RENOWNED Arabist Leslie McLoughlin will discuss and sign his autobiography, ‘Confessions of an Arabic Interpreter: The Odyssey of an Arabist 1959-2009’, on Sunday at Magrudy’s Jumeirah Beach Road at 7.30pm.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s premier Arabists, Leslie McLoughlin has been an interpreter at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street and served as a language consultant during the Lockerbie trial. He has also taught Arabic in British and American universities, lectured in Arab universities and is at present a fellow at Exeter University.

The autobiographical ‘Confessions of an Arabic Interpreter: The Odyssey of an Arabist 1959-2009’ is the story of one man’s journey from a market town in England to the heart of the Arab world and meetings with members of the royal families from the British and Arab sides as well as leaders, ministers and dignitaries from both worlds.

In his book, the UAE and GCC feature prominently, as McLoughlin had first set food in the country in 1964; in 1984, he interpreted for the then Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

This book highlights some of the challenges that an interpreter has to deal with - for instance, what happens when a speaker tells a joke and the interpreter cannot find a linguistic or cultural counterpart? What if an official falls asleep?

“We are delighted to host this important event, which represents an unmissable opportunity for anyone interested in British-Arab relations and the nuances of the Arabic language and culture. As Leslie has been present at many of the most important Anglo-Arab meetings of the last fifty years we know this will be a fascinating and stimulating evening,” said Isobel Abulhoul, founder of Magrudy’s.

The author has written extensively and his work includes ‘A Nest of Spies, In a Sea of Knowledge: British Arabists in the Twentieth Century’, ‘Ibn Saud: Founder of a Kingdom’ and has also produced teaching material (‘A Learner’s Dictionary of Classical Arabic Idioms: Arabic-English’).

The evening will be moderated by Anthony Harris, former British Ambassador to the UAE, who studied with McLoughlin at MECAS in Beirut.