BOOK TRANSLATION PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT FOR

UNCLAS AMMAN 002163 SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/NEA/SA (WINCHESTER); IIP/G/AF (COX); NEA/PPD (BENZE, AGNEW) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRC KPAO OIIP OPRC JO SUBJECT: BOOK TRANSLATION PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY-05 REF: STATE 6778 ¶1. Summary: Embassy Amman's Arabic Book Program translated and published nine titles by American authors in Arabic during FY-05. The copyright permission for all these titles was obtained by the post and agreements were signed between U.S. and local publishers. We sent out over 10,000 books to libraries and American Corners. Through the program, the publishers we work with printed a total of 22,500 copies of those titles and sold over 30% of those books commercially. ¶2. Listed below is each book title, author, print run and the support funds. 1) "Crescent" by Diana Abu Jaber, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 2) "Watching the Wind" by Suzan Collin Marks, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 3) "Let It Shine" by Andrea Davis Pinkney, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 4) "A Journey to Paradise" by Anne Siberell, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 5) "Bravo, Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast and Crew" by Anne Siberell, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 6) "Culture and Democracy in the United States: Studies in Ethnicity" by Horace M. Kallen, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 7) "Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics" by Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. 8) "Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions," a World Bank Book, 2500 copies, Supplemented funds from NEA for the Arabic Book Program (FY03). 9) "The Right to Tell: The Role of Mass Media in Economic Development," a World Bank Book, 2500 copies, I BUCKS. ¶3. The Arabic Book Program publicly launched and promoted six of the nine FY 05 titles. The program hosted two speakers, Diana Abu Jaber, author of "Crescent" in November 2004 and Anne Siberell, author of "A Journey to Paradise" and "Bravo, Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast and Crew" in June 2005. The program also organized a Digital Video Conference for women activists from Jordanian NGOs with Dr. Kathryn Sikkink author of "Activists Beyond Borders" in November 2005. The title "The Right to Tell" was launched in March 2005 through a media workshop with leading journalists and media figures in the Jordan. The program also organized a book reading for schoolchildren at a children's bookshop in Amman to launch the title "Let it Shine." All those events witnessed excellent turn out and reached out to two important mission target groups: youth and civil society. ¶4. The Arabic Book Program sent out a total of 10,273 books to libraries and American Corners in the region. Out of this number, we provided approximately 5000 books to all the regions in Iraq, as well as to African posts such as Dakar and Bamako. The program arranged for the display of our titles at the major book fairs in Cairo, Casablanca, Tunis, and Damascus. We constantly receive book orders and hear positive feedback from posts. ¶5. Our book publishers report that to date they have sold over 30% of the above titles. ¶6. For further information, please contact Arabic Book Program Specialist Ruba Hattar, Tel: 962-6-590- 6050, Fax: 962-6-590-0121, E-mail: hattarrh@state.gov. You can also check our page on the Amman Embassy website: http://amman.usembassy.gov. Hale