Ten years inside academic publishing, on both sides of the Arabic–English line: translating the books, then editing the journal that publishes them.
Mohammad Shatila is an Arabic–English academic translator and editor based in Ras Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2014 he has worked at the Centre for Arab Unity Studies as a translator and junior editor, where he is part of the team producing Contemporary Arab Affairs, the centre’s peer-reviewed quarterly, published in turn by Routledge, the University of California Press and, since 2023, Brill.
He has translated more than fifteen volumes and reports, among them the memoirs of George Habash, Mohammad Fayek and Mounir Shafiq, and the Arabic editions of the SIPRI Yearbook. He holds diplomas in translation from Beirut Arab University and in Arabic digital content from Saint Joseph University of Beirut, and works in manuscript verification, palaeography and TEI encoding of classical Arabic texts.
Translator and Junior Editor · Beirut
Core of the team producing Contemporary Arab Affairs, the centre’s quarterly English journal, working directly with its successive publishers: Routledge from 2008, University of California Press from 2018, and Brill from 2023. Also translated the centre’s book programme, including the memoirs of George Habash, Mohammad Fayek and Mounir Shafiq.
Administrative Assistant to the leadership · Beirut
Confidential correspondence, symposium coordination and trustee communications for the Executive Committee, Board of Trustees and Director General.
Translator and Junior Editor · Bimonthly maritime and logistics review
Nine years translating and editing bimonthly issues on international maritime commerce, naval engineering, port logistics and maritime law.
Translator and research consultant · Academic, NGO and institutional clients
Translation and editorial work for book authors, international NGOs, research institutes — including recurring work for SIPRI — and cultural institutions across Europe and the Arab world.
Translator, researcher and copywriter · Beirut
Corporate research, localisation of franchising agreements, bilingual marketing copy.
Administrative assistant and academic researcher · Educational and academic council
Literature surveys and institutional reporting for council projects.
Wijad Academy grant programme
Run under the patronage of the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO), Saint Joseph University of Beirut, the American University of Beirut, the French Institute for Anatolian Studies, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, INALCO, the Institut national d’histoire de l’art, and the Orient & Méditerranée research team.
Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ)
Digital publishing, web localisation, Arabic natural-language architecture and digital humanities method.
Beirut Arab University (BAU)
Political, legal, economic and literary translation; terminological databases; comparative linguistics.
Arab Open University (AOU)
English literature, critical theory, stylistics and applied linguistics.
Commissioning a book translation, or looking for an editor who can read the Arabic behind the English? Both are welcome.