SLUGGISH BOOKS SALES AMID MIDDLE EAST TURMOIL
April 14th, 2015
When one authoritarian government after another fell following mass uprisings in the Middle East in 2011, there was optimism that this would usher in an era of greater publishing freedoms. But as the ‘Arab Spring’ enters its fifth year, with conflict in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, book sales have dropped and censorship has rebounded.“Compared to before the Arab Spring, sales are down by 20 to 30 percent, closer to the latter I'd say,” said André Gaspard, publisher of Arabic language publishing house Dar al Saqi, the Beirut, Lebanon, sister company of ...
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