Shaikha Budoor aims further growth of publishing industry in UAE

Pakistan News & Features Services

Shaikha Budoor Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA), who also heads the country’s Knowledge Without Borders project, remains extremely confident about accomplishing her cherished goals. 

In a newspaper interview on the sidelines of the 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012, held at the Sharjah Expo Centre from November 7 to 17, she described achieving a knowledge-based economy as a part of the UAE’s ‘Vision 2021’ as one of four targets for the development of the country. 

She spoke about the vision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a knowledge-based economy, the growing book market, and the need to focus on the youth in her country where the growth of the publishing industry has been phenomenal. 

“The UAE is a country that not only dreams big, but has had an astounding track record for turning those dreams into reality as anyone who has ever stood on the observation deck of the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa can tell you,” she observed. 

“The overall market worth of the Emirates’ publishing sector is currently estimated to be in the region of $260 million (Dh955 million) and large numbers of the world’s major international bookstores, for instance Borders, Virgin, and Kinokuniya, can be found throughout the country,” 

Shaikha Budoor pointed out. “Several literary festivals and fairs such as the Sharjah International Book Fair, the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, and the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature have also taken place across the country throughout the year making their mark on the international circuit,” she added.

Sharjah’s Knowledge Without Borders project, headed by Shaikha Budoor, has also witnessed the organisation reaching a milestone of bringing around 500,000 books to 10,000 families and is looking forward to achieving the ultimate goal of touching the lives of 42,000 families in Sharjah. 

“My personal journey into publishing began with children’s books when, in 2007, I began searching for good quality Arabic books for my daughter who was then four,” she recalled. 

Shaikha Budoor highlighted that it’s the wealth of well-educated and reasonably affluent readers, along with the UAE’s strategic location and established regional shipping nexus which plays an important role in promoting growth within the publishing sector. 

“With all of these factors in play, the UAE has significant potential to become a hub for international leaders in publishing and distribution for the entire Middle East region, as well as a gateway between Europe, the Arab world, and South Asia,” reckoned, adding that in order to create a ‘knowledge based society,’ an important area of focus is the country’s youth. 

Shaikha Budoor has also played a role in the establishment of the Emirates’ national chapter of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) which aims to act as a bridge between all of the stakeholders in the arena of children’s books.

Focus on youth literature in Istanbul Book Fair

Pakistan News & Features Services

‘My Childhood is my Homeland-Children’s and Youth Literature’ is the theme of the 31st International Istanbul Book Fair 2012, being organized by the TÜYAP Fair and Exhibition Organization at the TÜYAP Fair and Convention Centre in Büyükçekmece from November 17 to 25. The fair will host a series of distinguished writers and illustrators within the theme. 

Gülten Dayıoğlu, a Turkish children and youth literature author, has been chosen as the fair’s Honorary Writer, while the Country of Honour is the Netherlands. 

The fair will host more than 600 domestic and foreign publishers, non-governmental organizations, and copyright agencies. A workshop titled ‘digital publishing’ will be opened for the first time in the fair’s history. 

”In European book fairs, the themes are generally issues such as women rights, nature, and environmental concerns. They left behind the issues we are currently discussing in Turkey. They do not need to talk about the subjects like human rights anymore, since these rights are already guaranteed,” Deniz Kavukçuoğlu, Culture Fairs General Coordinator, TÜYAP, was quoted as saying. 

‘We want to follow the latest developments. The European fairs that we admired in the past now stay behind our book fair. They are organized in smaller areas and their numbers of visitors are less than ours. Recently, we went to the Barcelona Book Fair and it could be only compared to the Diyarbakır Book Fair in terms of its scale,” he pointed out. 

Kavukçuoğlu also mentioned about the demand for the Turkish literature abroad. 

“In the past you would never see a Turkish author on bookshelves abroad but now there are works by Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak and Yaşar Kemal,” he observed. 

The TÜYAP official noted that there was a great increase in number and variety of the books published in Turkey when compared to the past, adding that Turkey comes in the second place after France in this regard.

Urdu books dominate Pakistan Pavilion in Sharjah International Book Fair 2012

Pakistan News & Features Services

The Pakistan Pavilion at the 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012 (SIBF), set up by a private company, is reported to have displayed more than 8,000 titles the majority of which were in Urdu language. 

“The Pakistani Pavilion is a chance to grab many popular Urdu books, there’s not that many of them in the United Arab Emirates UAE. The pavilion has lots of English titles as well, the pictorial books are doing great,” one of the organizers of the pavilion was quoted as saying. 

“There’s a full variety of Pakistan-published books here politics, fiction, children’s, poetry, religion, newspapers, magazines. You name it, we’ve got it. Outside the book fair, you won’t find this much of a selection,” he added. 

He estimated there were more than 50,000 individual copies at the pavilion, being offered at special fair prices. The SIBF 2012, held at the famous Sharjah Expo Centre, featured 385,000 titles from more than 920 publishers, with over 60 countries participating with an awesome variety of categories and languages there. 

Pakistan was chosen the Country of Focus during the SIBF, which was inaugurated on November 7. 

But the decision seems to have been taken belatedly or it was communicated at an advanced stage, which deprived the Pakistan publishing industry the chance of making a big statement. 

Although 22 Pakistani publishers did take part in the SIBF 2012, which was higher than an average of four or five in the earlier years, the participation could have been greater if the management of the Fair made the announcement publicly many months before the event. 

It was a bit surprising than an organization like the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), having grown in stature over the years, didn’t formally announce the declaration of Pakistan as the Country of Focus.

Supermodel Kate Moss launches autobiography in glamorous style

Pakistan News & Features Services

Supermodel Kate Moss launched her autobiography in a glamorous style reminding many of her rock 'n' roll days at the Marc Jacobs shop Bookmarc in London on November 16. 

Unlike a typical book launch where the author gives a good talk to the sitting audience, Moss celebrated the occasion in her own way, not bothering for any grand intellectual address as she charmed her admirers and fans by mingling with them soon upon her arrival. 

Her new book is a collection of her most famous modelling shots. She looked spectacular in the event wearing a beautiful floor length gold dress which moved even the A-list celebrity crowd. 

The 38-year-old supermodel was noted for her best behaviour as she hosted her own book launch party for her autobiography. 

She got all glitzed and glammed up as she took the helm at her own book party leaving the bash in one of Marc Jacobs Spring 2013 dresses. 

Wearing the form-fitting white leopard print mid-length dress with a low hemline and high neckline, Kate looked elegant and on trend as she teamed the silk ombre number, costing £1,500, with simple black stilettos as she was spotted exiting the new Mayfair store. 

Kate set out to make jaws drop as she changed into the plunging golden Egyptian-esque dress which boasted a pleated detail and mesh panels around the seams. 

The dress also featured a knotted detail with tassels draping around the front as Kate accessorised with a gold cuff and a small black shoulder bag when she arrived at 50 St James. 

Her hair was worn in her usual bed-hair waves as she donned a heavier dark smoky eye make-up with highlighted cheeks and she looked excited by the turnout who came to support the iconic supermodel including Florence Welch and Stella McCartney. 

Noel Gallagher and Bob Geldof were also in attendance and were spotted conversing with each other, as well as Nick Grimshaw, Jo Wood and Boy George.

Atta-ul-Haq Qasmi steals limelight in Sharjah International Book Fair

Pakistan News & Features Services

Atta-ul-Haq Qasmi, one of Pakistan’s top writers and columnists, charmed the audience in his typical style during his presentation at the 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012 on November 13. 

Having tremendous fan following in Pakistan as well as outside of the country, he has carved a niche for himself with his satirical style of taking aim at the controversial issues and describing them in his unique tone. 

“I’ve got death threats from people in power and members of the public in Pakistan. I always respond in the same way,” Atta-ul-Haq Qasmi, who also served as the country’s Ambassador to Norway and Thailand, was quoted as saying. 

The 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012, in which Pakistan has been chosen as the country of focus, was inaugurated by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, at the Sharjah Expo Centre on November 7. 

The book fair, acclaimed to be one the biggest in the world, features 385,000 titles from more than 920 publishers from over 60 countries. It will continue until November 17. 

“Despite the participation of hundreds of publishers and hundreds of thousands of valuable books in our fair this year, we should not ignore some of the challenges faced by the book and written material in general in these times,” Dr Shaikh Sultan observed during his speech at the opening ceremony while referring to the growing trend of social media and digital publishing in the fast-changing world. 

“We believe that each has his own role and scope, and all of us as authors, publishers and intellectuals have to think of the best ways to maintain the balance of these roles and implement them quickly,” he added. 

“We believe that the publishing houses in the UAE and our region should keep up with this new revolution and innovate attractive ways to display ‘paper’ books and ‘digital’ books to encourage readers to buy books and read them in whichever way they prefer,” Dr Shaikh Sultan remarked. 

He honoured winners in the awards ceremony that followed the formal inauguration. The awards included the Etislat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature, Cultural Personality of the Year, Best Local Publishing House Award, Best Emirati Author, Best UAE Printed Book about the UAE, among others.

Pervez Hoodbhoy’s bombshell explodes in book form

Pakistan News & Features Services

“Should a bomb fall now, the destructive effects would be much greater than Hiroshima, because cities are densely packed, have much more flammable material and fires can spread without control,” Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, a renowned physicist, observed during the launch of his explosive title ‘Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out’ at Kuch Khaas in Islamabad on November 13. 

“Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to Pakistan and India and there are no plans to deal with this catastrophe. If a nuclear bomb falls on one of our cities, it could result in 500,000 casualties. That is five times the number of deaths caused in Hiroshima in 1945 by a nuclear bomb which released energy equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT,” he warned. 

“If Pakistan and India use all their nukes against each other, it could lead to a global catastrophe,” he added said, citing scientific calculations after taking Pakistan’s and India’s nuclear power in to account. 

Talking of using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy reckoned that nuclear electricity was not a viable option for either India or Pakistan. 

“Nuclear power plants are much more expensive than other sources of energy. Even in the US, nuclear electricity is more expensive than power generated through other sources. Nuclear electricity would cost us even more as we import both our reactors and fuel to run them,” he reasoned.

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy has edited the book ‘Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out’ which is a compilation of articles written by Pakistani and Indian scientists on the subject. 

It has been published by the Oxford University Press and sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation.

The book discusses both the political aspects of the two countries’ nuclear programmes and technicalities such as early warning, problems related to fissile material and the effects of a nuclear exchange. 

Heinrich Boll Stiftung’s Country Director in Pakistan, Britta Peterson, talked of how the idea of the book was born one chilly morning in 2010 in Islamabad, when she consulted him for a translation of a few essays on nuclear issue into Urdu. 

The subject of book should attract many readers besides those who are the followers of the nuclear technology. 

Yale Publishing Course 2013 offers early bird discount

Pakistan News & Features Services

The prestigious Yale Publishing Course 2013 will be organized at the Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, in July next. 

According to an official announcement, the Leadership Strategies in Magazine and Digital Publishing course will be organized from July 14 to 19, to be followed by the Leadership Strategies in Book Publishing course from July 21 to 26. 

The speakers in the Leadership Strategies in Magazine and Digital Publishing course will include Michael Clinton of Hearst Magzines, Amy Wrzesniewski of Yale School of Management, Cynthia Leive of Glamour, Scott Dadich of Condé Nast, Richard Stolley of Time, Inc. and People while Madeline McIntosh of Random House, Inc., Richard Foster of Yale School of Management, Kirsty Melville of Andrews McMeel Publishing and Patricia Arancibia of Barnes & Noble will share their experiences during the Leadership Strategies in Book Publishing course. 

The applications for the 2013 programmes are now being accepted and an early bird discount is on offer. The early applications will be entitled to 10% off tuition fee. 

The discount will be provided on tuition fee if the application is received prior to 11:59pmET on Thursday, January 31, 2013 and payment of tuition is made in full by February 28, 2013. 

The discount cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions. As the enrollment is limited, the prospective participants are being encouraged to apply early not only to avail the discount on offer but more importantly to secure their ticket for the Yale Publishing Course, recognized globally as inspiring, thought-provoking, and truly transformational. 

In order to foster a close relationship between faculty and students, the size of the class will be limited to 70 students per programme. 

These unique programmes afford mid to senior-level professionals access to a worldwide peer network and speakers who are exceptional industry leaders and distinguished professors from the Yale School of Management. 

Each programme concentrates on the most pressing issues facing publishers today and on building leadership and management skills. 

After five days of lectures, case studies, hands-on workshops, and one-on-one office hours with individual speakers, the participants emerge with the knowledge and expertise that enable them to meet the challenges of an ever-changing publishing landscape.