English

As part of the Conakry International Children’s Book Fair (7-10 November 2022), initiated and coordinated by Ganndal in Guinea, some twenty publishing houses from French-speaking Africa are meeting in Conakry for a training programme tailored to the needs of the finalists of the Orange Book Prize in Africa and the members of the Alliance.

These meetings are designed through a partnership with the Orange Foundation and the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

The meetings in Conakry will be structured in several stages :

• a workshop on « Typography, composition, correction »
• a workshop on publishing partnerships in the French-speaking world followed by exchanges on publishers’ catalogues
• working sessions between the publishing houses involved in the « Terres solidaires » collection (deliberations of the Reading Committee and choice of the next titles in the collection in particular)

The participants will also take part in the inauguration of the Fair and will exhibit their country’s children’s books during the Fair.

Read the programme and see the list of participants here !

The International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP), composed of the coordinators of the language networks of the Alliance, will meet face-to-face in Paris from 25 to 27 October.

This meeting is essential in the life of the Alliance : it is an opportunity to define the activities of the Alliance for the period to come ; to work on the governance of the association ; to take decisions on strategic issues for the association.

The programme is available here !

Visual : Mariette Robbes

“More than ever, the future of the book—namely its diversity and promotion of minority and alternative voices—rests on the shoulders of independent editors, who give life to the book’s cultural necessity through their commitment, convictions, and attachment to causes that break with the lone dictature of capitalism.”

“My third novel, Munyal ; les larmes de la patience (forthcoming in English translation in October 2022 as The Impatients), is now available in many Francophone African countries because of the Alliance’s ’Terres solidaires’ collection. Many African authors feature on that list, but the part that brings me the most pride is to have such a recognition from Sub-Saharan Africa, where I live and work. This is truly the spirit of diversity that is so dear to the Alliance, and what represents the values that we writers and editors must defend and promote. The Alliance plays such a fundamental role in this sense, mitigating as much as possible the issue of book distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Francophone countries.”

Read the speech by Djaïli Amadou Amal at the closing of the International Conference on Independent Publishers, Pamplona-Iruñea, 26 November 2021.

Translated from the French by Allison M. Charette.

This speech is also available in audio on the Alliance’s Youtube channel.

From 21 to 22 September 2022, in support of International Bibliodiversity Day, join the 1st edition of Babelica online – the international book fair for independent publishers !

The Babelica Fair, via its online platform, will be showcasing the diversity of international independent publishing over three days. More than 65 publishing houses from 37 countries present a selection of 200 titles (literature, children’s books, humanities, comics, etc.) in Indonesian, Arabic, Portuguese, Basque, Spanish, Kinyarwanda, German, Creole, French, Italian, English, Malagasy, etc., to be discovered at Babelica and purchased online.

Babelica also offers a host of meetings, webinars and round tables, to be followed live and in several languages : see here the programme of the 5 round tables scheduled between 21 and 22 September.

The sixth edition of the Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored takes place from 11 May to 12 June 2022, starting in London and then travelling through several European and American cities !

This book fair is timed parallel to the Iran Book Fair, hence the name : Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored. The aim of the exhibition is to provide an opportunity for authors and publishers who would be censored or banned in Iran to speak out freely and present their work.

Participating publishing houses :

• Forough Book (Germany)
• Naakojaa (France)
• Gardoon (Germany)
• Nogaam (UK)
• Satrap (UK)
• Dena Book (Netherlands)
• Red Intellect (Netherlands)
• Aftab Publication (Norway)
• Roonak Publication (Netherlands)
• Pendaar Publications (UK)
• Arzan (Sweden)
• Ferdosi (Sweden)
• Iran Academia (Netherlands)
• Pegah Books (Canada)
• Ketab Corp (USA)
• Saraye Bamdad (Canada)
• Ketab Corp (USA)

For more information : www.uncensoredbook.com / #UBF22

In the aftermath of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the invasion of its territory, the International Alliance of Independent Publishers expresses its support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people and cultural professionals and reiterates its commitment to the right of self-determination of each population.

We, independent publishers from over 55 countries around the world, members of an international solidarity network, condemn in the strongest terms the violence committed against the Ukrainian people and call together for a return to peace. We also reaffirm our support for all people on all continents, facing wars and conflicts, fighting for their freedom and emancipation.

We strongly oppose stigmatizing and dehumanizing discourses, and we recall here the essential role of culture, in particular of books, as a tool for dialogue, analysis, understanding and discovery of plurality and diversity.

Fuyant des pesanteurs familiales et sociales, Damienne Bourdin, jeune médecin, marseillaise, s’engage dans les troupes coloniales. À peine arrivée au Cameroun, elle est sollicitée par le D^r Eugène Jamot pour une mission de la plus haute importance : exfiltrer Debora Edoa, princesse ewondo, nièce du chef supérieur Atangana et unique infirmière du cru. En effet, une bavure médicale, au sein de la mission de prophylaxie de la trypanosomiase dirigée par Jamot, a provoqué la cécité de 700 patients. La révolte gronde et la présence d’Edoa sur les lieux de l’insurrection risque de mettre toute la région à feu et à sang…
À partir de ce drame historique, Mutt-Lon nous plonge au cœur du Cameroun colonial : préjugés, lutte effrénée pour le pouvoir, violence… mais aussi amour, courage et abnégation. Il met en lumière le destin exceptionnel de deux femmes déterminées à faire œuvre utile tout en se réalisant pleinement, et la résistance de l’Afrique ancestrale, incarnée par l’incorruptible Pygmée Ndongo.

Avec ce roman captivant, à l’écriture juste, sobre, incisive, Mutt-Lon poursuit son œuvre de réhabilitation de l’histoire de son pays et, ici, celle de la mission Jamot au Cameroun.

Né en 1973 à Bafia, Mutt-Lon est monteur à la télévision d’État camerounaise, la CRTV, après avoir enseigné les mathématiques. Ceux qui sortent dans la nuit, son premier roman, a reçu le Prix Ahmadou Kourouma 2014.

Coéditeurs : Eburnie (Côte d’Ivoire), Ganndal (Guinée Conakry), Graines de Pensées (Togo), Proximité (Cameroun)
Date de publication de la version panafricaine : 2022, 11,5 X 19 cm
© Mutt-Lon, 2020.

Une coédition solidaire « Le livre équitable ».

The Independent Publishing Glossary is a collective project led by publishers from the Spanish-language network of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

It shows the meanings and definitions of words commonly used in publishing. It is an evolving project, which will be enriched over time in order to include new concepts and to take into account other proposal for definitions. The idea is not to freeze or petrify the concepts, but to open them up to enhance their multiple meanings.

Each term is signed by the person who worked on the definition. The glossary was edited by Germán Gacio Baquiola (Corredor Sur Editorial, Ecuador / Colectivo Editores independientes de Ecuador), Teresa Gottlieb, (Editorial Maitri, Chile), Paulo Slachevsky (Lom Ediciones, Chile) and Miguel Villafuerte, (Editorial Blanca, Ecuador).

1/ The Alliance, a place for experimentation and reflection through the Bibliodiversity Observatory

• Continue the analyses, reflections and advocacy via the thematic working groups set up during the 2014 Conference and set up new working groups on the themes and issues discussed during the 2021 Conference
• Providing tools and documenting international independent publishing

2/ The Alliance, a space for collaboration and sharing

• Share practices and know-how (on regional, national or even international levels, depending on the needs expressed) between publishers
• Meet and strengthen the flow of exchanges

3/ The Alliance, a tool for promoting independent publishing and the circulation of books

• Encourage the visibility and promotion of independent publishing
• Promote the circulation of works and productions of independent publishing houses

4/ The Alliance, a laboratory of alternative editorial practices

• Pursue and strengthen solidarity-based publishing partnerships (transfer of rights, translations, co-publishing projects, etc.)
• Communicate and increase awareness

5/ The Alliance, an evolving governance and operation

• REthink
• Get involved

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.