At the Frankfurt International Book Fair, Sherif Bakr said Arabic publishers seeking to sell translation rights abroad first have to convince foreign buyers to consider their books. “They don't know what to expect. They don't know what we have. This is why we as an industry needed to extend the variety,” said Bakr, general manager of Cairo's Al Arabi Publishing and Distributing, speaking to The National.
A Wider Catalogue
Bakr is tackling that visibility gap with Arab Voices, a website that presents contemporary literature from across the Arab world to foreign publishers. The initiative started in 2020 as a printed catalogue of 32 Egyptian books, then moved online in 2026. The EU funded the platform, which launched in July and now features 200 titles from 22 countries.
Among the books are Palestinian author Bassem Khandaqji's “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky,” winner of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction; Egyptian novelist Adel Esmat's “At the End of Time”; and Nora Nagi's “The Fuel House.” A photograph caption names the author of “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky” as Basim Khandaqji.
“We now have fantasy, crime, women writing crime novels, women's literature, chick lit, literary fiction and award-winning books,” Bakr said. “We've also expanded across the Arab world, with 200 titles from 22 countries. We need to give more exposure to writers from across the region, not just the known ones or the famous ones.”
Curating for Foreign Publishers
Arab Voices joins Leila, an EU-funded European project launched in 2021 to promote contemporary Arabic literature. Based in France, Leila provides a curated catalogue and resources for publishers and translators, with a focus on Arabic-to-French translation. On Thursday at the Frankfurt fair, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre marked the first anniversary of its From Kalima to the World initiative and announced 14 new translation and international co-publishing partnerships.
Foreign publishers need a selected catalogue to help identify titles that might fit their markets, Bakr said. “Publishers need a selected, curated list. Something that they know is going to work with them. You can't just put anything,” he said. Literary prize shortlists and winners offer one place to start, but Arab Voices also weighs books without that recognition. A book's local success, Bakr said, doesn't mean it will find an audience abroad. “Maybe it's very good locally, but it doesn't travel, or maybe it travels.”
Costs and International Outreach
Bakr said Arab publishers should take a more active role at international book fairs, where networking, rights negotiations and showcasing books matter more than consumer sales. Attendance costs money. Still, he said, the investment can pay off. “You have to talk to the publishers and convince them that this book stands up with the others,” he said.
At a separate Frankfurt discussion, Bakr outlined the difficulties regional publishers face when dealing with foreign counterparts. “We would feel publishers don't reply to us, don't think of us as important,” he said. Contracts may require publishers to send free copies to authors, agents and rights holders in several countries, leaving Egyptian publishers with shipping bills that can exceed the cost of producing the books. Bakr recalled going to fairs with suitcases packed with copies and asking colleagues who were traveling to deliver them.
He also recalled agreeing to a $100 advance with a Nordic literary agency, then struggling to transfer the money because Egyptian bank officials at the time didn't understand the purchase of publishing rights. He eventually paid in cash at a book fair. Restrictions have eased, but Bakr said a $100 transfer can still bring about $40 in fees. “We don't have the same banking system,” he said. “We have to be flexible and understanding.”
After Frankfurt, Bakr plans to grow Arab Voices' international outreach and turn the platform into a hub for publishing news and links to other initiatives. He wouldn't measure its progress only by the number of translation deals. “It's not that we have to have a KPI of how many translated books,” he said. “You're building something. It's like soft power. It's about expanding the visibility of what's out there in Arabic literature.” The Frankfurt International Book Fair ends October 11.