Abu Dhabi, November 17: Kalima, the translation project of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), announced that it will soon publish Swiss Elma Rakuza’s book “More Sea” into Arabic.
Rakuza won the “Swiss Book Award” on Sunday, which was announced in the city of Basel in Switzerland.
“Kalima is proud to translate the work of Elma Rakuza into Arabic, and we congratulate her for obtaining the highest Swiss literary prize, the Swiss Book Award,” a media official at Kalima said.
“The Award is recognition of the high-value of her work, which Arab readers will be familiar with through the translation of this novel,” he added.
Kalmia was the first to translate Rakuza’s book “More Sea”.
In addition to the book, a translation of her poems will be available at the next session of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which will be held in March 2010.
Kalima is credited with the translation into Arabic of the works of a number of award-winning international authors.
The latest example of this trend was its publication of the complete poetry works of the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), translated from Dutch into Arabic.
Rakuza’s book reflects on her childhood and her travels from country to country, and from house to another.
In her book, she talks of her memories of her father, her travel suitcases and the many languages she has learned to speak.
The book consists of sixty-nine sections, wherein the writer touches on her dreams of childhood and youth, the permanent Diaspora and all the farewells she has bid to old friends, along with the difficulties of meeting new ones.
Meanwhile, Kalima is participating at the ADACH stand at an exhibition being held in the Sheikh Khalifa Energy Compound on the occasion of the UAE National Day, where officials hailed the works of Abu Dhabi’s translation project after being briefed on a number of its publications.
—Agencies