English

In just this past month, three prominent Iranian writers, translators, and members of the Association of Iranian Writers, Bektash Abtin, Kayvan Bazhan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and journalist and sociology researcher, Khosrow Sadeghi Boroujeni, have been sentenced to prison on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and gathering and collusion with the intent of acting against national security.”

These accusations, which have led to long prison sentences and the charges levied are false. Their objectives are to further oppress writers and the people of Iran.
At a time when the world is under crisis by the pandemic, Iran, and especially within its prisons has a very unstable environment, with the increasing spread of Coronavirus among inmates.

We as authors and scholars would like to ask you to let the voices of our fellow authors in prison be heard by the people of the world and to demand their immediate release.

• Daryoush Ashouri, Author, Translator and the Co-founder of the Association of Iranian Writers
• Ervand Abrahamian, Author and Professor Emeritus, City University of New York
• Azar Nafisi, Author
• Faraj Sarkohi, Writer, Journalist, Literature Critic; A Member of German Pen; The Recipient of Kurt-Tucholsky-prize; World Association of Newspapers’ Golden Pen of Freedom Award and World Press Freedom
• Hero by International Press Institute
• Akram Pedramnia, Author, Translator; A Member of Pen Canada; the Recipient of James Joyce Foundation Scholar
• Moniro Ravanipour, Author
• Mohsen Yalfani, Author and Translator
• Nasim Khaksar, Author and Critic
• Reza Allamehzadeh, Moviemaker and Writer
• Morad Farhadpour, Author, Translator and Critical Theorist
• Akbar Masoumbaigi, Author, Translator and a Member of the Association of Iranian Writers
• Babak Ahmadi, Author, Translator and Philosophy Researcher
• Peyman Vahabzadeh, Author and Professor, University of Victoria
• Sohrab Behdad, Denison University, USA
• Farshin Kazeminia, Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6)
• Amir Kianpour, PhD Candidate, University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis
• Mehran Mostafavi, Sacly University (Paris), Professor
• Iman Ganji, PhD in Art Philosophy and Philosophy Researcher, Free University of Berlin
• Mehrdad Darvishpour, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor, Sociologist, Mälardalen University
• Farhad Nomani, Professor Emeritus of Economics, The American University of Paris
• Soheil Asefi, Journalist and PhD student in History, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York (CUNY)
• Saeed Hariri, Moderator, Toronto Book Club
• Azadeh Parsapour, Translator, Editor and Publisher
• Arash Kia, Faculty of Institute for Healthcare Delivery Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York

This year, on the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair (14-18 October), two HotLists will be presented... virtually!

The Latin American HotList - 4^th edition: a selection of titles from more than 35 independent Latin American publishing houses from 8 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay) and from all genres: literature, humanities, youth/ children’s literature, comics... Find the Latin American HotList 2020 online here! Previous HotLists are also online, here.

The Arab World HotList - a very first: while the Arab world shares a language, the Arabic language, which has cemented its culture over centuries, it is far from being the only one. From the Maghreb to the Mashreq, from the Horn of Africa to Cham, this immense space covers a diversity of realities. Linguistic diversity is therefore inherent to it. More than 30 independent publishing houses from 7 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Syria and Tunisia) offer you an immersion in the literature, humanities and children’s literature of the Arab world! Through this HotList, the independent publishers of the Arab world invite you to discover the 1001 facets of literary and intellectual creativity of their country, online here!

The HotLists, while offering an opportunity to discover the creativity of independent publishers, are also tools facilitating the exchange of rights: books and authors are presented in the original language of the book and in English, the contacts of publishing houses are easily accessible and up to date – these lists are thus to be consulted and used throughout the year!

Read here the IPA (International Publishers Association) support, and here the manifesto published by the Brazilian actors, to defend the book in Brazil.

During this unusual year, independent publishers around the world are celebrating the 10^th anniversary of the International Day of Bibliodiversity (B Day) on September 21, which is also Spring Day in the Southern Hemisphere.

© video: Daniel Aguilera and his team (Chili)
© music: Chill Acoustic, licencia de atribución de Creative Commons, proveída por Oak Studios.

A day to honour independent publishing and bibliodiversity, not to be missed!

See the previous videos here.

A pan-African co-publishing gathering Atelier des nomades (Mauritius) and Eburnie (Ivory Coast).

Date of publication: September 2020

This solidarity co-publishing is the result of a workshop on children’s literature organised by the Alliance in Abidjan in May 2019, as part of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021. It received the support of the French Development Agency.

A pan-African co-publishing gathering Atelier des nomades (Mauritius) and Eburnie (Ivory Coast).

Date of publication: September 2020

This solidarity co-publishing is the result of a workshop on children’s literature organised by the Alliance in Abidjan in May 2019, as part of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021. It received the support of the French Development Agency.

A pan-African co-publishing gathering Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Benin) and Vallesse (Ivory Coast).

Date of publication: September 2020

This solidarity co-publishing is the result of a workshop on children’s literature organised by the Alliance in Abidjan in May 2019, as part of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021. It received the support of the French Development Agency.

A pan-African co-publishing gathering Ntsame (Gabon) and Elondja (DRC).

Date of publication: September 2020

This solidarity co-publishing is the result of a workshop on children’s literature organised by the Alliance in Abidjan in May 2019, as part of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021. It received the support of the French Development Agency.

A pan-African co-publishing gathering Ganndal (Guinea Conakry), Eburnie (Ivory Coast), Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Benin), Graines de Pensées (Togo), Ntsame (Gabon) and Elondja (DRC).
Date of publication: September 2020

This solidarity co-publishing is the result of a workshop on children’s literature organised by the Alliance in Abidjan in May 2019, as part of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021. It received the support of the French Development Agency.

“Now that we have entered the 21^st century, it is difficult to dissociate the end from the means: what to say, and where to say it? Thus, we find that many authors seeking to promote debate, creativity and critical thinking, justice and equality are published by large conglomerates with multiple editorial labels. Isn’t the transformative power of these works reduced to nothing when they plunge into the workings of the entertainment industry? It is a fact that transnational corporations, whatever their field of action, are the very expression of the system that dominates us. By choosing them as publishers, do we not somehow leave the world of transformative ideas in the hands of those who lay the foundations of the model we criticise? Doesn’t that strengthen the control of big capital over the word and our daily lives? Moreover, how can we not question the cross-industry investment of the business groups that own publishing houses? And, are these investments neutral?”

In this open letter, independent publishers invite all the actors of the book industry to reflect with them on their practices and the impacts that result from them. In particular, they call on authors, academics and intellectuals to work on projects whose vocation is to transform the order of things and not to consolidate the status quo, to publish their works in independent publishing houses in their own countries, and to give preference to independent publishing houses when it comes to transferring foreign and translation rights.

As the world suffers the health, social and economic consequences of the pandemic, book ecosystems and independent publishing houses are further weakened and, for some, are trying to survive. If solidarity between creators and book professionals is one of the foundations of bibliodiversity, this solidarity is vital in the current context.

Read the letter here.
This letter is also available in Spanish, French, Arabic and Portuguese.

Although several debates and discussions on book donations were held, very few considered, complementary to the essential point of view of librarians’ professional collectives, the point of view of publishers and booksellers.

This workshop, facilitated in the context of the International Assembly of Independent Publishers, therefore has 3 main objectives:
• To question existing practices and the impact of the “donation chain” on the “book chain”, from the perspective of local librarians, publishers and booksellers;
• To question, promote and “complete”, if applicable, existing benchmark tools (amongst others, the Book Donation Charter developed by the Culture and Development Association, in partnership with several structures and institutions);
• To propose realistic and sustainable alternatives to “classic” book donations, enabling us, hopefully, to enrich and built on current practices, through the input of local professionals.

The Alliance wishes to express its gratitude to the Ile-de-France Region for its support and trust and BULAC (Languages and civilisation University Library) for hosting us.

The primary outcomes of this workshop are detailed below.

Also read about the workshop’s indirect impacts on book donations: An article on Africultures, a programme on RFI...

Unlike other Asian publishing markets, like Korea or Japan, the Indian book market is nearly unknown by French children’s book publishers, though this industry is actually blooming.
The Indian book market is a very specific one: the country’s size makes book distribution difficult, many languages are spoken and written, and there is a wide gap between urban reading habits and rural ones. Independent publishers in this country adapt business strategies to these difficulties and the solutions they find are original and innovative. In view of the lack of studies and data about Indian publishing, this study is based on a certain number of interviews with booksellers, book fair directors, market specialists, illustrators, distributors, and publishers.

• In the first part ’’Quel paysage pour l’édition indienne?’’, this study deciphers the socio-economic and statistical data in order to better understand the Indian youth readership (gender, language, economical issues, among others).

• In the second part ’’Le monde de l’édition jeunesse’’, a typology of the different players in Indian publishing is sketched out: multinational companies, state publishing, commercial publishers, independent publishers, NGOs... what are their respective roles?

• In the third part ’’Quelles perspectives de diffusion et de valorisation?’’, the study examines the level and the nature of exchanges between Indian publishing and worldwide youth publishing.

An exciting treatise on a little-explored subject... a must read!

Mariette ROBBES, holder of a Master 2 in the World of the Book (Aix-en-Provence University) lived for six months in India in 2009, and returns often ever since. Since 2017, she is a member of the Alliance Board. Mariette concurrently works on several textile and graphic creation projects.

The label “Fair Trade Book” is attributed by the International Alliance of independent publishers to works published in the context of international publishing agreements that respect each other’s particularities: fair co- publishing. These fair copublishings enable the sharing of costs linked to intellectual and physical production of books and therefore ensure an economy of scale; an exchange of professional know-how and a common experience, while respecting the publishers’ cultural contexts and identities; and a distribution of works on a broader scale by adjusting prices for each geographic zone.

Download the format epub here!