In its thirty-fourth edition, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair continues its engagement with global cultures by featuring the Caribbean as this year’s Guest of Honour; a gesture that celebrates one of the world’s richest and most diverse literary, intellectual, and artistic landscapes.

The Caribbean, with its archipelago of over 700 islands, is more than just a geographical region, it is a crucible of cultures, memories, and struggles; a literary voice like no other.

Caribbean Literature: The Voice of Identity and Diaspora

Caribbean literature can be described as hybrid literature, where European languages (English, French, Spanish, and Dutch) intersect with Creole dialects, and where themes of identity, slavery, colonialism, resistance, exile, and longing intertwine. It is the literature of peoples who have paid the historical price of their strategic location on the global map, yet it is also the literature of dreams, renewal, freedom, and deeply rooted memory.

From Walcott to Lewis: Caribbean Figures in the Nobel Archive

Prominent literary and intellectual figures have emerged from the Caribbean region, earning themselves a distinguished place in the history of the Nobel Prize. Among the most notable are the poet Derek Walcott, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, and the novelist V. S. Naipaul, who received the same prize in 2001. The author Maryse Conde is also among the most frequently nominated writers, and she was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2018. Alongside them stands the name of Aime Cesaire, a founding figure of the Negritude movement, as well as the poet and thinker Edouard Glissant, who contributed significantly to the renewal of postcolonial thought.

The Caribbean’s Nobel presence extends beyond literature. In 1979, Sir W. Arthur Lewis of Saint Lucia received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his pioneering work in development economics.

These names reflect the richness and plurality of Caribbean culture. Their writings and philosophies transcend local realities, offering profound human insights and raising enduring questions about identity, justice, and freedom.

When the Islands Whisper to the East: A Caribbean-Arab Dialogue

The Caribbean’s presence at this year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is more than a gesture of cultural exposure; it marks the continuation of a quietly evolving relationship. Despite the geographical distance, Caribbean and Arab experiences intersect in striking ways, through histories of colonialism, displacement, contested identities, and the search for belonging after independence.

These shared themes are at the heart of both Caribbean and Arab literature, making translation a powerful tool for building bridges between the two worlds.

In recent years, translations of Caribbean literature into Arabic have grown, particularly the works of Naipaul, Glissant, Conde, Walcott, and Jean Rhys, nurturing a new Arab awareness of what is often called "peripheral literature", which in fact redefines the centre and unveils the layered nature of identity in a globalised era.

A Final Word: Towards a Borderless Global Literature

The selection of the Caribbean as Guest of Honour at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2025 is a celebration of diversity and openness, not as abstract ideals, but as lived realities across nations. It is a tribute to literature that revives forgotten voices, questions dominant narratives, and offers the "other" a rightful place in the cultural conversation.

This initiative offers ample space for building bridges of collaboration between publishers from the Arab world and the Caribbean, through translation, distribution, and rights exchange, all of which contribute to enriching the shared cultural landscape and strengthening mutual presence in global markets. It is also a valuable opportunity for Arab readers, researchers, and translators to engage with literary experiences that mirror their own in depth, even if they appear different on the surface.

As the Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant once said: "It is relation that produces identity, not a single origin".