ABU DHABI - The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, has announced that two new grant categories – Digital Books and Audio Books – have been added to its ‘Spotlight on Rights’ programme, which is part of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

Spotlight on Rights supplies grants and provides opportunities for networking between Arab and international publishers. It also supports the translation of content from and into Arabic and now, with its new Digital and Audiobook categories, aids in the digital conversion of content, ensuring its dissemination to worldwide audiences, a DCT Abu Dhabi press release said on Monday.

Next year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair will mark the 12th anniversary of the programme.

The new categories have been established in an effort to provide the public with access to ever more high-quality Arabic content, in light of the growth of the digital publishing sector and the growing demand for audio books.

Abdullah Majid Al Ali, Acting Executive Director of the Dar Al Kutub Sector at DCT Abu Dhabi, said, "We are proud to be leading the way on the latest international trends in publishing and translation, using cutting-edge technologies to translate or disseminate our world-class publications. Digital publishing is the future, and we seek to embrace it wholeheartedly as a way to further our mission of enabling the wider consumption and appreciation of Arabic literature and Arabic-language content.

He added, "The programme was a great success during the most recent edition of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, facilitating important introductions and providing publishers with the means to purchase the rights to several valuable books. We are expecting even more success in 2020 with the launch of these new categories for digital and audio books, as they support technology and innovation in the publishing industry." Launched in 2009, Spotlight on Rights has contributed to the publication of more than 600 titles across a variety of fields, including children’s books, science, history and social sciences to name but a few. To date, more than 120 publishers have been awarded grants starting from $2,500 for children’s books and up to $4,000 for all other genres, resulting in translations from French, German, Swedish and English amongst other languages.

The winners of the Spotlight on Rights programme grants for 2019 edition have been announced and are currently being contacted to execute their approved publishing projects as planned.

DCT Abu Dhabi has already begun preparations for the 30th edition of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The event, taking place in April 2020, will celebrate three decades of promoting knowledge, learning and a love of the written word, as well as its significant impact on the cultural landscape across the region and beyond.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.