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The Alliance of Independent Publishers, in partnership with the International French-speaking Booksellers Association (AILF), was glad to welcome you on their shared stand in the International Book Fair of Dakar – December 6 to 11, 2005. The Alliance started there a study on “Publishing in African languages”, under the authority of Jean-Claude Naba (Sankofa & Gurli publishing), with the help of Karine Lewkowicz.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers was invited to the Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse de Seine-Saint-Denis(Children’s Book Fair of Seine-Saint-Denis), between the 30^th of november and the 5^th of december, on the stand of Afrilivres. Béatrice Lalinon-Gbado were glad to meet you there. Béatrice Lalinon-Gbado is the president of the pan-African association “Afrilivres” and also publisher for children in Benin and author of “Maman“, selected for the Baobab Prize. LIBRE, Brazilian network of Publishers, partner of the Alliance of Independent Publishers, were also attend the Book Fair through the MACO publishing house.

Official website of the Book Fair

The meeting of the Arabic-language network was held in Beirut, December the 11, and 12, 2005, and brought together the editors of Lebanon (Dar Al Farabi and Intishar), of Morocco (Toubkal), of Algeria (Thala), of Tunisia (Med Ali), Libya (Tala) and Jordan (Dar Al Shoruk).

On October 10^th, 2005, at 19pm, the Alliance will be present at the Georges Pompidou Center (Paris,), to participate in a debate on bibliodiversity. This event, organized by Littératures Pirates Korporation (LPK, see www.litteraturespirates.org), is included in the Lire en Fête agenda.

Hélène Clémente from Inextenso (www.inextensodiffusion.com), Claire Mathon (LPK), Philippe Magnani (Paris Musées Diffusion), Jérôme Saliou (Alphagraph bookshop, Rennes) and Étienne Galliand (Alliance of Independent Publishers) will debate on concrete practices aimed at empowering the diversity of independent publishers.

The meeting of the Portuguese-language network of the Alliance of independent publishers was held in Rio de Janeiro, September 14^th and 15^th 2005, and brought together the publishers of Angola (Cha de Caxinde), of Guinea Bissao (Ku Si Mon), of Portugal (Campo das Letras), of Mozambique (Moçambique editora) and Brazil (Vozes and Pallas). These publishers of Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa also took part in the “Primavera dos Livros” of Rio de Janeiro, a book fair organized by the Brazilian publishers of the LIBRE network.

The following documents are available, do not hesitate to contact us:

1) The report from the meeting of the portuguese-language network of the Alliance of independent publishers (Rio de Janeiro, September 14^th and 15^th);

2) The participation in “Primavera dos Livros” (Rio de Janeiro, September 16-19);

3) Projects 2004-2005 (Year of Brazil in France, “Biennial” of Rio, French National Library);

4) List of participants and other contacts.

At the Geneva Book Fair (from April 27 to May 1, 2005), the Alliance of Independent Publishers presented and diffused for the first time the French-speaking publishers’ 2005 Catalogue. (Check it out online).

Included in this catalogue are the following:

• a presentation of each of the 28 publishing houses, from all over the French-speaking world (from Mali to Quebec while passing by France);

• a selection of representative titles from each publisher, more than one hundred titles;

• an access by kind, title, author, publisher;

• information and contacts regarding the purchase of books, no matter who you are and where you come from!

In order to facilitate the exchange of information between book professionals (rights transfers, translations), this new tool is available in two languages: French and English.

Launching of the catalogue of Afrilivres

With more than 1 300 titles published by 54 African editors, an essential tool for professionals.

Order the Afrilivres catalogue.

The English-speaking network of the Alliance the Alliance of Independent Publishers is meeting in London prior to the Book Fair (http://www.lbf-virtual.com), March 10-13. Participants will come from Australia, Canada, England, India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, the United States, and Zimbabwe to discuss co-publishing projects and develop strategies for future development of this network.

This meeting has been organised in collaboration with African Books Collective, INASP, and SABDET.

A joint cocktail reception will be held at the Fair on Sunday, March 13, 2005, at British Council’s International Centre, 5 p.m. We hope to see you there.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers invite you in its stand at the Paris Book Fair, number L 180, March 18 to 23, 2005.

Cérès Publishing House (Tunisia) and the Alliance of Independent Publishers are very sad to inform you that Nourredine Ben Khader has passed away.

A great influence in the African and Tunisian book industry, “NBK” managed Cérès Publishing House for 20 years. His remarquable enthusiasm as well as his strong involvement in publishing and books made him a reference for all his friends, both in Africa and throughout the world.

We will not forget him.

Publishers & Books, a monthly specialized magazine, produced and published by the African Observatory of Professional Publishers (OAPE). Articles are in French and/or in English.

See here the first issue (June 2018);

And below the second issue (July 2018) and the third issue (August 2018).

Consult here the training material produced by Denis Jacquerye, typographer (Dalton Maag Ltd), as part of the workshop on digital publishing and African languages, held in Conakry (Guinea Conakry) from 20-23 November 2017.

STATEMENT
August 8, 2018

The International Alliance of Independent Publishers (IAIP), a network of 553 publishers worldwide, expresses its shock and dismay at the late-night abduction and detention of acclaimed photographer and human rights activist, Shahidul Alam, in Dhaka. Shahidul Alam has been a partner-colleague of the IAIP, in which context we have interacted with him on many occasions.

We believe that the charges against him under Section 57 of the ICT are an attempt to intimidate him by using a draconian law to stifle his right to free speech. He has been held without due legal process, and we have received disturbing reports of brutal treatment meted out to him in detention.

The right of peaceful protest, and the defence of that right, are fundamental to democracy and to upholding the rule of law. The IAIP extends its support to, and expresses solidarity with, Shahidul Alam, and reiterates its commitment to the freedom of expression in Bangladesh as well as in the rest of the world.

See here the film make by New Internationalist (UK) in support with Shahidul Alam.

Authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians and readers form what is commonly known as a “book ecosystem”, an expression that reflects the interdependence between actors in the book field. However, over the past few years, the discussions, both globally and in Europe, about re-defining the intellectual property rights, and the evolution of practices in the digital era, led to division that gradually distanced these stakeholders, with the risk of weakening the solidarity that unites them.
Fortunately, new conversations have started, more specifically about the cultural rights, opening a space where this topic can be debated and addressed from a new angle with focus on issues related to the balance of rights. Starting from the idea that fundamental rights are inseparable, it seems possible to understand author rights, cultural rights and social rights as a coherent whole. The challenge is to find an approach that would stop opposing the book professionals, to re-establish coalitions towards the conquest for new rights.
Due to their specific position, independent publishers could play an important role in framing this collective discussion in the book sector.

Lionel Maurel
A Law Degree holder, Lionel Maurel is currently a librarian at the University Paris Lumières Library. Author of the S.I.Lex blog, he specialises in Intellectual Property, Digital Law, and Cultural Law. Involved in the Commons movement, he co-founded the collective SavoirsCom1 (“Common Knowledges”) and is a member of the Strategic Orientation College of La Quadrature du Net.
Picture: thesupermath. CC-BY-SA. Source: Wikimedia Commons, remix by Guénaël Boutouillet

Read the full text!

“Publishing in African Languages: A Review of the Literature”, by Hans M. Zell, to read here !

This literature survey is an attempt to bring together some of the literature on an important and challenging, and one could well say neglected aspect of the African book sector, that of publishing in African languages, an area that greatly impacts literary production in many ways. It aims to make a small contribution to the ongoing debate about publishing of indigenous language materials, how the profile of indigenous language publishing might be enhanced – and how publishing in African languages could be conducted as a societally beneficial, sustainable, and profitable commercial activity.

Following an introductory overview of current publishing in African languages – and a discussion of its many barriers to success – it lists a total of 170 records, covering the literature (in English) published since the 1970s and through to early 2018. Fully annotated and/or with abstracts, it includes books, chapters in books and edited collections, reports, journal articles, Internet documents, theses and dissertations, as well as a number of blog postings.

To be published in African Research & Documentation. Journal of SCOLMA -The UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa, no. 132, 2018.

© Hans Zell Publishing Consultants 2018

An unprecedented study to be published in July 2020, initiated and coordinated by the Alliance!

A sociological survey conducted by Anne-Marie Voisard, Quebec researcher (MA on strategic lawsuits against public participation and legal repression of freedom of speech from the University of Montréal) and written by Philippe Chibani-Jacquot; a historical introduction by Jean-Yves Mollier, French historian.

Since the creation of the Alliance, publishers – custodians of freedom of speech alongside journalists, authors, bloggers, booksellers, artists… – have been the whistleblowers on instances of censorship occurring in some countries. Over the past few years, we have noticed some new forms of attack on freedom of speech. In several contexts, pressures and limitations exercised on public speech are increasing. After the wave of freedom expected during the revolutions in the Arab world, the series of attacks in Africa, Europe, and in the Arab world, destabilised freedom of speech: a loss of sense, of bearings that brings us to question spaces of freedom, the reach of words and the power of the medium.

The freedom of publishing is a “category” of freedom of speech that can take different forms through various supports. The freedom of publishing pertains to the liberty to choose an author, to select or commission manuscripts, publish them, disseminate and distribute them, and put them on the market – all these activities are at the heart of publishers’ work. The threats to the freedom of publishing are precisely what the Alliance seeks to examine in this study.

In different geopolitical contexts, threatened by different forms of censorship, the Alliance’s independent publishers are committed to circulate texts and ideas, to amplify voices, even if sometimes they are in minority, to participate in building critical thinking and emancipation. It is their responsibility, both professional and civic.

Read here the presentation of the study, of the authors, the methodology...

Read here the report of the workshop on “African Book Industry”, organized by the Global Book Alliance (USAID) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in January 2018.
The workshop brought together 79 key stakeholders in the African Book Publishing Industry from 22 African countries.
More information here.

Publishers from the Alliance condemn the banning of the book El desarme, la vía vasca d’Iñaki Egaña (copublished by Txalaparta, Gara journal, and Mediabask media), during its promotion on Basque radio-television.

Read here the proceedings of the colloquium on “Children’s Literature in Africa” (in French), organised by Ganndal, Conakry, November 2017.

Read the “Conclusions of the Symposium on the Challenges of the Promotion and Distribution of Books in African Languages”, organized by Ganndal publishing in Conakry (Guinea Conakry), 27-28 November 2017.