What Gascony is to foie gras, the southern Spanish city and province of Toledo are to mouth-watering marzipan. The confection came to Spain with the Arabs, but it is in Toledo that "the elite sweet" has been refined to perfection

As composer and performer, fast-rising star Simon Shaheen works to preserve Arab music's past and shape its future, applying a virtuoso talent that Billboard has called "brilliant." In his spare time, last fall, he organized a landmark Arab-American festival.

The hero of the world's longest epic poem, Manas unified the Kyrgyz tribes a thousand years ago and inspired generations of storytellers. Now the man and the poem have inspired a festival to mark the Kyrgyz Republic's passage to independence.

Muslims in two Yorkshire cities take to the airwaves during the holy month of Ramadan, binding together their minority communities with readings from the Qur'an, religious discussions, quizzes and call-ins.

The first Arab Women's Book Fair, held in November in Cairo, made it clear that fiction and non-fiction by Arab women are reshaping the literary marketplace of both the Arab world and, in translation, the West.

Czech-born illustrator and filmmaker Ludmila Zeman has revived the world's oldest adventure for a new generation, producing an award-winning trilogy of children's books that combine accuracy and charm.