The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre has unveiled 14 translation projects spanning seven languages at the Frankfurt Book Fair, pushing Arabic literature into markets that have long overlooked it, from Brazil to North Macedonia.
Saeed Al Tunaiji, executive director of the centre, framed the agreements as part of the wider "Kalima to the World" initiative, which marks its first anniversary this year. Under the deals, Arabic works will be translated into Portuguese, Macedonian, Hindi, Urdu, Greek, Spanish and English, in partnership with ten publishing houses and cultural organisations.
The partners include Brazil's Editora Rua do Sabao, led by Leonardo Garzaro, and North Macedonia's Bata Press, led by Filip Batkoski. India's National Book Trust and Pakistan's Book Corner and National Book Foundation are also taking part, while Greek publishers Kaktos and Vakxikon will bring Arabic titles to Greek readers.
Mohamed Rashad, president of the Arab Publishers Association, said the goal is to reverse a longstanding imbalance: for decades, translation has flowed almost entirely from foreign languages into Arabic, and it is time Arabic works travelled the other way.
The selected titles span fiction, children's literature, history, heritage and social themes. Participating publishers say that breadth matters — it lets international readers encounter the Arab world through more than just its best-known classics, offering instead a fuller, more contemporary picture of the region's storytelling.