São Paulo – Contemporary literature for 18- to 30-years-old readers and children’s books are some of Brazilian books that interested the Arab market the most. That’s the perception from Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) International Relations manager Fernanda Dantas during her stay in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, this week. “They are looking for potential new contemporary authors that may become huge bestsellers,” Dantas told ANBA on the phone from Sharjah.
Dantas is part of a delegation of Brazilian publishers that are in the emirate to participate in the publishing event Sharjah International Book Fair. The show will start this Wednesday (30) and the Brazilian group with seven people has had appointments in the Arab country since Sunday. Until last Tuesday (29), they’ve been at a publishing conference and B2Bs with publishers from all over the world. More than 300 publishers were invited and participated in this program.
Besides Fernanda from CBL, Brazilians participating in the mission include publishers Isabel Coelho from FTD, Fernanda Dias from Companhia das Letras, Ivana Jinkings from Boitempo, Kin Guerra from Solisluna, Laura Di Pietro from Tabla, and Juliana Farias, independent literary agent representing the Riff agency for Arabic. To participate in the initiative, it was necessary to apply and go through a selection. Besides working with partnerships and deals for CBL, Dantas participated in B2Bs to present the catalogues of publishing houses integrating the program Brazilian Publisher.
Brazilian Publisher is a sector project that encourages the export of content produced by Brazil’s publishing houses. It is a result of a partnership between CBL and Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). The mission to Sharjah was supported by the program.
Dantas said the topics addressed during the conferences and round tables with publishers included Arab and African publishing markets. Brazilian participated in B2Bs for both selling national copyrights and buying the rights to publish foreign works in Brazil. But the Brazilian delegation’s main goal was selling.
If a deal is closed between the publishing houses participating in B2Bs, they may apply to receive a translation grant for the book. Dantas said that it’s not necessary that the money is used for publishing books in Arabic. All invited professionals may compete, and translations may be into any language.
This Wednesday (30), Brazilian publishers will have their last day in Sharjah program participating in the book fair opening and a guided tour through the show. At night, a gala dinner with local officials will be their last appointment. Besides the books showcased by the 1,874 exhibiting publishing houses, the fair has a large schedule including cultural activities, children’s activities, food, award ceremonies, and others. The fair runs until November 9th.
The participation of Brazilian publishers is not the first initiative to bring Brazil and UAE publishing markets closer. The relationship started to develop in 2016 and since then featured the participation of Sharjah bodies in Brazil book shows and the other way around. The emirate of Sharjah was honored at the 25th Book Biennial in São Paulo in 2018 and sent a large delegation to Brazil back then.
Quick facts:
Sharjah International Book Fair
October 30 to November 9
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda