The small independent British publisher Aflame Books has in the four years of its existence lived up to its aim of providing “the finest English translations of literature from across the world hitherto hidden by barriers of culture and language.” Its recent publications include “Stealth” by the renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim, in an excellent translation by Hosam Aboul-Ela, Associate Professor in the University of Houston's English Department. Ibrahim, who is 73 this year, has produced a succession of celebrated novels since his first book “The Smell of It” was published in 1966. “Stealth” is partly based on Ibrahim's own childhood. The first-person narrator is a small boy who lives in a run-down apartment with his elderly father. Ibrahim superbly conveys the thoughts and perceptions of the boy as he goes through the rhythms and rituals of everyday life with his father and surreptitiously observes the behavior of the adults around him. The boy gleans what he can from overheard conversations and from peeping through keyholes. The novel is set some years after the end of the Second World War, at a time of growing opposition to King Farouk, and of anger over the partition of Palestine and establishment of Israel. The boy's mother is absent from home, and his memories of her are set in italicized passages. The boy's father had fallen in love with and married his mother when she was only 16 and he was 55, with a bedridden wife. The reasons for the mother's absence gradually become apparent to the reader. Aflame Books was founded in 2006 by two sub-editors at the Financial Times newspaper, Richard Bartlett and Gavin O'Toole. The name of Aflame is derived from the names of the areas in which the publishing house is particularly interested - Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Despite Aflame's success in publishing high-quality literary works in translation, Bartlett disclosed some days ago in an e-mail letter to Aflame's contributors and supporters that the recession has plunged the publishing house into crisis. “We are now forced to take desperate measures in light of the circumstances in which we now find ourselves,” Bartlett wrote. “To limit any further drain on our dwindling resources, we must put a halt to new titles, including those already scheduled for 2010 but not yet produced and printed.” Bartlett told Saudi Gazette that the title most immediately affected is the English version of “I Wanna Get Married” by Egyptian Ghada Abdel Aal, for which Aflame has the UK rights and which it hoped to publish later this year. “It is such a well known and highly publicized book that we are most distressed at having to put it on hold,” says Bartlett. The book is based on Abdel Aal's blog, and consists of a series of humorous episodes in which a succession of would-be suitors, each of whom she turns down, come to ask for her hand in marriage. After its publication in Egypt in 2008 by Dar El Shorouk the book became a best seller in Egypt and the Arab world and was reprinted six times in less than 18 months. It received considerable attention in the Arab and Western media. The two founders have repeatedly injected cash, while not taking income or expenses. They have been denied bank financing and have received virtually no financial support from the British arts establishment. Aflame's founders have a good track record in identifying exceptional titles for translation and publication. One recently-published title by an Arab author is “Thirsty River” by Iraqi Rodaan Al-Galidi, who is among the growing number of writers of Arab origin who live in the Netherlands and write in Dutch. The powerful novel is a satirical yet poetic take on Iraq's turbulent history portrayed through the epic story of one family over four generations. After Aflame took the novel on it was translated by Luzette Strauss who has worked as a journalist, teacher and translator in South Africa and the UK, where she now lives. Aflame's first title to be translated from Arabic was “Taxi”, the debut novel of the Egyptian writer Khaled Al Khamissi. The book takes the form of 58 taxi rides through Cairo. It was a bestseller in Arabic, and well-received in the English translation by Jonathan Wright published in spring 2008 to coincide with the London Book Fair's market focus on the Arab world. Another of Aflame's Arab-related titles is “Riddle of Qaf” by the Brazilian writer of Lebanese descent Alberto Mussa, translated by Lennie Larkin. Bartlett got a copy in the original Portuguese at the Frankfurt Book Fair and found it “a fascinating book – one of the most original stories I've ever come across.” The news of Aflame's problems is causing consternation to those who appreciate its role in bringing world literature to readers of English. The Literary Saloon blog, part of the highly-regarded Complete Review literary website, reported the news last week and it has been picked up by other literature-related websites and blogs.
