LEILA is a European cooperative project, which aims to promote the translation and dissemination in Europe of contemporary Arabic literature.

While the performing and visual arts have gradually found their place on the European art scene, new voices in Arabic literature are not read or heard enough. LEILA was founded with the common desire to promote the translation and dissemination of these voices.

Initially funded by the European Union programme Creative Europe, the LEILA project was designed and implemented during its first phase (2021-2023) by iReMMO (France), in partnership with ATLAS (France), BOZAR / Mahmoud Darwish Chair (Belgium), and the Fédération Tunisienne des Éditeurs(Tunisia).

As of 2024, the website is financed by the Institut Français and the lead has been taken over by ATLAS, in partnership with Agence Karkadé. The project now focuses on the development of the catalogue and the resource database. LEILA’s aim is threefold:

• to promote the visibility of the new Arabic-language literary scene in Europe with a selection of books and authors; 
• to structure a network of actors and organisations in the field of Euro-Arab literature and publishing through professional meetings and workshops;
• to strengthen the capabilities and visibility of a new European generation of translators from Arabic.