In order to view this site in full please upgrade your version of the flash player.
Put simply, Kalima was created to address a thousand year old problem - the translation drought in the Arab world which has resulted in few great pieces of foreign writing being translated into Arabic. This has left Arabic readers unable to enjoy or learn from some of the greatest writers and thinkers that have ever lived. If you are looking for the works of Freud or Chaucer for example, you will not find them in Arabic. Currently in most Arabic countries, 'quality works' of world literature or academia are only available in their original language, restricting access to these books to a select group of society.
There are 250 million Arabic speakers in the world, but only a very small proportion of translated foreign material available to read.
To put this into context:
Add to this inconsistent product quality, poor distribution and piracy, and it's no wonder that interest in books has suffered in the Arabic world.
It's not always been this way though. In fact, throughout Europe's "Dark Ages" and until the end of the first millennium, Arab scholars and libraries led the world in translating, producing and preserving knowledge in science, medicine, philosophy and the arts. Knowledge flourished thanks to the many translations of important works into Arabic. Translators were so highly prized in this 'Golden Age' that they were apparently paid the weight of the books they translated in gold!
Kalima wants to revive this Golden Age of translation and to reunite the Arab world's fragmented book industry. We'll do this by bringing together publishers, literary agents, authors, translators and distributors to increase the number and choice of books available to Arabic readers.
Why are we so passionate about this?
Well, ultimately knowledge and books inspire intellectual and economic development, enrich people's lives, stimulate debate and help to bridge cultural gaps.
Arabic is a beautiful, expressive language, and one that should be celebrated and valued more by giving readers a greater choice of quality titles in translation. We believe that Arabic readers deserve to be able to read and enjoy the broadest range of quality writing from around the world in their mother tongue.