Abu Dhabi // Teenagers who swooned over the Arabic translations of the Twilight vampire romance novels can sink their teeth into the series' last chapter next month at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. In its 20th year, the fair, running from March 2 to 7, will be the official launch of Breaking Dawn (Boozoogh al Fajr), the fourth and final instalment in the best-selling saga, according to the Arabic-language publisher. "We want to make it very specific that the [Arabic] premiere will be during the Abu Dhabi book fair," said Haissam Fadel, marketing manager for the Sama Publishing house. "If the fans want it, they'll have to come to the book fair - otherwise they'll have to wait a month or so."
Only about 250 copies will be on sale at the fair, Mr Fadel said yesterday from Morocco. The English version of Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn has been available in the UAE since 2008. The American's books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold more than 85 million copies worldwide. Two film adaptations have been made and a third film is underway. Mr Fadel said sales of the first three books in Arabic had been brisk. There have been two editions of Twilight, 2,000 copies of the first batch released last July, followed by 3,000 more. "If everything keeps going this way, we'll have a third edition pretty soon," he said.
The sequels New Moon and Eclipse were also translated and are on sale in the UAE. Mr Fadel also revealed that Sama Publishing had bought the Arabic rights for Ms Meyer's 2008 novel for adults, The Host, which should be available in early September. mkwong@thenational.ae
