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      • Masr El Arabia for Publishing and Distribution

        We are Masr El Arabia for Publishing and Distribution, an Egyptian publishing house located in Cairo – Egypt. Established in 1977 with a focus on distribution and few but carefully selected titles. In 2007 we decided to shift more to publishing and started with academic books then lately we added a new line which is translated literature, we care most about the quality of the work and we managed to present many foreign authors for the first time to the Arab readers such as Goncalo Tavares, Immanuel Mifsud, Reiner Englemann, Julian Fuks, Kelly James Clark and others, also we managed to publish the Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich (Chernobyl Prayer) 2015, Jo Nesbo and many others during the past few years. We would like to mention that prior to the publishing house, we established Al Thaqafa Al Jadeeda Bookshop in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) which was one of the first book shops in the country. We participate in almost all the Arab book fairs, and we have our books distributed in every Arab country through the major bookshop chains and local distributors.

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      • Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc.

        Arab Scientific Publishers (ASP) publishes award winning books that cater to all ages and interests. The subject matter is wide ranging from drawing and cooking books, to Mayo Clinic references, Microsoft Training Kits, and bestselling novels, targeting children, teenagers, students, adults, and professionals.  A r a b S c i e n t i f i c P u b l i s h e r s (ASP) is a fully consolidated commercial Printing and Publishing powerhouse. The company is involved in all activities along the value chain from concept creation to distribution.   The company’s proven track record in delivering first-rate publishing and printing services will serve as a catalyst to grow the company into a global digital enterprise. Our vision is that ASP will become a strategic holding structure with international subsidiaries all around the globe.

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      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        January 2016

        The Autumn of Innocence

        by Abbas Beydoun

        In his novel, The Autumn of Innocence, prominent Lebanese poet and novelist Abbas Beydoun artfully weaves a tragic story of a father-son relationship that ends disastrously with the son's violent death. This story unfolds along with the Arab Spring movement and explores the motivations behind religious extremism and questions cultural constructs of masculinity.   The novel opens with a letter from Ghassan to his cousin, describing how his father Massoud strangled his mother to death when Ghassan was just three years old. Afterward, Massoud flees the village in southern Lebanon. For 18 years, no one hears from him, and Ghassan grows up stigmatized by his father's violent crime.   In time, Ghassan's aunt Bushra-Massoud's sister-makes a confession: She encouraged Massoud to kill his wife, believing that his wife's low socioeconomic status would bring embarrassment to their wealthy family. Bushra also reveals that Massoud was driven to kill his wife because he feared that she would tell someone that he was impotent, undermining his sense of manhood and social status.   Meanwhile, Massoud has moved to southern Syria, where he remarried and had two more sons. During the Arab Spring, the militant groups fighting the Syrian regime transform him into a religious extremist.   In the second half of the novel, Massoud return to the village in southern Lebanon. He brings with him a group of men. Together they seize control of the village and terrorize its inhabitants. After killing the dogs, they begin murdering the villagers in the name of religion. One of Ghassan's friends is among the victims, and Massoud also threatens his family. Ghassan decides that he must kill his father, avenging the death of his friend and the deaths of the other villagers. In the end, he fails and is beheaded by Bushra's son, his cousin, who is has joined Massoud's thugs.   Beydoun captures the shifting points of view in a family shattered by the tyranny of normative masculinity and the resulting violence. The victims are women, of course, but also the men like Ghassan who reject these social and cultural expectations. The novel also portrays the rise of religious extremism and the terrorism it can inspire, which wreaks havoc on the lives of ordinary people. Beydoun's engaging language imbues the characters and the places they inhabit with a vibrancy and vitality that transcends the difficult subject matter.

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2023

        Golden Mummies of Egypt

        Interpreting identities from the Graeco-Roman period

        by Campbell Price, Julia Thorne

        Golden Mummies of Egypt presents new insights and a rich perspective on beliefs about the afterlife during an era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (c. 300 BCE-200 CE). This beautifully illustrated book, featuring photography by Julia Thorne, accompanies Manchester Museum's first-ever international touring exhibition. Golden Mummies of Egypt is a visually spectacular exhibition that offers visitors unparalleled access to the museum's outstanding collection of Egyptian and Sudanese objects - one of the largest in the UK.

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        Memoirs

        The Self: Between Existence and Creation

        by Bensalem Himmich

        Far more than a straightforward autobiography, celebrated Moroccan writer and former minister of culture Bensalem Himmich diffuses life with literary and intellectual dimensions.   Himmich opens his book with a discussion on autobiographical writing, followed by chapters on the author’s early life, starting with his childhood in Meknes. In Paris, he completes a doctorate degree and there marries a Greek woman, Paneyota. The heroic figures of his “rebellious youth” are Marx and Sartre, and the challenges of these and other radical thinkers, in both Arabic and European languages, find their way into his doctoral thesis, Ideological Patterns in Islam: Ijtihad and History (in Arabic, 1990). Subsequent chapters move into the domain of creation, with four categories reflecting the author’s literary, intellectual, linguistic, and cultural interests. Starting with an epigraph of Italo Calvino, the “literary” chapter focuses on the novel, its history, and its complexities. The chapter on the “intellectual” dimension turns on the author’s lifelong interest in the two pillars of philosophy and history. For Himmich, philosophical thought is “the creative and innovative force through which truths and meanings are sought.” The two-part “linguistic” chapter opens with a discussion of identity as “a constantly developing entity”. In the second part he expresses disapproval of the worldwide prevalence of “Anglo-American English” and the weakening effects that a lack of language authority has on the sense of national identity. The “cultural” chapter includes Himmich’s observations from his career, including the poor state of public education and a decline in reading in Morocco. He also considers his time as the Moroccan Minister of Culture and the inevitable complexities of the political system within which he had to operate. The penultimate chapter entitled “My Polemics” offers four of his own polemical stands: on fundamentalist trends—specifically Islam and “Islamism”; on the prevalence in Moroccan publications of the Latin alphabet; and specific issues with the well-known littérateurs Adonis and Youssef Ziedan. The work closes with the author’s reflection on the emergence of a new and negative kind of cultural “hegemony”, the awareness of which he attributes with gratitude to Edward Said and the latter’s interpretation of the work of Franz Fanon.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        2021

        Eye on Egypt: Café Riche

        by Maisoon Saqer

        The book opens a unique door to the history of Cairo and its journey from a social and cultural perspective and aims to build a new and different narrative for this history—one that shows Cairo as a cosmopolitan, multicultural city. Cairo’s Cafe Riche has a deep cultural history and a broad creative and social heritage. Saqer describes it as “the site where endless friendships are established between the café and history.” Saqer’s narrative is not just about the small café, but rather constitutes observance and analysis of the presence of this café in the history of Egypt and how we can view many events surrounding it. Here there is no separation between the political and the cultural, between the historical, the social, and the artistic. The book combines history and narrative, which makes it a documented historical biography on the one hand and a creative work on the other. It also documents an important era in Egypt’s cultural history by examining the cultural and social transformations in modern Egyptian history and highlighting prominent intellectuals and creators associated with the cafe and the history of intellectual life in Egypt.

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        January 2013

        The Madmen of Bethlehem

        by Osama Alaysa

        Adopting the story-within-a-story structure of Arabian Nights, author Osama Alaysa weaves together a collection of stories portraying centuries of oppression endured by the Palestinian people.   This remarkable novel eloquently brings together fictional characters alongside real-life historical figures in a complex portrayal of Bethlehem and the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank. The common thread connecting each tale is madness, in all its manifestations.   Psychological madness, in the sense of clinical mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, finds expression alongside acts of social and political madness. Together, these accounts of individuals and communities provide a gateway into the histories of the city of Bethlehem and Palestine. They paint a picture of the centuries of political oppression that the Palestinian people have endured, from the days of the Ottoman Empire to the years following the Oslo Accords, and all the way to 2012 (when the novel was written).   The novel is divided into three sections, each containing multiple narratives. The first section, “The Book of a Genesis,” describes the physical spaces and origins of Bethlehem and Dheisheh Refugee Camp. These stories span the 19th and 20th centuries, transitioning smoothly from one tale to another to offer an intricate interpretation of the identity of these places.   The second section, “The Book of the People Without a Book”, follows parallel narratives of the lives of the patients in a psychiatric hospital in Bethlehem, the mad men and women roaming the streets of the city, and those imprisoned by the Israeli authorities. All suffer abuse, but they also reaffirm their humanity through the relationships, romantic and otherwise, that they form.   The third and final section, “An Ephemeral Book,” follows individuals—Palestinian and non-Palestinian—who are afflicted by madness following the Oslo Accords in 1993. These stories give voice to the perspectives of the long-marginalized Palestinian population, narrating the loss of land and the accompanying loss of sanity in the decades of despair and violence that followed the Nakba, the 1948 eviction of some 700,000 Palestinians from their homes.   The novel’s mad characters—politicians, presidents, doctors, intellectuals, ordinary people and, yes, Dheisheh and Bethlehem themselves—burst out of their narrative threads, flowing from one story into the next. Alaysa’s crisp, lucid prose and deft storytelling chart a clear path through the chaos with dark humor and wit. The result is an important contribution to fiction on the Palestinian crisis that approaches the Palestinians, madness, and Palestinian spaces with compassion and depth.

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        Biography & True Stories
        January 2014

        Beyond Writing

        by Ibrahim Abdelmeguid

        One of Egypt’s leading literary voices offers a first-hand look at political, social, cultural events of the last 40 years and how they influenced his writing.   Ibrahim Abdelmeguid, called “the quintessential writer about Alexandria” by The National newspaper, looks back over his decades-long writing career this book, which what he calls a “literary autobiography.” In it, he reflects on the social, political, and cultural influences in Egypt and elsewhere that have shaped him as a writer.   He shares his views on major political events, such as the 1967 defeat after the Six-Day War, and explanations of their profound impact on his personal life and works of fiction. Abdelmeguid devotes a portion of his work to discussing the development of his views on Egypt’s second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, over the course of his turbulent tenure in office.   The book is divided into a brief introduction and four chapters. Abdelmeguid guides the reader through his literary career, moving masterfully between the factual and the meditative. He explores how each of his novels and many of his short stories was conceived. He also describes cultural, political, and social contexts in which his writing evolved and was received by literary critics and casual readers.   He spends considerable time describing the creative process behind his Alexandria trilogy— No One Sleeps in Alexandria, Birds of Amber, and Clouds Over Alexandria. The first book, No One Sleeps in Alexandria, is set during World War II. Abdelmeguid visited numerous key sites in Alexandria and surrounding areas and read every newspaper he could get his hands on. The result of his devotion to research is a vibrant portrayal of Alexandria that shines throughout the epic novel. Of particular note is his successful communication of the cultural and religious diversity of the city and the impact of that on the promotion of a culture of tolerance.   Beyond Writing is a rare and important addition to the modern Arabic literary map. Few Arab authors are willing to so transparently share their writing process, preferring to highlight the polished final product while concealing the hard work that brought it into existence. Readers are lucky that it is a writer as prominent, thoughtful, and engaging as Abdelmeguid is willing to draw back the curtain.

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2018

        Syria and the chemical weapons taboo

        Exploiting the forbidden

        by Michelle Bentley

        This book analyses the Syria crisis and the role of chemical weapons in relation to US foreign policy. The Syrian government's use of such weapons and their subsequent elimination has dominated the US response to the conflict, where these are viewed as particularly horrific arms - a repulsion known as the chemical taboo. On the surface, this would seem to be an appropriate reaction: these are nasty weapons and eradicating them would ostensibly comprise a 'good' move. But this book reveals two new aspects of the taboo that challenge this prevailing view. First, actors use the taboo strategically to advance their own self-interested policy objectives. Second, that applying the taboo to Syria has actually exacerbated the crisis. As such, this book not only provides a timely analysis of Syria, but also a major and original rethink of the chemical taboo, as well as international norms more widely.

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        In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat

        by Iman Mersal

        ‘In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat’ is a book that traces the life of an unknown Egyptian writer who died in 1963, four years before the release of her only novel. The book does not follow a traditional style to present the biography of Al-Zayyat, or to restore consideration for a writer who was denied her rights. Mersal refuses to present a single story as if it is the truth and refuses to speak on behalf of the heroine or deal with her as a victim, but rather takes us on a journey to search for the individuality that is often marginalised in Arab societies. The book searches for a young woman whose family burned all her personal documents, including the draft of her second novel, and was completely absent in the collective archives.   The narration derives its uniqueness from its ability to combine different literary genres such as fictional narration, academic research, investigation, readings, interviews, fiction, and fragments of the autobiography of the author of the novel. The book deals with the differences between the individuality of Enayat, who was born into an aristocratic family, graduated from a German school and wrote her narration during the domination of the speeches of the Nasserism period, and that of Mersal, a middle-class woman who formed her consciousness in the 1990s and achieved some of what Enayat dreamed of achieving but remained haunted by her tragedy.   The book deals with important political, social and cultural issues, as we read the history of psychiatry in modern Egypt through the pills that Enayat swallowed to end her life on 3 January 1963, while her divorce summarises the continuing suffering of women with the Personal Status Law. We also see how the disappearance of a small square from her neighbourhood reveals the relationship between modernity and bureaucracy, and how the geography of Cairo changes, obliterated as the result of changes in political regimes. In the library of the German Archaeological Institute, where Enayat worked, we find an unwritten history of World War II and, in her unpublished second novel, we see unknown stories of German scientists fleeing Nazism to Cairo. We also see how Enayat’s neglected tomb reveals the life story of her great-grandfather, Ahmed Rashid Pasha, and the disasters buried in the genealogy tree.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        2017

        Remorse Test

        by Khalil Sweileh

        Remorse Test is Sweileh’s follow up to his novel Writing Love, which was the 2009 winner of The Mahfouz Medal for Literature. This semi-autobiographical novel, takes readers through the streets of Damascus and offers a first-hand look at life and loss during the Syrian civil war. The protagonist is a brilliant writer who is navigating a new, war-torn reality. While reminiscing about his past, he shows us what everyday life is like in Damascus—at once brutal and boring—and laments the missed opportunities and destruction the conflict has caused in his country. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, poet and novelist, author Khalil Sweileh writes about the psychological conflicts amid the shattered reality of place and society using language that is full of imagery. Remorse Test is an important addition to Syrian literature, both for its subject matter and unique use of narrative tools and vocabulary. (An extended English-language report on this book will be available soon.)

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2024

        Heritage and healing in Syria and Iraq

        by Zena Kamash

        This book explores what to do with heritage that has been destroyed in conflict. It charts a path through the colonial histories and traumatic wars of Syria and Iraq to examine the projects and responses currently on offer and assess their flaws and limitations, including issues of digital colonialism, technological solutionism, geopolitical manoeuvring, media bias and community exclusion. Drawing on current research into the psychology and neuroscience of trauma and trauma recovery, and taking inspiration from artists and creative thinkers who challenge the status quo, this book envisages gentler, creative and ethically-driven ways to respond to heritage damaged in conflict that recentre people and their hopes, dreams and needs at the heart of these debates.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        2017

        Summer Rains

        Winner of the 2018 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Young Author

        by Ahmad Al Qarmalawi

        Using music as a thread that connects the past to the present, this novel explores what happens when traditional and cultural heritage clash with modernity. The characters face the impact of modernization on heritage and arts versus the need to protect and preserve their traditional culture and must choose between the pursuit of materialism versus spiritual balance. Al Qarmalawi writes about a wide range of music from Sufism to the present era of electronic musical arts, and Summer Rains addresses the current Arab youth crisis, in which young people find themselves torn between fundamentalism and modernity. (An extended English-language report on this book will be available soon.)

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        Children's & YA
        January 2015

        Hatless

        by Lateefa Buti / Illustrated by Doha Al Khteeb

        Kuwaiti children’s book author Lateefa Buti’s well-crafted and beautifully illustrated children’s book, Hatless, encourages children (ages 6-9) to think independently and challenge rigid traditions and fixed rituals with innovation and creativity.   The main character is a young girl named Hatless who lives in the City of Hats. Here, all of the people are born with hats that cover their heads and faces. The world inside of their hats is dark, silent, and odorless.   Hatless feels trapped underneath her own hat. She wants to take off her hat, but she is afraid, until she realizes that whatever frightening things exist in the world around her are there whether or not she takes off her hat to see them.   So Hatless removes her hat.    As Hatless takes in the beauty of her surroundings, she cannot help but talk about what she sees, hears, and smells. The other inhabitants of the city ostracize her because she has become different from them. It is not long before they ask her to leave the City of Hats.   Rather than giving up or getting angry, Hatless feels sad for her friends and neighbors who are afraid to experience the world outside of their hats. She comes up with an ingenious solution: if given another chance, she will wear a hat as long it is one she makes herself. The people of the City of Hats agree, so Hatless weaves a hat that covers her head and face but does not prevent her from seeing the outside world. She offers to loan the hat to the other inhabitants of the city. One by one, they try it on and are enchanted by the beautiful world around them. Since then, no child has been born wearing a hat. The people celebrate by tossing their old hats in the air.   By bravely embracing these values, Hatless improves her own life and the lives of her fellow citizens.     Buti’s language is eloquent and clear. She strikes a skilled narrative balance between revealing Hatless’s inner thoughts and letting the story unfold through her interactions with other characters. Careful descriptions are accompanied by beautiful illustrations that reward multiple readings of the book.

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        Yalda’s Night

        by Ghada Al-Absi

        The life of poet Hafez Al-Shirazi forms the background from which this novel draws its great ideas about life, love and poetry. And although this book is based on the visions of this great poet, it is not a heterosexual biography of his life but rather an imagined novel inspired by his poetry.   The events of the novel take place in one night when Hafez dies, only to be born again. Throughout the long night, the author reviews stories, conflicts and milestone events in history, and Hafez has the chance to meet the poles of Sufi love in multiple chronological paths within the novel. He contemplates the black death and is defeated by the Farsi language with his early failures in poetry, but he finds salvation in the Arabic language by memorising the entire Qur’an. As a result, Shams Al-Din chooses another name inspired by him: Hafez, who the world will embrace until the Shiraz baker becomes a minister, on a human journey in which the Shirazi tests and loses everything successively.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2023

        Arab youths

        by Laurent Bonnefoy, Myriam Catusse

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2020

        Victorian literary culture and ancient Egypt

        by Eleanor Dobson

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2021

        Egypt of the Saite pharaohs, 664–525 BC

        by Roger Forshaw

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2016

        Zionism in Arab discourses

        by Uriya Shavit, Ofir Winter

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