Arab World and BEA's Global Market Forum

As the focus of this year’s Global Market Forum at BookExpo, the Arab publishing world will be highlighted through a series of panels and cultural event kicking off the morning of Friday, May 29th with a ribbon cutting by Lance Fensterman and His Excellency M. Amr Moussa, General Secretary of the Arab League.

All of the events sound interesting—and I’m not just saying that because I’m participating in one. Here’s the schedule for all of Friday’s events:

9:30am: Arab-US Editors Talk About the Exchange of Literature and its Impact on Their Cultures

11:00am: Up Close: Childrens’ Books in the Arab Market

2:00pm: Logistical Considerations for Arab Book Markets: Distribution, Imports and Exports

3:30pm: Copyright in the Arab World—Legal Status, Concerns, and Best Practices

4:30pm: Arab Match-Making Session

Copyright and distribution are huge issues in the Arab World, and the opening discussion about the exchange of literature (which is the panel I’m participating on) and the closing “match-making” session should give interested U.S. publishers a chance to find out how to do business with publishers from this region.

In addition to these educational/business panels, there will be two cultural events taking place on Friday and Saturday night:

On Friday at 7pm at the Goethe Institute Wyoming Building (5 E. 3rd St.): “New York Meets Baghdad” with Amal Al-Jubouri and Muhsin Al-Musawi on “Scheherazades’s Sisters”

On Satuday at 7pm at the New York Public Library: “New Eyes on the Arab World—Breaking Down Barriers of Fear and Prejudice” featuring Peter Theroux, Raja Alem, Tom McDonough, Muhammed Al Mur & Joe Sacco with Sulaiman Al Hattlan, moderator