The logo of the Arab Cultural Center,
publisher of Twilight.

The names Edward and Bella are almost as famous around the world as those of Harry and Hermione. But in Arabic-speaking countries, the heroes of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight quartet might yet eclipse those of Rowling’s mega-selling series.

“The Harry Potter books did not sell as well when translated into Arabic as it did in other parts of the world,” said Haissam Fadel, foreign rights and sales manager of the Arab Cultural Center, an Arabic-language publisher interviewed at last month’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. “It may have had something to do with the fact that readers didn’t know exactly who the books were for—adults or children.”

Still, Fadel said, when Rowling’s books were translated into Arabic by Egyptian publisher Nahdet Misr, it helped to open a new market of readers—those now willing to give YA a try.

Fadel’s company, which has divisions in Casablanca and Beirut, took a chance and bought Arabic-language rights to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight quartet at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. “At the time, the books were not so well-known in the Arabic world,” he said, “but the movie changed all that.” When the books reach bookstores this May, images from the film will be used on the promotional posters.

Fadel said the company wanted to capitalize on the interest generated by the film, and felt it was important to get the books translated as quickly as possible. “It was a huge commitment and hugely expensive, but we used four different translators—one on each book,” he said. “Of course, we would have liked to have just used one translator, but we observed that when customers went into a bookstore to buy Twilight they tended to buy multiple volumes, so we wanted to have them on offer all at once.”

He indicated the initial printing would likely be “larger than average”—a typical print run for a fiction title in Arabic is two or three thousand copies—and might be as high as 10,000 copies.

Fadel is cautiously optimistic that Twilight can outsell Harry Potter in Arabic-speaking countries. “We’re excited by the possibility, but also a little scared,” he said. “This is new territory. Young adult fiction is not something you often see in the Arab world. It has a lot of potential and if it works it could bring us a lot of new readers.”