Beirut39: New Voices in Arabic Literature

Chad Post of Three Percent is blogging from Abu Dhabi about the book festival. Blog topics include: professionalising the Arab publishing industry; what's available for English-speaking readers (with shout-outs for AUC Press and Saqi); and the '39 Under 39' event by the Hay festival organised to celebrate Beirut beign UNESCO World Book Capital. A panel comprising Abdo Wazen, Huda Barakat, Elias Khoury and Maher Jarrer will select the 39 best Arabic writers under 39 -- to be announced in September with an anthology of short stories. There's information about the event, and about how to nominate an author here.