{"id":438,"date":"2022-10-12T14:28:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T14:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.collectiveroutes.org\/ebtedy\/?p=438"},"modified":"2023-08-01T17:46:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T17:46:24","slug":"racha-mourtada-founds-luqoom-because-she-has-a-sweet-tooth-for-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.collectiveroutes.org\/ebtedy\/2022\/10\/12\/racha-mourtada-founds-luqoom-because-she-has-a-sweet-tooth-for-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Racha Mourtada Founds Luqoom Because She Has a Sweet Tooth for Books"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By: Ebtedy Admin | 12 October 2022<\/p>\n

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It is said that we (adults) all have an inner child dormant within us. Some choose to tame it at all times, wearing the maturity suit as dictated by society; others choose to release it on special occasions or within contexts they deem appropriate; only a few recognize its right to fully exist in our adult life.<\/p>\n

Playfulness, curiosity, the ability to wonder, the willingness to keep dreaming, and the bravery to take risks are all signs of a free, balanced and happy inner child.<\/p>\n

After a career as a biomedical engineer, UN researcher, and public policy analyst in Dubai, Racha Mourtada decided that it was time to honour her inner child by unleashing her passion for writing and reviving her life-long love for children’s books. Making good use of her work experience in the corporate and governmental sectors, she launches a boutique publishing house in Beirut in 2017 that she calls\u00a0Luqoom<\/u><\/a>. In Racha’s opinion \u201cbooks are treats to be savoured,\u201d a sentiment that inspired the name of her publishing house and its tagline: We have a sweet tooth for books.<\/p>\n

Racha’s childhood love for children’s books was never subdued, as an adult, she keeps collecting them. “I\u2019m always on the lookout for special editions; I think I have about four or five different editions of\u00a0Alice in Wonderland<\/em>,\u00a0which is one of\u00a0my\u00a0favourite\u00a0books. There\u2019s something about children\u2019s books that\u2019s a bit more magical than books for adults. There\u2019s more leeway for imagination and outlandishness and unabashed emotion. And there\u2019s often a universal message that resonates with everyone, kids and adults alike. I think it was C.S Lewis who said that a children\u2019s book that can\u2019t be enjoyed by grownups is not a very good book at all. Basically, I thought I could have more fun and more room to be as creative as I wish writing and publishing children\u2019s books,” Racha says.<\/p>\n

Before venturing into the publishing industry, Racha undertook a publishing training course called the\u00a0Columbia Publishing Course<\/a>, which was hosted for the first time in Oxford. “The course was very hands-on. It\u2019s a month-long full-time course, led by people in the publishing industry and it\u2019s very practical. There\u2019s one week, call \u2018Book Week\u2019, where they split us up into these fictional publishing houses to run, with each student assigned a specific role such as editor, marketing manager, publicity manager, etc. and serendipitously, I got to be the publisher (ok, I lobbied for it. It was good practice for what was to come). We called the publishing house Finch & Feather and came up with a catalogue of six fully fleshed-out book ideas, with suggested authors and illustrators, publicity and marketing plans, and a profit and loss sheet. It was an intense and true-to-life learning experience of what really goes on at a publishing house, and it was very useful for me when I started Luqoom. One of my ideas for that fictional publishing house actually turned into\u00a0Swingers, Clingers and Other Amazing Animals in Motion<\/em>, Racha recounts.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Luqoom publishes its first book,\u00a0Swingers, Clingers and Other Amazing Animals in Motion<\/em><\/a>, penned by Racha and illustrated by Elia Tawil. Published in Arabic and English, the book is as entertaining as educational. \u201cAnimals can be awe-inspiring in their movements,\u201d Racha says. If you\u2019ve ever wondered how a monkey swings through the trees, or how a gecko can cling upside down to a leaf,\u00a0\u2018Swingers, Clingers and Other Amazing Animals in Motion\u2019<\/em><\/a>\u00a0answers all of that and more. From leaping lemurs to crawling crabs, the lush illustrations and simple explanations of animal locomotion will delight animal enthusiasts of all ages. The same year Luqoom publishes\u00a0When I Grow Up, I Want To Be…<\/em><\/a>\u00a0an Arabic book that takes young readers with big ambitions on a journey of exciting professions, subtly subverting gender stereotypes along the way.<\/p>\n

During the launch events of Luqoom’s books, Racha does live readings for kids. Those in-person interactions with kids bring a lot to Racha, the writer. “The thing I discovered about doing readings for kids is that they can be a tougher\u00a0audience than adults. Not that I don\u2019t love it, but kids are brutally honest and if they\u2019re not interested in or \u2018buying\u2019 the story, they\u2019ll let you know. On the flip side, they\u2019re always eager to tell you if they like it, or if they have their own similar story or a fact they want to share. It\u2019s always encouraging to see how surprised and delighted kids are at some of the occupations listed in\u00a0When I Grow Up, I Want To Be\u2026<\/em>\u00a0such as figure skater, robotics engineer and circus acrobat. For a lot of them, it hadn\u2019t occurred to them that anything beyond being a teacher, doctor, or engineer could be a possible career (not that those aren\u2019t perfectly respectable and needed jobs, but they are limited and not suitable for everyone). And some will scramble to change their answer to the question \u2018what do you want to be when you grow up?\u2019 after I\u2019ve done the reading. All of which confirms that these kinds of books that broaden kids\u2019 horizons are very much needed.\u00a0 Also, I\u2019ve found that stories about animals, like\u00a0Swingers, Clingers and Other Amazing Animals in Motion<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Room for Me and You<\/em>\u00a0always bring out the animal facts in little readers and suggestions for which animals I should write about.”<\/p>\n

Room for Me and You<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is Luqoom’s latest publication, launched in 2022. Written by Racha and illustrated by\u00a0Sasha Haddad<\/a>, the book takes inspiration from the incidents we all read about or witnessed at the beginning of the pandemic, of animals wandering city streets, relaxing in town squares, and just having a lovely time without us. It poses the question \u2018How can we make our cities and towns the kind of places where animals feel welcome all the time and not just when we\u2019re in hiding?\u2019<\/p>\n

Published in 2020,\u00a0I Love You from Afar<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>initially inspired by the difficulty of social distancing, the book\u2019s themes apply to any situation where we find ourselves unable to be with the ones we care about. With rhyming text and whimsical illustrations by\u00a0Sasha Haddad<\/a>,\u00a0\u2018<\/strong>I\u2019ll Love You from Afar<\/em>\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>offers a comforting boost and a sweet reminder to both children and adults that love can transcend any distance.Since its initial release in Lebanon, the book has been translated to German and published in Germany by\u00a0Ars Edition<\/u><\/a>, in Australia by\u00a0Affirm Press<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and in the United States by\u00a0HarperCollins<\/u><\/a>. These international releases coincided with Lebanon’s financial crisis, but Racha always intended for Luqoom\u2019s books to go international. “Selling rights is a great way to get your books out there, as opposed to distribution, which is often hard for small and independent publishers, definitely if they\u2019re trying to break into other markets. When you sell rights, especially to a big publisher, they have a wider reach, a more powerful marketing arm and bigger print runs. Even smaller publishing houses in different language markets can help your book reach audiences you probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to reach yourself. In this case, you (the publisher), become more like an author and get royalties from the other publisher. It\u2019s something I would have pursued (and I think every publisher should pursue), regardless of the economic situation in Lebanon. I think it\u2019s good to have a base in Lebanon with an eye to expanding to outside markets. I think of my international sales as a way to subsidise book sales in Lebanon because it’s increasingly difficult to price books or any kind of product these days with the continuing currency devaluation and the rising costs of materials. And it helps to keep my prices reasonable even as expenses go up because I believe books should always be accessible and not a luxury.”<\/p>\n

Besides Luqoom’s focus on children’s books, the publishing house has released a book for grownups, written with Racha’s same playfulness,\u00a055 Slightly Sinister Stories<\/em>\u00a0is the product of her fascination with \u2018microfiction\u2019\u2013a genre of extremely short stories ranging anywhere between six and one thousand words\u2013a reverence for the creepy brilliance of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton.\u00a055 Slightly Sinister Stories<\/em>\u00a0are 55 stories, 55 words each. No more. No less. These bite-sized tales are the equivalent of literary canap\u00e9s, seasoned with a dash of dark humour and a modicum of absurdity. Each is accompanied by a delicate, hand-drawn, black and white illustration by Lebanese designer\u00a0Lynn Atme<\/a>, to complement the story\u2019s cheeky undertones.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to know more about Luqoom and the ins and outs of the publishing industry you can also\u00a0watch this interview<\/a>\u00a0with Racha Mourtada.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By:\u00a0Jana Al Obeidyine<\/strong>, a dancer, writer and independent publisher based in Beirut- Lebanon.<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright Photos:\u00a0Racha Mourtada\/Luqoom<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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