English

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.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers, in partnership with the Ford Foundation (USA - www.fordfound.org) and the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation (Swizerland - www.fph.ch), set up a copublishing project to gather the proposals that will come out of the World Social Forum context, in Porto Alegre (Brazil). To achieve this goal, the Alliance sent 11 writers to Porto Alegre, to cover the 11 themes of the 2005 WSF (see the 11 themes of the WSF on the website www.forumsocialmundial.org.br). Each writer will contribute a chapter to a book that will be copublished by the Alliance members first in French, English, and Portuguese - followed by versions in other languages.

The members of the Enjeux Planète Group will meet in Bruxelles (Belgium), 16^th to 18^th, Décember, 2004. The program of this meeting -organised by the Alliance of Independent Publishers and the Luc Pire Publishing House- is: checking of the past copublishing processes, planning for the 2005 and 2006 publications, signature of the collective agreement.

Participants: Bernard Stéphan (Atelier Publishing House - France), Michel Sauquet (Charles Léopold Mayer Publishing House - France), Dominique Caouette (Ecosociété Publishing House - Canada), Luc Pire (Luc Pire Publishing House - Belgium), Jean Richard (en bas Publishing House - Switzerland), Bichr Bennani (Tarik Publishing House - Moroco), Karim Ben Smail (Cérès Publishing House - Tunisia), Béatrice Lalinon Gbado (Ruisseaux d’Afrique Publishing House - Benin), Serge Dontchueng Kouam (Presses Universitaires d’Afrique - Cameroon), Marie-Agathe Amoikon-Fauquembergue (Eburnie Publishing House - Ivory Coast).

The Alliance of Independent Publishers accepted the invitation from the Office du Livre in Poitou-Charentes, which organized the Littératures métisses festival [multiethnic literatures festival]. A number of discussions with writers (including Alberto Ruy-Sanchez, Alberto Manguel, Theo Hahola) and publishers (Jean Richard from Editions d’en bas, Thierry Discépolo from Editions Agone, among others), along with readings by the actresses Marie-Christine Barrault and Sonia Emmanuel, were open to the public.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers took part in two discussions “Éditer autrement” [Alternative publishing] and “Éditer, produire, créer, diffuser avec l’Afrique” [Publish, produce, create and distribute with Africa]. These discussions and the booth gave good visibility to the association and its members’ co-publishing projects and provided information to the public about topics such as book distribution, the circulation of ideas, independent and united publishing and the equitable book.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers was well represented at the International Book and Press Show in Geneva, where the African Book, Press and Culture Show was held for the first time. At the event, Paris team members Etienne and Alexandre ran into publishers Jean-Claude Naba from Editions Sankofa & Gurli (Burkina Faso), Béatrice Lalinon Gbado from Editions Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Benin), Marie-Agathe Amoikon Fauquembergue from Editions Eburnie (Ivory Coast), Bichr Benanni from Editions Tarik (Morocco) and Jean Richard from Editions d’en bas (Switzerland), along with Behrouz Safdari (who runs the Persophone network) and Isabelle Bourgueil (who ran the Afrilivres program in 2002 and 2003). They were all doing well and working hard! The Alliance members had several opportunities to talk about the Alliance and the co-publishing process during round-table discussions. Numerous copies of Declarations, along with posters and other items to familiarize people with our association, were available in the African bookstore, which also offered a wide selection of titles from our member publishers. We offer special thanks to Jean and Isabelle, who worked long and hard to make the event a success. Mission accomplished: Long live the African Book Show in Geneva!

The workshop on independent publishing, run by Indu Chandrasekhar and held to support the formation of a network of independent Indian publishers, lived up to its billing...

Around forty people took part in the workshop.

Part 2: Raphaël Thierry: “Book donations, but at what price, and in exchange for what? An overview on book donation practice in francophone Africa (in French)”

Pre-print version to appear in African Research & Documentation. Journal of SCOLMA (the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa), no.127 (2015) [Release 2017]

Read the article on EditAfrica website!

Part 1: Hans M. Zell: “Book Donation Programmes in English-speaking Africa”

Pre-print version to appear in African Research & Documentation. Journal of SCOLMA (the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa), no.127 (2015) [Release 2017]

Extract from the editorial note of the print issue:
«Welcome to this bumper issue of ARD. Scolma is grateful to Hans Zell and Raphaël Thierry for choosing to publish their full length study of Book Donation Programmes in Africa in our pages.
It is as they say “time for a reappraisal” and it is our hope that the ensuing debate will take place in the pages of ARD as well as online. I would therefore invite responses and feedback to this important and provocative study. Feedback from receiving libraries in Africa is particularly welcome.»
Terry Barringer, Editor, African Research & Documentation

Read the article on EditAfrica website!

In partnership with the Tunis Book Fair and the Union of Tunisian Publishers, and thanks to the support of the Fondation de France and the French Institutes of Tunisia and Lebanon, the Alliance organised a day focusing on public book policies in the Arab world on Thursday 30 March 2017.

Publishers from Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia presented a panorama of book public policies in their respective countries: Chilean and French publishers spoke on what is being implemented in their countries – a dialogue and exchange between professionals and public authorities, between continents, between cultures.

This day was initiated in the context of the Bibliodiversity Observatory and the mapping of public book policies in Latin America and the Arab world, on-going at the Observatory.

Call for proposal – looking for an author

The Alliance aims to produce an unprecedented study about freedom of publishing, listening to independent publishers about the following questions:
• What are the different infringements of freedom of publishing that independent publishers confront in their countries?
• How do they face these threats in their daily professional life?
• How do the publishers resist, preserve, and defend their freedom of publishing? How do they circumvent censorship?
• Are publishers more vulnerable today than they used to be? Have there been some significant changes in recent years?
• From the point of view of the publishers, is there a limit to freedom of publishing (and freedom of expression)?
The study will be written in French. If you are interested in conducting this study, please send your proposal to the Alliance team before 13 March 2017.}

The sixth ordinary session of the Conference of Parties->https://en.unesco.org/creativity/convention/governing-bodies/conferences/6th-ordinary-session] to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Paris, UNESCO 12 - 15 June 2017) has approved the Operational Guidelines on the Implementation of the Convention in the Digital Environment.

Read the operational guidelines in English here.

Read the text of the Convention.
Read the Operational Guidelines of the Convention here.

The International Alliance of independent publishers demands that Turkish authorities immediately release publishers, authors and journalists currently detained. It is necessary to guarantee freedom of speech and publishing in Turkey. The Alliance joins the Turkish Publishers Association’s condemnation of the summary closure of publishing houses and media as a clear human rights violation, and urges the Turkish authorities to rescind those summary closures.

Read issue 4 of the journal Bibliodiversity.

Organised by Afrilivres Association, through the support of its partners and the support of OMEL (Malian book publishers organisation), the first edition of the African Languages Book Fair will convene professionals, academics, institutions, NGOs, and the general public for 3 days of discussions, sharing, exhibition, and sale of books in African languages. An unprecedented and unique event, not to be missed!

Extract from the Communiqué by the Alliance for a call for freedom of speech and publishing in Bangladesh, 10 November 2015:

For several months, authors, bloggers, publishers and booksellers have been the victims of violent and deadly attacks in Bangladesh.

The International Alliance of independent publishers, representing 400 independent publishers from 45 countries in the world, condemns these murderous attacks and assault on freedom of speech and publishing. The Alliance also reaffirms the essential role needing to be played by public authorities, in Bangladesh and throughout the world to enable the emancipation of its citizens, and to guarantee a public space conducive to dialogue and peace. Plurality and diversity of ideas constitute the foundation of democracy. It is urgent that the Bangladeshi government protects and supports actors in the book industry, thus safeguarding the foundations necessary for their work and freedom of speech.