BEA Translation Market

Considering that a picture is worth a 1,000 words and with the picture below is close to another 1,000 words, there no need add much else.  We are thrilled to bring the spotlight at BEA to a global genre and create a home for books in translation to connect with the whole industry at BEA.

A Brief Essay on the Big Litter Box in the Sky

I avoid posting personal info here in the Bean, but occasionally reference my family or items that are unrelated to BEA. While there will be some newsy items in the next few weeks (stay tuned!) - it is Thanksgiving this week, so I am being indulgent by sharing an essay on something 'emotional' my 10 year old son wrote for his 5th grade English class.  It resonates for me as his Dad, but it also made me laugh, because this is how his brain works and it is a truly emotional piece of writing.  I am hoping you will be as entertained as I was.  

These are his words, unedited with the exception of correcting a couple of typos. 

You the reader are probably expecting this to be that jolly type of story where there is a jolly and happy ending but it is not.

It starts on beautiful joyful happy Saturday morning.  I woke up to get ready for the day and I am saying to myself  “it is going to be a wonderful day.” But then my thought is 100 percent wrong. The first thing I saw was the worst thing I ever saw, my cat Rudy was lying on the floor frozen! I collapsed in disbelief but I had to face Rudy was ready to go up to the big litter box in the sky!

I ran into another room jumped on a couch and sobbed like there was no tomorrow I ran back up stairs and told my family the bad news. We stood there for 10 minutes until I broke the silence by bursting in tears and fell on to the ground almost making a puddle on the floor.

Later I walked outside watching my dad put Rudy’s body in the car and drive off to the spot where we first saw Rudy and make that his final resting place.  And after that we got a Christmas tree decoration in his honor so we could always remember Rudy.

Where in the world is Sharjah?

I pose my question in this post's title because the near universal response from people is bewilderment when I tell them I will be traveling to the Sharjah International Book Fair.  When I say Sharjah, they nod knowingly, then stop themselves and look at me with a blank expression, finally saying: Where?  

This will be my 5th trip to Sharjah, it is in the UAE - very close to Dubai, only about 50-60 miles from Abu Dhabi.   Sharjah International Book Fair is a ten-day international book fair held annually. The Fair started in 1982 and is the largest and most important book fair in the Middle East, getting 20,000+ visitors a day.  My friend Ahmed Al-Amri is the Fair Director and continues to innovate and expand the program and opportunities for publishing professionals, expanding beyond the traditional role a public book fair serves in any modern and literate culture. 

I look forward to attending and have a full schedule.  BEA will post info from Sharjah via the BEA social channels next week share interesting of the happenings from the fair.  Below is a sampling of the professional program.

Sharjah International Book Fair Events 

• Education resources: changes and challenges in a digital world
• Challenge's for publishing after the Arab spring 
• Maximising your IP in a digital world 
• Translation obstacles 
• Challenges for Global Distribution 
• Creative Ways of tackling Book Piracy in the Arab World: Perspectives from the UAE, US, and UK