The Publishers Club, a virtual discussion series launched in 2020 by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), has announced its next session to be held on March 4 (Thursday).

Titled ‘Market and Demand for Translated Books: Arabic vs English’, the session will have Fatimah H. Abbas, Director of Dawen Publishing House, Egypt, a literary translator and international publishing and literary consultant, in conversation with Michel S. Moushabeck, a writer, editor, translator, and publisher, on the potential market for translated works in both languages. The session will be moderated by Seth Russo, Adviser, Edureach International Consulting LLC.

The session which will be streamed live at 5pm via the Zoom video conferencing platform, can be accessed at the following link: http://bit.ly/37IxFrG

Abbas is fluent in French and English, apart from Arabic, and was previously the head of the external relations and translation department at Noon House for Publishing and Distribution, Cairo. She has translated books into both Arabic and English and assists authors and publishing professionals globally.

Moushabeck is the founder of Interlink Publishing, a Massachusetts-based independent publishing house, and the author of several books including Kilimanjaro: A Photographic Journey to the Roof of Africa. He is the recipient of NYU’s Founder’s Day Award for outstanding scholarship (1981), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Alex Odeh Award (2010) and The Palestinian Heritage Foundation Achievement Award (2011).

He serves on the board of trustees of The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), an annual literary prize administered by the UK’s Booker Prize Foundation.

The Publishers Club virtual series is a part of SBA’s ongoing efforts to support and advance the publishing sector by bringing together industry professionals on a unified platform to exchange knowledge and expertise and discuss strategies to advance the sector globally, while presenting effective solutions for both common and unique issues being faced by businesses since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak.