Questions of fidelity to a text and handling ambiguous passages were among topics discussed by Marilyn Booth, Michael Cooperson, and Hamed Al Ghaithi.
At the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, May 24. Image: ADIBF
By Olivia Snaije | @OliviaSnaije
Cooperson: A Polyphonic Quality
The Abu Dhabi book fair’s Monday (May 24) session on “The Art of Translation” brought together three very different translators who talked about how to faithfully reproduce an author’s writing in a different language.
Moderated by Arabic language and literature scholar Bilal Orfali, the event featured:
Marilyn Booth, an Arabic-to-English translator, as well as a professor and researcher in the field
Collective online bookselling site Les Libraires went a long way toward helping Québec’s bookstores stay afloat in 2020, and bookstore owners say they now have new relationships with consumers. (Sponsored)
Librairie L’Exèdre co-owners Éliane Ste-Marie, left, and Audrey Martel
By Olivia Snaije | @OliviaSnaije
Working Together in Retail
In Québec, booksellers report doing increasingly better since 2015, with growth estimated at around 5 percent. But no one might have predicted that in 2020, total book sales would increase by 5.8 percent according to BTLF figures or that sales to the general public in independent bookstores would increase by 18 percent.
After all, during the first lockdown, which took place from mid-March to mid-May, independent bookstores saw their sales fall by an average of 63 percent. “In March I never thought I’d be saying this,” says Éric Simard, “but this has been our best year since 2015.”