A former bookseller at London’s largest Arabic bookshop, which closed at the end of 2022, has set up a crowdfunding appeal to launch a new bookshop and community space.
Al Saqi Books in Bayswater opened in 1978, and sold books on the Middle East and north Africa in English, and on all subjects in Arabic. It closed on 31 December, with bookshop director Salwa Gaspard saying it was a “difficult decision that had to be made because of recent economic challenges, such as the sharp increases in Arabic-language book prices”.
