The American University in Cairo Press (AUCP, AUC Press) is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East. The largest translator of Arabic literature in the world, AUC Press has a reputation for carefully selecting and translating the best writing being produced in the language today. They are the publisher of the Nobel prize winning Egyptian novelist, Naguib Mahfouz. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses. History The American University in Cairo Press was founded in 1960. It is an independent publisher with close ties to the American University in Cairo (AUC). Its offices are in the heart of the Egyptian capital, overlooking the historic downtown landmark, Tahrir Square. Its first publications in 1961 were K.A.C. Creswell’s A Bibliography of the Architecture, Arts and Crafts of Islam, (AUC Press, 1961), Otto F.A. Meinardus’s Monks and Monasteries of the Egyptian Deserts (AUC Press, 1961), Edward B. Savage's The Rose and the Vine: A Study of the Evolution of the Tristan and Isolt Tale in Drama (AUC Press, 1961), and George Scanlon’s A Muslim Manual of War (AUC Press, 1961). Mission Considered "the leading English-language publishing house in the Middle East", its goals and purposes reflect and support the mission of the AUC in education, research, and cultural exchange, through professional publishing programs and international bookselling services. Originally an academic publisher, AUC Press now publishes Arabic fiction translated into English. In 2016, AUC Press launched a new fiction imprint called Hoopoe. Publishing programs Today the AUC Press publishes books in twelve broad categories: Arabic Language Learning Archaeology and Ancient Egypt Art & Architecture Business, Economics, and Environmental Studies Coptic and Islamic Studies Egypt Guidebooks Fiction in Translation History Literary Criticism Middle East Studies Middle East Travel Naguib Mahfouz It publishes annually up to 50 wide-ranging academic texts and general interest books for distribution worldwide. It also maintains a backlist of more than 600 high-quality scholarly, literary, and general interest publications. Through its own bookstores and other retailers in Egypt, along with its distributors abroad, namely Ingram Content Group and Bloomsbury Publishing, the AUC Press sells its books in every major book market around the world and through major online retailers, including Amazon. The AUC Press also sells e-books and licenses foreign editions of its publications in many languages. Fiction in Translation In 1978 the AUC Press translated and published a novel, Naguib Mahfouz's Miramar―his first to be