Spring has arrived in London and with it, swathes of bookish professionals made their annual pilgrimage to Earl's Court. For TS Eliot, April may have been the cruellest month, but there were no signs of decline at the London Book Fair. The international publishing elite gathered for the three-day event, which has become one of industry's most important trade fairs. It is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels and brings together 23,000 members of the global publishing community. This is a place where authors can meet publishers; publishers, distributors; distributors, retailers. As Kelly Pike of Saqi books said: "It's one of the best advertising and marketing opportunities in the world."
It's difficult to know what to expect at such an event. There is a distinct element of literary celebration, opportunities to meet famous authors and chat about favourite books and even a look at the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future, including the UK debut of the Espresso book machine - a vending-style contraption that prints books while you wait. For all the fun and novelty, though, the fair is firmly centred on business. Inside, the exhibition floor is littered with stalls and busy chatter fills the vast expanses as publishers, authors and distributors vie for lucrative contracts. Figures are bandied around, hands shaken, acquaintances renewed and friendships formed. Books deals are made in boardrooms and corridors.
It's exciting, urgent and overwhelming. Fittingly, India was the focus country for the fair this year. The organisers presented an impressive range of authors, including Vikram Seth and the Nobel Prize-winner Amartya Sen. Being the focus gives the kind of publicity that money can't buy. The British Council provides support at every level: organising meetings, seminars and networking events. Last year's fair showcased the Arab world but this year, exhibitors aimed to capitalise on the recent wave in literature from the region.
The Arab presence demonstrated both an increasing literary awareness within the region and a growing international interest. The buzz was linked in no small part to the obvious potential of this emerging market. "The statistics speak for themselves - 24 Arab countries, a population of 340 million and 422 million Arabic speakers living outside of the region," said Bachar Chebaro, the owner of Arab Scientific Publishers and the secretary general of the Arab Publishers Association.
In the current economic climate, western publishers are increasingly tempted by this largely untapped market. Bloomsbury and Penguin have already announced plans to expand into the Gulf. "I was lucky enough to visit the Cairo Book Fair as part of the British Council delegation," Jonathan Nowell, President of Nielsen Books said. "When I came back to the UK my brain was bursting with ideas. There is so much opportunity for international publishers and, most importantly, for Arab publishers, to meet the enormous consumer demand for education and entertainment that books can deliver."
The London Book Fair enables participants to find out more about the specificities of international consumer demand and genre preference. According to Dr Ali Bin Tamim, the project manager of Kalima, an organisation which aims to make western texts accessible to Arab audiences through translation, Emiratis gravitate toward "novels, autobiographies, science books, illustrated and architectural books and books about Islamic history".
It is these types of publications that Kalima is seeking to promote in the Arab world, with 150 texts already translated. "We are encouraging Arabic publishers to forge links with foreign firms and also to support the work of translators." An attempt is being made to keep Arab readers up to date with western bestsellers and Kalima will shortly be publishing Barack Obama's autobiography in Arabic. "The challenge here in London is to find a great book and a great publisher that can reach as many people as possible," Tamim said.
For Irum Fawad of Kitab, the organisers of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, a presence at the London event is a necessity. "It helps us to improve our visibility, promotes networking opportunities and encourages professionalism", she said. "Our 20th book fair will be held next year and it will be more international than ever before because it is now seen as a credible forum." "Book fairs in the Arab World are generally focused on selling books" adds Claudia Kaiser, the general manager of Kitab. "In Abu Dhabi, we are changing this by using the event to develop business contacts and to offer professional training. In 2008, we hosted 480 exhibitors hailing from 42 countries. This year we had 637 exhibitors from 53 countries. We also included a targeted matchmaking event where people could register in order to meet Arab or international publishers. That was a big breakthrough," she said.
Ahmed Al-Amri, the director of the Sharjah World Book Fair, the first representative from the UAE to begin exhibiting at the London Book Fair four years ago, also commented on the positive impact that inclusion in the London event has had on the domestic book fair. "A great deal of interest has been generated here and it has helped to boost success back home," he said. "Last year, the Sharjah fair welcomed 400,000 people - eight per cent of the population of the UAE - and reached sales of around $28 million (Dh103m). That is a lot of money in the world of books. People understand that in business, the figures don't lie.
"In particular, visitors here in London have been excited by the Knowledge without Borders government initiative. It is designed to encourage parents and children to spend more time reading by providing a library of 50 Arabic books to 24,000 families in Sharjah." The project is part of a wider educational programme to disseminate Arabic texts domestically and internationally. Literature is not geographically bound and texts do not operate or exist in isolation, but are instead part of a wider body of sources and quotations that form links with other nations and other eras. The Arab initiatives recognise the value of intertextuality while giving native writers a platform to share their work and enter it into this broader literary community.
"Much has been achieved since last year," said the writer and presenter Maya Jaggi. "The Arab World now offers a number of prestigious awards that stimulate both reading and translation in the Arab world. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is now in its third year and the Egyptian author Bahaa Taher, the first winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, held in association with the UK's Booker Prize, will have his novel Sunset Oasis published in the UK in September. Clearly there is huge potential in the 24 countries."
Obstacles, however, still remain. "We have at least 70 million illiterate people in the Arab world," Chebaro said. "The literacy rate means that more educational programmes are needed." In addition, the Arab world still lacks a viable distribution network and proper marketing for books. A failure to collate statistical information means that there is insufficient data regarding what is being published. The absence of literary agents and a paucity of first-rate translators also threaten to disrupt the progress being made in the Arab book industry.
"We need to create a more efficient supply chain in the Arab world" Nowell added. "We are working towards a situation whereby the consumer is informed about what is available, they can find information on these products and can easily make a timely purchase decision to buy what is available. We need to rely more on print on demand in the Arab World. The technology now gives us the opportunity to accelerate the wider dissemination of books in the Arab World without having to go through traditional distribution channels."
"We have made progress and we must continue to co-operate and share our experiences across the region," said Kaiser. "There is an increasing understanding that to move forward we have to work together. We are not in an ideal world yet, but we are getting there."