Darf Publishers is an independent British publishing house established in London in 1980 focusing on publishing books on the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab World in English. Initially, most of Darf's books were facsimile editions of rare 18th and 19th century books, covering topics such as history, sociology, literature and languages, culture, and sport.

Origins

Darf was established in London in 1980 by the Libyan publishing entrepreneur Mohammed Fergiani as the English imprint of the Arabic language Dar Fergiani publishing house (from which Darf takes its name) which he established in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, and later in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, in 1952. Dar Fergiani operated in Libya until it was forced out of the country by the

Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

regime, due to the targeting and banning of privately owned publishing companies. Fergiani emigrated to London in the late 1970s, returning to Libya in the 1990s to reopen several bookshops and to continue Dar Fergiani's publishing operations in Libya and several other Arab countries.

Early Publications

Since its inception in 1980 Darf has focused on publishing books on Libya, the Middle East, and the Arab World in English. The firm has more than 200 titles in its back catalogue of facsimile editions of rare and out of print 18th and 19th century books, mainly dealing with history, sociology, literature and languages, culture, and sport. Darf has also published books in other languages such as Italian on the history of Libya and the Middle East.

New Publications

The firm's relaunch of its publishing operations in 2009 has primarily focused on translating and publishing literature by emerging Middle Eastern, North African, and European writers. Among its new publications are

Chewing Gum (novel) ''Chewing Gum'' is the debut novel of Libyan writer Mansour Bushnaf, first published in Arabic 2008 in Cairo. It was banned by the Gaddafi regime in Libya. It was first published in English in 2014 by DARF Publishers Darf Publishers is an indep ...

Mansour Bushnaf Mansour Bushnaf ( ar, منصور بوشناف) (born October 22, 1954) is a Libyan writer. He began his literary career as a playwright and essayist, before writing his debut novel '' Chewing Gum (novel)'' which was banned in 2008 in Libya Bushnaf ...

African Titanics African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

Abu Bakr Khaal Abu Bakr Hamid Khaal is an Eritrean writer. He is best known for his 2008 novel ''African Titanics'' which was translated into English by Charis Bredin. He has written a couple of other books, e.g. ''The Scent of Arms'' and ''Barkantiyya: Land of ...

and

Maps of the Soul A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Althou ...

Ahmed Fagih Ahmed Ibrahim al-Fagih (Arabic: أحمد إبراهيم الفقيه ''’áħmad 'Ibrāhīm al-faqīh'') (December 28, 1942 – April 30, 2019) was a Libyan novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist and diplomat. He began writing short stories ...

. Darf have also published the first English translation of

Confines of the Shadow Confines is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. External links * Municipalities of Santander Department {{Santander-geo-stub ...

by Italian novelist

Alessandro Spina Alessandro Spina (1927–2013) was the pen name of Basili Shafik Khouzam. Born in Benghazi into a family of Syrian Maronites that originally hailed from Aleppo, Syria, Khouzam was educated in Milan and published his first story in Nuovi Argomenti ...

. In 2017 Darf expanded its scope by acquiring rights to the English translation of ''Chiisai ouchi'' (''The Little House'') by Japanese author

Kyoko Nakajima is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, Shibata Renzaburo Prize, Kawai Hayao Story Prize, and Chuo Koron Literary Prize, and her work has been adapted for film. Early life and education Kyoko Na ...

References

{{reflist

External links

DARF Publishers Website

DARF Publishers on Twitter

DARF Publishers on Facebook
Book publishing companies based in London Publishing companies established in 1980