In Other Words

Once a sleepy town on the Arabian Peninsula, Dubai is now one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, with a $46 billion GDP and a population that's nearly doubled in 10 years. But amid fortune-making, horse-racing, and jet-setting, do the desert city's residents make time to read? FP spoke with Isobel Abulhoul, director and co-owner of Magrudy's, a Dubai-based bookstore chain, for her take on the city's literary scene.

It's a country in the midst of an industrial revolution. Yet, according to popular author and editor Shobhaa De, when it comes to literature, India remains stuck in the past.

Think books are dead? Take a trip to Mexico City, where a market for fiction, self-help, and political works is thriving. FP recently spoke with Mexico-based publishing executive Cristóbal Pera to find out why.