HBKU Press collection ‘helps bridge cultural differences’

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) has stressed that its collection of translated works “helps bridge cultural differences”.Since its launch in 2010, HBKU Press has released numerous translations of a variety of books as part of its efforts to expand the literary landscape of the region, according to a press statement.Publishing translations is an important part of the mandate at HBKU Press, which publishes a variety of fiction, non-fiction, children’s and academic titles, along with research articles, conference proceedings and journals.The purpose of translations is to help contribute to the cultural exchange of information and help to build cross-cultural communication and co-existence that enhance the transfer of thought and knowledge between Arabic and other languages, the statement notes.“Translated volumes allow readers to cross-cultural thresholds and find the common humanity in all our stories, while simultaneously discovering different cultures. With that goal, HBKU Press focuses on featuring translated works alongside showcasing Arab talent in order to enrich the Arabic literary scene and enhance cross-cultural communication.“Our mission is to select books to translate, whether they published by us or other publishers, that focus on issues that concern Qatar, the Gulf region and the Arab world,” said Fakhri Saleh, head of Arabic Publishing at HBKU Press.“We choose books that are bestselling fiction works from around the world, award-winning books from different cultures, fiction works written by Arab women and men in different languages. We focus on translating books that add to our knowledge, understanding of ourselves and of humanity.”The most recently released translations by HBKU Press include the translation of one Spanish work, Games of the Late Age written by Luis Landero and translated by Saleh Almani, and two translations from English, Poor Economics — translated by Anwar al-Shamy and Science and Islam — written by Ehsan Masood and translated by Ayham al-Sabbagh.The titles present a diverse variety of stories and information that cross cultural, socio-economic and political borders.“As an avid reader, it’s great to have such a variety of popular translated works available to me in Arabic,” said Mohamed al-Mahmeed, a local filmmaker. “HBKU Press’s contribution to the global exchange of information is not only invaluable, it is laudable and very important.”To date, HBKU Press has published over 60 translated works to and from English, Spanish, German and Turkish.