages.
These are only glimpses of some of our efforts in support of
the publishing industry. Our vision for societies of avid readers,
and for the continuous generation of stimulating, high quality
content in all media, is clear. We are making excellent progress,
and we will expand our efforts and programs to realize our
vision in the near future.
This is an edited extract from an address given by His
Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Ruler
of Sharjah, at the 2015 London Book Fair

IF YOUR BUSINESS IS BOOKS,

THINK SHARJAH
When His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed
Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of
Sharjah, was a young boy he would sometimes walk with his
father beneath a giant banyan tree (rolla in Arabic) in what is
now Rolla Square in old Sharjah. Many people would enjoy the
shade provided by its wide, spreading branches, and children
would climb its lower limbs. Today, as the emirates involvement
in the written word spreads ever wider and touches ever more
people, we can compare the emirates commitment to books
and culture to that famous tree from Sharjahs history. Everyone
benefits from the nurturing of the leaves of knowledge.
This is a special year for Sharjah. The establishment of the
Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) and its ambitious plans for the
Sharjah Free Zone publishing city made industry headlines
around the world, reaffirming Sharjahs status as the cultural
emirate. As SBA Chairman Ahmed Al Ameri observed at its
launch, the development will see the establishment of the first
international distribution company in the Middle East offering
services that cover both the Arab and African markets, as well as
printing facilities just minutes from the international distribution
hub of Dubai. The message is clear: if your business is books,
think Sharjah.
The emirate is also proud to be hosting the third Arab
Publishers Conference this year the first time it has been held
in the UAE and to be welcoming publishers from across the
Arab world and beyond, many of whom will stay on for the
34th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) which follows. The
SIBF itself won the Market Focus Achievement Award at the
prestigious London Book Fair International Excellence Awards.
The winner of this award, which recognizes particularly special
achievements, is chosen from all the countries and territories
that have been Market Focus since 2008. The judges praised
the SIBF for its continual investment into new initiatives and
relationships to help raise the profile of Arabic literature in
translation, and support the Arab publishing community in its
internationalization.
As if all this doesnt emphasize enough Sharjahs contribution
to books, the SIBF will also host the second American Library
Authority show from November 1012, where once again US
librarians will share best practice with librarians from the UAE and
the wider Arab world.

ROGER TAGHOLM

Other book programs continue in the emirate, among them

Knowledge without Borders, which aims to provide a library of
50 books for every family in the emirate and has been praised
by UNESCO; the Sharjah Childrens Reading Festival, which, like
Knowledge without Borders, was launched in 2008 and quickly
gained international recognition; and the famous match-making
sessions between Arab and foreign publishers at the Chamber of
Commerce that have done so much to boost the flow of books
both to and from the Gulf (and have occasionally led to the odd
sore throat, such is the hustle and bustle of business in this fondly
named rights souk). Commerce here is once again aided by the
SIBFs generous translation grants.
All of these initiatives stem from His Highness belief in
the power of books and culture to affect change and to take
people forward. He has a poets sensibilities, combined with a
businessmans acumen for what will facilitate trade.
And so to this years fair which, once again, has attracted
more than 300 international publishers and agents, and some
very high profile, international authors. The fair set the marker
incredibly high last year when it pulled off the huge coup of
securing global best selling author Dan Brown. The appearance
by the author of The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol was
a sell-out, a cross between a rock concert and an inspirational
TED talk. It was Browns first visit to the Middle East and his
first appearance at a book fair outside of the US. It might even
mean that Sharjah will make an appearance in the next Robert
Langdon story, since Brown is well-known for writing about the
places he visits.
The appearance of major international writers continues
this year with the novelist Ben Okri, who won the Booker Prize
for The Famished Road, the travel writer and broadcaster
John McCarthy, a familiar face in the Arab world because of his
work with Al Jazeera; and bestselling childrens author Darren
Shan, prolific creator of horror yarns. They are among nearly
20 authors appearing at the fair.
Sharjahs position as the cultural emirate is more assured
than ever as those branches of knowledge continue to grow and
nourish its people.
Roger Tagholm is a London-based freelance journalist
specialising in the book trade

RAPID GROWTH FOR

TRANSLATION GRANTS
PROGRAM
NICHOLAS CLEE is Editor of BookBrunch

Among the attractions of doing business during the

Matchmaking Program formerly the Professional
Programme - at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is the
possibility of winning grants on the back of book deals. Up to
$4,000 is available to subsidise the translation of a general title
or series, and up to $1,500 for a childrens title. Last year, 168
grants were allotted following deals at the 2014 Fair more
than double the number given in 2013 (71), reflecting the rapid
growth of the Program, which attracted 280 delegates from 49
countries (up from 156 delegates and 33 countries in 2013).
Among the recipients were translators into Arabic of books
in languages including English, Turkish, Dutch, and Finnish;
translators from Arabic into various languages; and translators to
and from languages other than Arabic.
SIBF launched the translation fund in 2011, the 30th
anniversary of the Fair. The fund totals $300,000. Of this sum,
$250,000 is earmarked for translations to and from Arabic, and
$50,000 is for translations from any other language to any other
language (though only one award fell into this category last year).
The organizers view the grants as part of their mission to
enrich both Arabic and global culture with new and valuable
stocks of knowledge and science that belong to our cultural
opposing world. They want to be the conduit for forging
contacts with Arab societies, and to act as the bridge of
appreciation and understanding among people of different
cultural groups. They also aim to encourage more and better
quality translators. A further goal is the promotion of SIBF by
offering incentives to international publishers, agents and scouts

to meet their counterparts in the Arab world, and to do business

at the Fair.
Those wishing to secure grants need to submit forms at the
Fair; they have until late February to complete their applications.
The rights holder and the rights buyer fill out the form,
accompanied by a copy of the relevant book or manuscript and
a description of the content. Successful applicants learn of their
acceptance by late March, when they should submit the book
contract, including details of the translators fees. The submission
releases 30% of the grant to the rights buying publisher; a further
20% comes on receipt of the first draft of the translation, and the
50% balance on submission of 10 copies of the finished book.
What kinds of books win these grants? The organizers list
fiction, non-fiction (including memoir, history, and cooking),
childrens and young adult, and poetry. Childrens books have
fared well, with successful titles ranging from Lauren St Johns
One Dollar Horse novels (Orion), to OUPs Wendy Quill series
(including Wendy Quill Is Full Up of Wrong and Wendy Quill Is a
Crocodiles Bottom), to the rhyming picture books A Leaf Can Be
and Water Can Be (Millbrook). Adult titles have included unusual
applicants such as Salvador Dalis only novel, Hidden Faces (Peter
Owen), but more common recipients are books on current affairs
and business books such as Cultural Diversity and Global Media
(Wiley), Drones and Target Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical
Issues (Interlink), and Networking Is Not Working (IdeaPress).
Among the Arabic publishers and agencies whose books have
won translation grants are Kalimat, Kalem Agency, Raya Agency,
and Kalem Telif Haklari.

THE 3RD ARAB PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

CONFERENCE IS HELD IN UAE FOR THE
FIRST TIME WITH ALEC ROSS, BODOUR AL
QASIMI AND ELIAS KHOURI HEADLINING
EMINENT FIGURES IN THE PUBLISHING WORLD WILL BE MAKING
AN APPEARANCE AT THE MOST AMBITIOUS ARAB PUBLISHING
ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE TO DATE

Held in the emirate of Sharjah for the first time on

November 2 and 3, the third edition of the influential Arab
Publishers Association Conference promises to be an exciting
gathering of Arabic and international publishing professionals.
Headline speakers include Alec Ross, a leading US expert on
innovation and advisor to President Obama during the first two
years of his initial presidential campaign. Ross serves as an advisor
for world leaders and CEOs to help them better understand the
implication of factors emerging at the intersection of geopolitics,
technology, and innovation.
The Honorary President for the Emirates Publishers
Association, Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, who is an avid
campaigner for the promotion of Arabic childrens literature, will
also be making an appearance. Voted by Forbes as the 34th most
powerful Arab woman in family business, she is the Founder and
CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group, and the Patron and Founder
of the UAE Board on Books for Young People. Also appearing
is Elias Khouri, the brilliant and thought-provoking Lebanese
novelist, literary critic, columnist and editor-in-chief of The Journal
of Palestine Studies. He has published 12 novels, four books
of literary criticism and three plays, participated in writing two

film scripts, and his work has been translated into more than 14
languages. Other speakers include Richard Charkin (International
Publishers Association and Bloomsbury) and Eng. Assem Shalabi
(Arab Publishers Association).
The conference, themed The Publishing Industry: Horizons
and Challenges of the Digital Age, is a joint effort between
the Arab Publishers Association and Emirates Publishers
Association. Sharjah was selected as the host city for the
prestigious event in recognition of its outstanding work in
supporting the publishing industry and promoting reading at
the local, Arab, and regional levels.
Bodour Al Qasimi said, Hosting the APA Conference in Sharjah
is significant not only for Sharjah, which is a beacon for supporting
and promoting publishing, but also for the UAE as a whole. There
are already a number of internationally reputed book related events
in the UAE and hosting the APA further cements the regions
position as a significant contributor to Arab publishing. Hosting
the conference will afford Arab publishers greater international
exposure and an opportunity to connect with the international
community, which is crucial to supporting continued growth. The
UAE leadership strongly believes in the importance of supporting

ELIAS KHOURI was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1948, a novelist, literary critic, and a columnist. He is since 2010 the
editor in chief of the Arabic quarterly The Journal of Palestine Studies, and a visiting professor at the Lebanese American
University in Beirut. He was the director/editor in chief of the Mulhak, the weekly literary supplement of the Lebanese
daily Al Nahar, and a global distinguished professor at New York University.

He taught at Columbia University, the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese University, and he was the
director of the Theatre de Beirut (1992-1998), and the co- director of the Ayloul Festival for modern arts (1997-2002).
He has written 12 novels, as well as criticism, plays and screenplays.
His novels are translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Italian, Norwegian, Hebrew, Dutch, Portuguese,
Catalonian, Farsi, Polish, Albanian and Turkish.

publishing, not only because it is a vital economic activity, but

also because a strong publishing sector is one of the foundation
elements of building a knowledge-based society.
The two day conference will explore a range of topics and
issues currently at play in the publishing world, from copyright
and piracy to innovation and distribution, with a particular focus
on how they affect the Arabic publishing community. Attended
by publishers, booksellers, distributors and other publishing
professionals from across the Arabic region, this will be an
unprecedented opportunity to meet and network. Taking place
in parallel with the SIBF 2015 Matchmaking Programme it will
also be attended by international publishing professionals from
across the globe. The conference will feature a full schedule
of workshops, presentations, plenary sessions, and keynote
addresses by preeminent figures in the publishing world.
The first Arab Publishers Associations Conference was held
in the Saudi capital Riyadh in October 2009. The second APA
Conference was held in Alexandria, Egypt, in March 2013.
More about the Arab Publishers Association (APA)
Established in 1995, the Arab Publishers Association (APA) is a

regional independent organisation representing the interests of

Arab Publishers on forums, platforms, and any other arena where
their interests are at stake on both the Arab and international levels.
The APA aims to defend and develop the Arab publishing
industry, promote and advocate the protection of copyright
and intellectual property rights, and protect the freedom to
publish. The APA promotes literacy and the establishment of a
culture of reading, and champions the defense of Arab Culture
in all its components.
More about the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA)
Established in 2009, the Emirates Publishers Association works
to develop the UAEs publishing industry, representing UAE
publishers at regional and international events, exhibitions
and seminars. The Association also promotes training, and
disseminates the UAEs intellectual output throughout the Arab
world and worldwide. EPA cooperates with local publishing,
printing, and distribution houses and is working to establish a
distribution company for its member publishers. The Association
is a member of the Arab Publishers Association and a member of
the International Publishers Association (IPA).

THE SHARJAH
INTERNATIONAL BOOK
FAIR AWARDS 2015
ROGER TAGHOLM

The glitzy opener to the Sharjah International Book Fair,

the Book Fair Awards, is an occasion to savour. One of
the special ways in which His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin
Mohamed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah and Member of the
Supreme Council, expresses his love of books and learning, the
Awards presentation is a highlight of the UAE cultural calendar.
Held on the opening morning of the fair, it is a breathtaking
event, an Arabic Oscars, with sweeping lights, dramatic music,
giant screens and more banks of cameras than at the Cannes
Film Festival. But unlike the worst aspects of the movie industry,
this is an event that has books, rather than botox, at its heart.
It is here that artistic talent, both home grown and far-flung, is
recognized, and not only are the authors honored, but also those
who work so hard behind the scenes to bring these writers
works to the public.
First held in 1995 and judged by a high-profile Selection Jury,
there is a range of awards, from fiction to academic writing,
translated works to books about the UAE and as befits His
Highness belief in looking outwards, this is an occasion that
reaches its hands across the oceans. So there are also awards
given to international titles and international publishers in a
ceremony that shows cultural diplomacy at its sparkling best,
proving once again, that it is words, not wars, that win hearts
and minds.
The first award presented is always for the Cultural
Personality of the Year, announced before the fair and
recognizing the recipients contribution to the cultural scene in
general, their productivity in the field of writing and creativity,
or their roles in the government or social-cultural activities. Last
years winner was Dr Abdulaziz bin Othman Al-Tuwaijri, DirectorGeneral of ICESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation), the body founded in 1979 whose objectives
include contributing to the achievement of world peace and
security, particularly through education, science, culture and
communication.
There are four awards for Emirati writers: Best Emirati Book
by an Emirati Creative Writer, Best Emirati Academic Book, Best
Emirati Foreign Translated Book and Best Emirati Book about
the UAE. The last was won by Live from the UAE, which tells
the story of the rise of the media in the region and includes

10

interviews with the first female journalists and presenters.

The award for the Best Arabic Novel was won last year by
Mansoura Izzeddin for Jebel Al Zumurrud, while David Baldaccis
The Finisher won the Best International Fiction category. Youssef
Islams Why I still Carry a Guitar won Best International NonFiction and those of a certain age will know that Islam is better
known as the singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. The award was
accepted by his daughter, Hasna Islam.
Publishers who were recognized included Beiruts Al Furabi,
which was named Best Arab Publishing House, and Dubais
own Madarek Publishing, which won the award for Best
Local Publishing house. Taschen received the award for Best
International Publisher.
There is always a starry side to the occasion and last year
was no exception. Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown joined His
Highness at the top table, along with dignitaries from the UAE
and across the Arab world; in 2013, Jeffrey Archer occupied this
special place. This year the internationally acclaimed writer and
broadcaster John McCarthy, who is well-known for his work with
Al Jazeera and the BBC World Service, will attend the awards for
the first time. Other high-profile guests include the Man Booker
Prize-winning author Ben Okri and the teen horror sensation
Darren Shan.
His Highness often uses the occasion as a platform for
a speech that touches on political or cultural issues and is
addressed as much to the wider world as to the audience directly
in front of him. Last year he waxed poetic, imagining a dialogue
with his own heart a heart that is appalled by some of the
barbarous acts happening in the Muslim world. He asked: Do
the acts have anything to do with our noble Arab values? My
wish is to have many arms that can reach everywhere in this Arab
world which has become in such a shameful state. I see truth and
virtue in great books that exist on EarthI seek these books and
find them in order to bring light through the clouds of darkness,
despair and ignorance.
There is no doubt that His Highness sees books as a way of
dispelling all kinds of darkness political, cultural, educational
and sees the Sharjah International Book Fair Awards as a way of
making the winning titles and the people behind them, stars that
shine even brighter.

COPYRIGHT AND THE

ARAB WORLD
EMMA HOUSE is Director of Publisher
Relations at the Publishers Association.

The Creative Industries and indeed the Knowledge

Economy are becoming increasingly important the world
over, no more so than in the Arab World. The Arab world has
enjoyed a long history of producing world renowned authors,
musicians, artists, film-makers and designers. However, for many
countries, especially in the Gulf, this is an emerging sector upon
which many governments are now, rightly, focusing, given the
major role creativity, the content industries and the Knowledge
Economy play in contributing to the social and economic wellbeing of a country.
Copyright is the bedrock of the creative industries. It is the
exclusive right of the creators (or authors) to their work. Creators
rely on copyright protection to translate their creative endeavour
into financial reward and ensure that dissemination, reuse, and
copying of their works remain within the realms of their control.
Copyright is vital to allow creativity to flourish, new talent to
be nurtured and to sustain an environment of investment in
bringing fresh knowledge to the world. Creators need reward
for their work if they are to make a livelihood from it.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is the
governing body of treaties for copyright and has 188 members.
One of its first treaties is the Berne Convention which deals
with the protection of works and the rights of their authors. It is
signed by all major countries within the Arab World, committing
countries to ensure a minimum protection of rights.
Copyright infringement within the publishing industry can
take many forms: physical (photocopying and actual copies of
books), online (accessing content via file sharing sites or through
social media which has been illegally uploaded), and plagiarism.
All forms are present in the Arab world, a problem they are not
alone in facing.
The advent of digital distribution, including the vast take up of
smart phone usage, has been an enabler in many countries for
businesses looking to distribute and monetize content online. In
the Arab World where crossing borders with physical goods can
be time consuming and expensive and sometimes not possible,
digital can overcome these challenges and obstacles. Yet digital
also brings with it the negative infringement of copyright.
Why do people infringe copyright? Many reasons can be
cited for this. In some cases infringement may be inadvertent
with infringers not even knowing they are being mis-sold
the rights or being sold physical copies that are not genuine.
However, most infringement happens knowingly through
ease, lack of access to original content a belief that content,
(knowledge) should be free, or, increasingly, for monetary gain.
How to overcome piracy in the Arab World? Tackling
copyright infringement is something rights-holders are battling
with world over and there is certainly no single answer, tool or

action that will be the

golden solution, and it
is unlikely infringement will
ever be totally eradicated. There
are, however, actions that can be taken by rights-holders and
governments to at least create deterrents and enable legal
action to be taken against those who persist in breaking the
law. The onus is on both parties to work in partnership to use all
services and instruments available to minimize the impact.
What can the rights-holder do? Much infringement
happens because legal content is not easy to access. As such,
making content easily accessible in all formats and price
appropriate is often the first step to fending off infringers. Also,
carrying out indepth studies to ensure the rights are available
in the first instance avoids duplication of a work where rights
have already been sold. On a social level, rights-holders can
work together to raise awareness of the importance of copyright
to culture and creativity within the consumer sphere but also
to policy makers and legislators. Book fairs in the Arab World
are often the main outlet for the sale of a pirates handiwork so
rights-holders can work closely with the organizers to stamp out
the sale of pirated books and take steps to blacklist vendors.
What is the call on governments? As signatories to major
international treaties on copyright protection, governments
have a major role to play in tackling infringement, starting with
good national copyright laws and robust, enforceable penalties
for breaking the laws. Such economic crimes need to be taken
seriously by law enforcers and the judiciary who themselves
need to be trained to recognize and take action against
infringement. Essentially, it is extremely difficult for rightsholders to protect their property if there is no legal framework
or will to enforce that legal framework. Governments can
also support rights-holders in their efforts to establish and run
Collective Management Organizations in the publishing sector
none of which currently exist in the Arab World. A good
reprographic rights collecting society regime brings about an
awareness of copyright, order to and legal access to copyrighted
works, and solutions to reduce infringement.
The UAE is a great example of investment in the knowledge
economy not only by nurturing and showcasing creative
talent, but by providing a strong enforcement regime and
providing rights owners with sufficient tools to take action
against infringers. Surrounding countries still have some way
to go in recognizing the value of copyright and understanding
how contributing to an environment where rights-holders can
maximize control over their work and ensure fair reward brings
benefits to both society and the economy.

11

A GROWING
COLLABORATION BETWEEN
THE AMERICAN LIBRARY
ASSOCIATION AND SIBF

report

MARY MACKAY &

MICHAEL DOWLING

Building on the American Library Association (ALA)s global

theme, Partnering to build stronger libraries worldwide,
the collaboration with the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is
a natural fit. It offers the chance to raise the visibility and use of
libraries in Sharjah and the region while also improving delivery of
ALAs face-to-face, digital, and print products and services.
The mission of the ALA, a 55,000-member international
organization founded in 1876, is to provide leadership for
the development, promotion, and improvement of library and
information services and the profession of librarianship in order
to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.
The initiatives and work of the Association help meet the mission
by focusing on the following key action areas: Advocacy for
Libraries and the Profession; Education and Lifelong Learning;
Intellectual Freedom; Organizational Excellence; Diversity;
Equitable Access to Information and Library Services; Literacy;
and Transforming Libraries.
Were looking forward to a long-term relationship that will
help ALA meet its global mission, says ALA Executive Director Keith
Michael Fiels. We are pleased to work together on the development
of related professional activities, seminars, and forums, and on
extending the opportunities for current members in the region
to participate in and benefit from engagement with ALA.
The SIBF/ALA Library Conference is at the heart of this growing
collaboration, offering an important opportunity for librarians from
across the region to network and share best practices, as well as to
visit and purchase materials at the Sharjah Book Fair. The upcoming
2015 conference (November 10-12) continues and builds on the
success of the inaugural conference in November 2014, when 600+
librarians from 20 countries, including the UAE, Syria, Afghanistan,
Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia, Bahrain, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Iraq, Egypt, and Nigeria, energetically networked and shared
knowledge and ideas. It was ALAs largest international professional
development event to date.
At the 2015 SIBF/ALA Library Conference, registrants will
again have the chance to hear and talk with an international

12

roster of experts during 15 concurrent

programs covering topics relevant to all
types of libraries (public, academic, school,
and special libraries): new trends and technologies,
information literacy, e-resources and virtual libraries,
innovative spaces and services, rebranding and proving the
value of the library, implementing open-access policies,
staff and leadership development, promoting the love of
reading, and more.
ALA 2015-16 President Sari Feldman, Executive Director
of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Ohio, will deliver
a keynote at the opening session. Feldman will discuss ALAs
new Libraries Transform public awareness campaign which
highlights how libraries are evolving to meet changing needs.
Libraries transform people by supporting exploration and
learning that drives individual opportunity, and are committed
to advancing their legacy of reading and developing a digitally
inclusive society.
Columbia University Librarian Emeritus James Neal will deliver
one of the keynotes on the second day of the conference.
Sessions throughout the conference are offered in English
and Arabic (simultaneous translation), and communications
about the event are available in both languages. Registrants
receive certificates of attendance and have access to all session
recordings after the event. The staging of the conference
alongside the Sharjah International Book Fair itself provides
a unique opportunity for librarians to combine professional
development with exploring and acquiring materials for their
libraries. We consider this an excellent opportunity to bring
new and improved delivery of appropriate products, services, and
opportunities to audiences throughout the region especially
training and professional development, says Al-Ameri.
A full-day optional preconference added for 2015 on RDA:
Resource Description and Action will be led by the head of The
Ohio State University Libraries Cataloging Department, Magda
El-Sherbini.

Presenters from the first SIBF/ALA Library

Conference reunited and caught up with
Director Ahmed Al-Ameri at the SIBF
booth at 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting.
They included 2014-15 ALA President
Courtney L. Young, Magda El-Sherbini,
Rick Anderson, Lynn Silipigni Connaway,
and Michael Clark Levine. Also pictured are
ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels,
ALA International Relations Office Director
Michael Dowling, ALA Marketing Director
Mary Mackay, and Combined Book Exhibits
directors Jon Malinowski and Janet Fritsch.

Resource Description and Action represents an important

global development in cataloging, envisioned as a truly
international standard that will be translated and functional in a
multitude of languages and embraced across borders, continents,
and oceans.
Attendees also have access to the Librarians Lounge,
sponsored by SIBF and library-related companies, providing an
informal space for networking and for information about new
products and services. Sponsorships at the Platinum and Gold
levels sold out early this year, showing the growing interest in the
conference and the opportunities it provides to connect directly
with librarians in the region and beyond. Platinum Sponsors for
2015 are Ingram Content Group, the American Psychological
Association, and Books Kinokuniya. Gold Sponsors are BDS
(Bibliographic Data Services), Follett, Panworld Education LLC,
YBP Library Services, RefME Ltd., and Antiquariat INLIBRIS. An
added sign of the conferences growth is demand for the new

library-related exhibits area, located near the Lounge.

The conference is managed by SIBF, ALA International
Relations Office, and Combined Book Exhibit, which serves
as sponsor liaison. To review the 2014 conference, visit
ala.org/sibf for links to the program, recordings of the
presentations, a list of the poster sessions presenters and
topics, and photos.
SIBF representatives including Al-Ameri have helped
strengthen the collaboration by attending ALA Annual
Conferences and Midwinter Meetings since 2013, offering
information and resources to US libraries to showcase UAE
culture and libraries, and build related collections of materials.
For additional information, please contact the ALA International
Relations Office at intl@ala.org.
Mary Mackay is ALA Marketing Director; Michael Dowling
is ALA International Relations Office Director

13

Q&A

AUTHORS AT THE FAIR A

STARRY LINEUP OF AUTHORS
IS ATTENDING THE SHARJAH
INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

SUSAN ABULHAWA
is an author and activist. Her
novels are Mornings in Jenin
and The Blue Between Sky
and Water

WE SPOKE TO TWO OF THEM

SUSAN ABULHAWA

DARREN SHAN

Is this your first visit to the UAE and Sharjah?

I was born in Kuwait; so, the Gulf region has been part of my
childhood. Ive also attended several book festivals in the UAE
since the publication of my first novel.

Is this your first visit to Sharjah? (I see that you launched

the Zom-B series in Dubai.)
Ive been to Dubai a couple of times, but this will be my first visit
to Sharjah.

What are you hoping to gain from the experience?

Im not hoping for gain.

How was your previous experience, and what are you

hoping to accomplish this time?
I had a wonderful experience both times that Ive been in the UAE. I
love travel and getting to see different parts of the world and meet
people with different backgrounds and beliefs. Im looking forward
to seeing more of the region and chatting with the people.

Do you think there is a different approach to literature

and storytelling in the Middle East from that in the West?
Since poetry has been the dominant literary tradition in the
Middle East for centuries, Arabic prose tends to be more poetic
and lofty. But that observation should come with the disclaimer
that its a gross generalization and the landscape of Arabic
literature is as vast and diverse as the literature in Western
languages.
You are an activist for Palestine, as well as a novelist.
Do you see these roles as complementary, or are they
ever in conflict?
They are different facets of a whole, in the same way that being
a woman, a writer, a mother are different facets of the same
identity. There is no conflict, nor is there necessarily complement.
In the US, feelings about the issues about which you
campaign and write run very high. How do you cope with
being a prominent figure amid this atmosphere?
Speaking truth to power and living in a socially responsible way is
not a thing that I cope with or endure. Its a way of life, a way of
meaningful living.
You have lived in the U.S. since you were 13. Do you
nevertheless see Palestine as your continuing subject?
I live in the US because others have stolen my home, heritage,
and inheritance. So, I suppose you can say that Palestine is my
continuing subject.

14

How important to you is interaction with fans?

For me its the highlight of the job. I love writing, but its very
isolated, solitary work. When Im working, I wont see anyone
else during the day (except occasional brief glimpses of my wife
and child), and it does sometimes get lonely. I miss the dynamics
of working in a group. Touring is my form of compensation for
the lonelier days. Its an amazing feeling to see my stories come
alive in the imaginations of my readers, to have fans tell me
what they liked (and disliked!) about my books, to be able to
share my fictional worlds with a very real readership. For me, that
interaction with the fans is when my stories truly come to life,
and I find out (after having spent two or three years working on
each book) whether or not Ive been wasting my time.
Zom-B was an ambitious new series, with a new
publisher. How has it been going?
Its been a fascinating rollercoaster ride. It was a very ambitious
concept, to release twelve books very swiftly (most of the books
came out at three month intervals), and to have one large
story play out over the course of them. While Ive done long
series before, there were independent movements within those
storylines, e.g. you could have read my Vampire Mountain trilogy
as a self-contained story, or Lord Loss as a one-off book. But with
Zom-B, once you strapped yourself in with book one, there was

JOHN MCCARTHY is a writer

and broadcaster. He is the author of Some
Other Rainbow (with Jill Morrell) and of
You Cant Hide the Sun: A Journey Through
Palestine

DARREN SHANS
bestselling childrens horror
novels include The Saga of
Darren Shan series and the
Zom-B series

BEN OKRI has published many books,

including The Famished Road, which
won the Booker Prize. His work has been
translating into 26 languages and won
numerous international prizes

KERBY ROSANES
Philippines-based illustrator
Kerby Rosanes works mainly
with ordinary black fine liners to
illustrate his doodle world

no pause for breath. The story rocketed forward from

book to book, with almost every entry ending on a huge
cliff-hanger. It was very difficult to do that and not lose readers
along the way make it too complicated, and peoples interest
would drop; yet without evolution and change, it would become
static and dull. Zom-B was a real experiment, and I wasnt sure
how readers would react. To my great relief, the reception has
been mostly hugely positive, with the more recent books in the
series picking up some of my best reviews. Hopefully thats going
to continue through the last two book in the series!
The series comes to an end next spring. Can you reveal
anything about your next project?
All I can say is that I am working on a new series, and its a move
away from the grislier style of Zom-B or The Demonata. But at
the moment thats all I can say, because a) I dont like to talk too
much about work in progress, and b) Ive no idea how many books
there will be, or where exactly Im going to go with the story. But
its massive in scale and scope, the biggest challenge Ive yet to set
myself, and Im both excited and terrified by the prospect of it!
You have self-published adult horror novels. After
having adult novels conventionally published in the past,
why did you go the self-publishing route?
Ive always had a difficult time with publishers on the adult
front. Although Im sold as a horror writer, and my books
definitely are dark and horrific, I actually mix genres up and
write very different types of books. Sometimes there are even
huge tonal shifts within the course of a series for instance,
in The Saga Of Darren Shan, where the main character ages
about twenty years over the course of the story, his narrative
voice gradually maturing and changing throughout the run of
books. On the childrens front, that hasnt been a problem, and
publishers have got behind the books, and readers have taken
them to heart. My adult books have found (and continue to
find) favour with readers, but publishers have proven harder to

stimulate. At every turn Ive faced the same

problem they want more of the same. The
last adult book that I published under the Darren
Shan name, Lady Of The Shades, was a supernaturally-tinged,
twist-filled thriller. I was very pleased with it, and so was my
publisher, but having done that, I then wanted to do something
entirely different with my next book, and the book after that,
whereas they just wanted Lady Of The Shades Mark II and Mark
III. In the end I tired of the struggle and decided to self-publish
my future adult books as Darren Dash, as its the only sure-fire
way I can get the books I want to write out to my public. The
internet has made self-publishing far easier than it was in the
past, and its been an intriguing process.
What are some of the things you have learned from
self-publishing?
Well, the main thing Ive learned is that you really need to put
a lot of time into the promoting of the books! Because of my
day job as Darren Shan, I just dont have the time to give the
Darren Dash books the kind of push that they need. Sales have
relied pretty much solely on word of mouth, bolstered by the
occasional review. While sales have been steady over the last
couple of years that Ive been doing this, I get the feeling that
the books could reach a much larger audience with the right
push unfortunately Im not in a position to give the books
that push, and traditional publishers dont believe theyre worth
pushing! Because of the success of my Darren Shan books, I
dont need to write for money or do anything that I dont want
to do, so Ill just keep pegging away with the Darren Dash books.
I always say to young writers that they shouldnt worry about the
market or sales, that they should write stories that come from
the heart and my Darren Dash books are kind of my way of
showing that Im serious about that.
The authors on this page are among a group of nearly
20 who are attending the Fair

15

MAP OF THE ARAB LITERARY WORLD

THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN THE
REGION AT A GLANCE
ROGER TAGHOLM

TURKEY
Arabic and multilingual
bookstore Pages opened in
Istanbul by Syrian publisher
Bright Fingers

TUNISIA
Operates on French
consignment model creating
difficulties for UK publishers
low discounts but high returns

EGYPT
More stability. Consumer confidence
returning. Bookshops feeling the
benefit. Reinvigoration of cultural
sector, but some currency controls
leading to payment problems

MOROCCO
Virgin Megastores and Frances
Fnac both in Casablanca. Mainly
Francophone market, but
younger generation tend to be
English speaking

ALGERIA
English publishers exploring
possibility of taking part in the
French and Arabic Algiers Book Fair

SAUDI ARABIA
Major market. Jarir chain a
very good customer for western
publishers

POPULATION: 380m (World Bank. Approx)

GDP: $2.856 trillion (World Bank. Approx)
SIZE OF BOOK MARKET: $180m - $250m print; $50M digital (Industry estimates)

16

IRAN

LEBANON

UK and international
publishers tentatively looking
at re-starting trade

Strong retail and wholesale sector.

Boutique indies like Beiruts Little
Bookshop and Paper Cup well served
by wholesalers Ciel and Levant.
Funky urban regeneration

KUWAIT
IRAQ
Promising signs on hold because of
the rise of Daish. Trade titles still
found in Baghdad via Lebanese
wholesalers Ciel and Levant

Jashanmal has opened first

branch. Strong interest in
graphic novels, both here
and right across Gulf

QATAR
Fnac opened in Doha earlier
this year. Saudi chain Jarir has
two stores. Opportunities for UK
educational publishers in Dohas
new, Lusail education city

YEMEN
Yemen Bookshop in Sanaa
still courageously trading,
despite civil war

OMAN
Arrival of super malls. Virgin
Megastores has opened first
branch in Muscat. Borders
now has two stores

SHARJAH/UAE
Sharjah Book Authoritys establishment of
printing facilities and publishing free zone
near Dubai and Sharjah airports set to make
UAE world hub for book industry. Hosting of
Arab Publishers Conference in 2015 a significant
milestone in history of cultural emirate.

17

COMICS COME OF AGE

AT THE NEW COMICS
PAVILION

KUO-YU LIANG is Vice President Sales &

Marketing at Diamond Comic Distributors, the worlds
largest distributor of comics & related pop culture
merchandise

This year for the first time, the Sharjah International Book
Fair will host a Comics Pavilion. The 150 sq metre Pavilion
is organized with ComicCave, the UAEs largest distributor of
comics, and will be sited in the main expo centre. Aimed at all
ages, it will feature favorite brands and genres such as Marvel,
Hello Kitty, and Manga, with activities, events and signings.
Action figures and toys as well as books will be on sale.
In 2015, everywhere you look you see comics: Avengers: Age
Of Ultron is one of the biggest movies of the year globally, while
one of the most anticipated new movies is Valerian And The
City Of A Thousand Planets by Luc Bresson, based on a French
comic book. On television, The Walking Dead is aired in over 200
markets. Attack On Titan, a Japanese comics series, with more
than 52.5 million copies in print is a bestselling book all over the
world. A highly anticipated book this Fall is Sandman: Overture, a
graphic novel by the English author Neil Gaiman.
The readers and viewers of comics are also voracious
consumers of t-shirts, toys and games based on comics. Batman:
Arkham Knight is one of the biggest video games of the year.
According to one study, the Superman logo was as well known
as McDonalds golden arch. Free Comic Book Day, a huge event
held on the first Saturday of May, celebrated its 10th anniversary
in 2015. The winner of this years Tony Award for best musical is
Fun Home, based on a comic book.
Comics conventions from Shanghai to San Diego, Angouleme
to Jakarta draw hundreds of thousands of people every year.

18

Frankfurt Book Fairs Hall 3 - the comics hall - is overrun by tens

of thousands of young Germans, often dressed in costumes of
their favorite comic book heroes.
Appropriately, the Sharjah International Book Fair - one of
the biggest in the world - introduces a Comics Pavilion this year.
Comics are big, comics are profitable, comics are global.
There is also a literary angle. Comics are the great gateway
to getting young people to read instead of playing video games.
Reading comics can be the first step to discovering that reading is
fun. Indeed, when you read interviews by many of todays great
literary writers, such as Junot Diaz, you will learn that they grew
up reading comics. One US survey showed that comics were
among the highest circulated items in libraries.
Comics have something for everyone. Superheroes, fantasy,
crime noir, science fiction, romance and teen angst are all
represented. Using visual storytelling to talk about an important
subject is a hot new trend. There are comics that cover issues
from the history of the American civil rights battles (March by
John Lewis), to a memoir by Jennifer Hayden of her struggles
with breast cancer.
This is a great time for writers, artists, booksellers and
publishers to be involved. For the comics art form to keep
growing and engage readers, we need continued support and
investment in creativity. Comics are big business, but they are
also a beautiful art form and important literature for the new
generation.

SHARJAH AND
CHINA A GROWING
PUBLISHING
RELATIONSHIP

THE SHARJAH
BOOK AUTHORITY
A PLATFORM FOR
KNOWLEDGE

Over several decades, China has been acting as a link

between East and West. The Sharjah Book Authority,
through its participation in the Beijing International Book Fair,
seeks to revive this historical significance and promote dialogue
and understanding between China and the UAE, which constantly
seeks to establish amiable foundations with all countries.
The UAE was guest of honour at the Beijing Book Fair in
August 2015 and Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) was a key partner
in this program.
The SBAs stand at the exhibition received many high profile
figures, including Yang Zhijin, Chinese Vice Minister of Culture,
who was presented with a Chinese language version of My
Early Life by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al
Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. Also
among the visitors were Afra Al Sabri, Under-Secretary of the
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development in
the UAE, Hakam Al Hashemi, Assistant Under-Secretary of the
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development for
Culture and Arts, and Saeed Zaal, Charge dAffaires at the UAE
Embassy in the Chinese capital.
Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book
Authority, said, We know that Guest of Honour programs at
book fairs can have a huge impact in terms of networking. We
were delighted to receive The London Book Fairs Market Focus
Achievement Award in April this year in recognition of the positive
links built after the Arab World Market Focus at LBF in 2008.
Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair, said:
Both Sharjah (as part of the Arab World) in 2008 and China in
2012 have been Market Focus at The London Book Fair. These
programs are invaluable in creating links between publishing
communities. Indeed, LBF had a huge presences at BIBF this year
and we look forward to attending Sharjah again this year.
Al Ameri stressed that the participation of the SBA in Beijing
has opened more doors with Chinese and Asian publishers. As
part of this growing cooperation and networking, in November
2015, the largest delegation of Chinese publishers to date will
attend the professional matchmaking program which precedes
the Sharjah International Book Fair (November 4-14, 2015).
This year ten Chinese publishers will be part of the translation
rights center, including Xin Zhang, Editor of Shanghai Translation
Publishing House, Kuichao Yu, Vice Chief Editor of Jiangsu
Phoenix literature and Art Publishing Ltd, and Yiting Shao, Rights
Manager of Sinolingua. These publishers will take part in two
days of scheduled translation rights appointments and attend the
Arab Publishers Association Conference.

As early as 1925 Sharjah established the Al Qasimiya

Library in Al Hisn Fort as a reminder of Sharjahs
rich cultural history. The interest of the first generation of
Sharjahs rulers in culture and literature has been carried on
by His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah, who has established
many libraries, educational institutions, research centers,
cultural monuments and museums which embrace the
heritage of his ancestors.
Now, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), under
its chairman Ahmed Al Ameri, seeks to encourage
investment in creative industries and provide a platform
for knowledge and intellectual exchange among people
from different countries and cultures.
The Sharjah Book Authority will also include the first
international distribution company in the Middle East
offering services that cover both the Arab and African
markets. Besides possessing its own printing presses,
the SBA will additionally set up a special department
for research and academic studies. All public libraries in
Sharjah will be categorized within the Department of
Libraries that fall under the umbrella of the SBA.
Sharjah Book City will also be the first publishing
free zone in the world that offers all professionals and
stakeholders in the book and publishing industries the
opportunity to benefit from a package of privileges that
will help boost the publishing sector and its development.
Sharjah Book Authority is presently the umbrella for all
publishing related activities in Sharjah, most notably the
Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) which most recently
won the Market Focus Achievement Award as part of the
2015 International Excellence Awards at this years London
Book Fair. It will also preside over the Sharjah Childrens
Reading Festival and the SIBF Translation Grant. It will
furthermore organize the annual Matchmaking Program
for publishers (the first free training program for Arab
publishers), as well as a joint conference with the American
Library Association (ALA).

19

REAWAYAT, A NEW
YOUNG ADULT IMPRINT

TAMER SAID is Managing

Director, the Kalimat Group

Young adults dont read! This statement is often heard

in our part of the world. It is a belief that people have
unfortunately accepted but we at Reawayat believe that, yes they
do read! However, in order to get the young adult community
interested in reading, the content needs to fit their modern
lifestyle and mindset. For those reasons, Kalimat Publishing
has initiated publishing young adult literature in a studied and
modern style with the goal of appealing to this age group and
their interests. Weve established a new imprint, Reawayat, which
will focus on YA fiction. Rewayats first publication list will be
released here during the November 2015 edition of the Sharjah
International Book Fair.
Throughout our journey in publishing for young adults,
many challenges have come our way. Certainly, our biggest
challenge was the content itself, not only in terms of the stories,
but also in terms of style and production. Faten (The Servant) by
Fatima Sharafeddine was our first young adult book. After four
years, we can confidently proclaim Faten a success. It appealed
to our key demographic and won an award at the Beirut
International Book Fair. We became more certain of its success
after Groundwood Books (House of Anansi Press) translated it
into English in March, 2013.
Not often does YA Arabic literature get translated to other
languages, and especially not to English, which is the most
competitive market. Therefore, Faten marked an excellent start
for us in the YA market. It also put a burden of responsibility

20

on us to keep providing the field with good stories, and to

keep presenting new YA literature. Engaging the young adult
community wasnt the hardest part for us; our challenge is to
maintain this engagement and strategically establish a reading
community of YA readers through our books.
To this end we began looking at foreign content and putting
together a selective list of titles which we believe will appeal to
the YA age group in our part of the world, titles such as The
White Giraffe series by Lauren St. John and The Shepherds
Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter.
In the past couple of years, theres been an increase in the
level of awareness concerning the importance of YA literature,
and the need for filling the gap between childrens books and
adult books. Several organizations such as the UAE Board on
Books for Young People (UAEBBY) were founded and have taken
part in developing this market. As a result, promising new writers
have emerged who focus on the YA community and local content
has been increasing.
Looking closely at our region, it is clearly obvious that the
Arabic language reading population is large and the majority of
this population is under 18 years of age. These factors present a
promising ground for YA literature, both books written locally or
translated from other languages. There is a spotlight on the YA
community at the moment, especially in the UAE. Therefore, we
expect a promising future for this generation of readers and a
significant increase in the number of YA readers.

ONLINE BOOKSELLING
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
ROGER TAGHOLM PROFILES TWO GROWING INTERNET RETAILERS

JAMALON
He may not have had a holiday since he began the company
on his kitchen table back in 2010, but Ala Alsallal, the young
founder of Jordan-based online bookseller Jamalon, still bubbles
with an inspirational energy and enthusiasm.
For him, selling books is part of a wider interest in learning,
knowledge and the preservation of heritage. He is hugely
concerned about the situation in neighbouring Syria and Iraq
and he sees Jamalon as having a wider role to play, both in
the education of Arab citizens and in the distribution of titles
currently trapped in war zones. He is also concerned at the lack
of a copyright library in the Arab world.
Jamalon carries around 10m titles, 500,000 of which are
in Arabic. It is the latter that account for 80% of its sales, with
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states being the leading markets.
Now boasting a staff of 50 based in the Jordanian capital
Amman, Jamalon keeps moving forward, and is preparing two
tech launches its own ebook platform and a social reading site
similar to Goodreads.
Alsallal has a vision for the company beyond simply making
money. I feel happy when reading affects peoples lives, when
I feel that in a small way we are improving the quality of life for
people in the Middle East.
Earlier this year, the company had an unusual, loose
arrangement with Amazon under which the US giant advised
Jamalon on structuring its distribution channel, and in return,
Jamalon provided Amazon with Arabic titles for the US and Europe.
But that has now come to an end, says Alsallal. He smiles
and adds: It was for the best of reasons. They say that we are a
competitor now
Clearly Jamalon is doing something right.

NWF
Like the two mighty rivers after which it takes its name, the
online retailer Neelwafurat.com, or simply nwf.com, which
offers around 400,000 print titles and some 6,000 ebooks, has a
commanding presence across the Arab world.
As always, Neelwafurat.com (the name is the phonetic
spelling of Nile and Euphrates in Arabic), is exhibiting at this
years Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF). With offices and
distribution centers in Beirut and Cairo, it serves around 350,000
customers, the bulk of whom are in the Gulf region, with Saudi
Arabia being its biggest market.
The retailer is entering a particularly exciting period, partly
from the success of the iKitab ereading platform that it has been
developing for the last three years; and partly because of the
inexorable spread of the Internet and the rise of ecommerce.
iKitab is a customisable application that can either work
as a straight ebookshop, with customers buying titles and

downloading them on to their device via the app, or one that can
be customised for libraries to allow the borrowing of titles.
In Sharjah, Neelwafurat.com has been involved with the
emirates celebrated Knowledge without Borders program, which
is aimed at spreading the love of books and reading; nwf has
already provided 150,000 ebooks to 3,000 families.
Chebaro himself is a familiar figure at the SIBF and he is
particularly excited about the Sharjah Book Authoritys plans for the
free zone and printing and publishing facilities, due to open next
year. I really do believe that a new free zone for publishers will
promote this industry and give it a great push forward. Also, the
lack of a distributor for Arab books will be key in filling all the gaps
currently happening in the supply chain from a logistics point.
It was perhaps inevitable that Chebaro would go into the
publishing business, since his father Bassam runs Arab Scientific
Publishers, publisher of Dan Brown, who was a record-breaking
guest of honour at Sharjah last year. But Chebaro first worked
as a programmer for two years and then as a journalist for an IT
magazine before starting nwf in 1998 with a small office in Beirut.
It goes without saying that one of the biggest challenges any
company faces in this part of the world is coping with the regions
fractured political history. This is not a stable part of the world.
Sometimes we have a war, sometimes we have a revolution for
the last four or five years the Middle East has been a roller-coaster
ride. It is very bad for the market. You have plans and then
nothing materializes you never know what will happen next.
But there are sparks of good news. Chebaro is pleased that
publishers have taken a step forward in the battle against piracy.
Through their deal with Digimarc in Sweden, publishers pay $10
a year per title for software that will automatically delete pirate
PDF files on search engines.
Looking back on nwfs journey, Chebaro says that ecommerce
in the Arab world didnt take off until 2008 and that originally,
the UK was nwfs most important market as educated Arabs
wanted to reconnect with their homeland. But from 2005 Saudi
Arabia took over, due to the size of the population, the expansion
of the Net and the rise in credit cards. The company avoids the
oft-quoted problem of deliveries in countries with no westernstyle postal service or address system by using DHL and calling
customers on their mobiles.
He estimates the Arab book market as being worth between
$200m and $300m, with another $50m for ebooks, and he
thinks the latter is set to boom in the next five years. I think all
academia will convert to ebooks because it is more cost-effective.
We already have solutions for issues like the rendering of Arabic
font the technology develops so fast.
Outside work, Chebaro likes to read historical books: I am
really interested in to know how and why things developed in
the way they are today, he says, especially in the Middle East
where the future seems so much connected to history.

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