English

Decades of Israeli occupation and settler colonialism on Palestinian land reached new heights with the recent IDF attacks on Gaza. As per this writing, more than 2,200 Palestinians have died (including 724 children) and more than 1 million Gazans have been ordered to evacuate the north.

In the midst of this grave humanitarian crisis, it is very important to give voice to the opressed through all mediums of expressions, including books and literature. Ironically, the Frankfurt Book Fair —as the biggest annual book fair in the world— has done the opposite. The awarding ceremony for Palestinian author Adania Shibli, whose novel “Minor Details” was to receive 2023 Literaturpreis, was cancelled unilaterally by the Fair, in their decision to “make Jewish and Israeli voices especially visible at the book fair” and to « stand with complete solidarity on the side of Israel ».

This one-sideness is unacceptable, as the Frankfurt Book Fair should be a free and impartial forum to open dialogues and debates without violence. We, publishers from International Alliance of Independent Publishers, condemn the Frankfurt Book Fair’s decision to cancel the award ceremony for Adania Shibli, and demand that Palestinian voices be given the same visibility and respect as other voices at the Fair.

Signatories
This list is not exhaustive (and is updated as and when necessary)

Nouri Abid, Med Ali (Tunisia)
Sandra Abrano, Bandeirola (Brazil)
Tomaz Adour, Vermelho Marinho (Brazil)
Marwan Adwan, Mamdouh Adwan Publishing (Syria-UAE)
Ronny Agustinus, Marjin Kiri (Indonesia)
Cauê Ameni, Autonomia Literária and Jacobin Brazil (Brazil)
Ibrahima Aya, Éditions Tombouctou (Mali)
Clô Barcellos, Libretos (Brazil)
Flávia Bonfim, Movimento Contínuo (Brazil)
Jorge Breogan, Sundermann (Brazil)
Sebastian Budgen, Verso Books (United Kingdom)
Barbara Caretta-Debays, Écosociété (Quebec / Canada)
João Carneiro, Tomo (Brazil)
Chiara Cazzato, Tempesta editore (Italia)
Haroldo Ceravolo, Alameda (Brazil)
Indira Chandrasekhar, Tulika Books (India)
Layla Chaouni, Le Fennec (Morocco)
Reza Chavoshi, Dena books (Netherlands)
Sergio Covelli, EPUBBoo (Italia)
Amanda Crocker, Between the lines (Canada)
Élisabeth Daldoul, elyzad (Tunisia)
Róisín Davis, Haymarket Books (United States)
Héctor Dinsmann, Libros de la Araucaria (Argentina)
Serge Dontchueng Kouam, Presses universitaires d’Afrique (Cameroon)
Éric Dusabimana, Bakame (Rwanda)
Mohamed El-Baaly, Sefsafa Publishing (Egypt)
Fatma El Boudy, Elain Publishing (Egypt)
Yara El-Ghadban, Mémoire d’encrier (Quebec / Canada)
Luiz Fernando Emediato, Geração (Brazil)
Whaner Endo, W4 Editora (Brazil)
Letícia Esteban, Gato Sueco (Spain)
Zygmunt Antoni Filipecki Jr., Mauad (Brazil)
Corinne Fleury, Atelier des nomades (Mauritius / France)
Pedro Fonseca, Âyiné (Brazil)
Fernando Diego Garcia, Libros del Zorro Rojo (Spain)
Germán Gacio Baquiola, Editores independientes de Ecuador (Ecuador)
Pauline Gagnon, Écosociété (Quebec / Canada)
Müge Gursoy Sökmen, Metis Publishers (Turkey)
Daniela Gutfreund, Lugar de ler (Brazil)
Samar Haddad, Atlas Publishing (Syria)
Susan Hawthorne, Spinifex Press (Australia)
Selma Hellal / Sofiane Hadjajd, Editions Barzakh (Algeria)
Colleen Higgs, Modjaji Books (South Africa)
Ivana Jinkings, Boitempo (Brazil)
Hassan Khalil, Al Farabi (Lebanon)
Renate Klein, Spinifex Press (Australia)
Elisa Labanca, Buckfast Edizioni (Italia)
Alessandro Labonia, CSA (Italia)
Daniel Louzada, Da Vinci (Brazil)
Adriana Maciel, Numa (Brazil)
Stella Magliani-Belkacem, La Fabrique (France)
Lizandra Magon, Jandaíra (Brazil)
Alexandre Martins Fontes, WMF Martins Fontes (Brazil)
Maria Beatriz Medina, Banco del livro (Venezuela)
Daniela Mena, GAM (Italia)
Ione Meloni Nassar, Mercuryo Jovem (Brazil)
Raquel Menezes, Oficina Raquel (Brazil)
Ritu Menon, Women Unlimited (India)
Lilah Mercader, Éditions Dent-de-lion (Canada)
Anita Molino, Il leone verde (Italia)
Rosana MontÁlverne, Aletria (Brazil)
Nabil Mroueh, Al Intishar Al Arabi (Lebanon)
Francisca Muñoz Méndez, Editoriales de Chile (Chile)
David Murray, Écosociété (Quebec / Canada)
Renata Nakano, Quindim (Brazil)
Maira Nassif, Relicário (Brazil)
Denise Natale, Papagaio (Brazil)
Carla Oliveira, Orfeu Negro (Portugal)
Maria Osório, Babel (Colombia)
Safaa Ouali, Le Fennec (Morocco)
Marco Paganini, AltreVoci (Italia)
Mary Lou Paris, Terceiro Nome (Brazil)
Simone Paulino, Nós and Nossa (Brazil, France)
Dieulermesson PetitFrère, LEGS Édition (Haiti)
Mirline Pierre, LEGS Édition (Haiti)
Dolores Prades, Instituto Emília (Brazil)
Naiara Raggiotti, Carochinha (Brazil)
Marie Michèle Razafinstlama, Jeunes malgaches (Madagascar)
Anahita Redisiu, Forough Verlag (Germany)
Rodney Saint-Éloi, Mémoire d’encrier (Quebec / Canada)
Kenza Sefrioui, En toutes lettres (Morocco)
Alfonso Serrano, La Oveja Roja (Spain)
Abdulai Sila, Ku Si Mon Editora (Guinea Bissau)
Paulo Slachevsky, LOM ediciones (Chile)
Aliou Sow, Éditions Ganndal (Guinea)
Simón Vásquez, Verso Libros (Spain)
Catia Ventura, Ventura Edizioni (Italia)
Marisol Vera, Editorial Cuarto Propio (Chile)
Miguel Villafuerte, Editorial Blanca (Ecuador)
Cristina Warth, Pallas Editora (Brazil)
Mariana Warth, Pallas Editora (Brazil)
Riccardo Zanello, Tempesta editore (Italia)
Habib Zoghbi, La Maison du livre (Tunisia)
Rosa Maria Zuccherato, Nova Alexandria (Brazil)

Babelica, the international book fair of independent publishing, is online !

Find more than 85 publishing houses from 40 countries in the “Publishers” space ; a diverse range of titles (in fields including human and social sciences, literature and children’s books) in a multitude of languages in the “Books” space ; and 22 events that will take place between 20 and 22 September on the Babelica platform (see “Program”).

Don’t miss the opportunity for exchanges of rights on 21 September 2023 at 4 pm (UTC+2), where publishing houses who are members of the Alliance will present 1 or 2 titles from their catalogues to attendees. This event is open to everyone.

See you on 20 September at 10am (UTC+2) for the opening of Babelica !

“I wouldn’t have written the many books if I didn’t have publishers who were sensitive, publishers who had their own networks, publishers who worked with my philosophy of smallness is beautiful, smallness in self-organised form is largeness—it is largeness of mind, it is largeness of heart, it is largeness in terms of expanding the possibilities of humanity and the earth in a time where the dominant economy would like to shrink those possibilities.”

“If you were not as diverse as you are and if you did not publish the diversity of ideas that are necessary for our times not only would you as a publishing network not have the resilience and robustness that is needed, but wouldn’t be providing that amazing robustness to society in a period where, like monocultures are destroying the fertility of the soil and creating deserts (...)”

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

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

En Amérique latine, Unidad versus el 1% est coédité simultanément par Econautas Editorial (Argentine), LOM ediciones (Chili), Editorial Mate (Argentine), Plural Editores (Bolivie) et Taller de Edición Rocca (Colombie).
Pour la traduction © Editorial Popular, S. A., Madrid, 2019.

La version originale de ce livre a été publiée en 2018 sous le titre Oneness vs. the 1% par Women Unlimited en Inde (en coédition avec Spinifex en Australie et New Internationalist au Royaume-Uni).

Retrouvez ici l’interview de Vandana Shiva à l’occasion du lancement de la coédition latino-américaine du livre, le 19 juin 2021.

ISBN Argentine (Econautas Editorial) : 978-987-46301-9-3

ISBN Chili (LOM ediciones) : 978-956-00-1379-8

ISBN Argentine (Editorial Mate) : 978-987-9199-29-x

Babelica, the international online book fair of independent publishing, will take place from 20 to 22 September - 21 September is the Bibliodiversity Day !

Babelica is a unique and original project to promote bibliodiversity, conceived and hosted by the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

Discover the Babelica program here !

Babelica is a book fair dedicated to books published by independent publishing houses. It is designed to raise awareness of the variety of voices in international publishing and ensure they are heard, so as to promote diversity and creativity. At Babelica, a selection of titles from the many books published by independent publishers are being presented.
The Babelica book fair is available online throughout the year, from 20 September 2023 until the next edition in 2024.

Babelica is also a space for debate, exchange and discussion between book professionals, academics, readers, those who are simply curious, and more. The program of round tables, talks and readings offered in 2023 has been developed by publishers who are members and/or close of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers (see program).
To listen again to the round tables from Babelica in 2022, click here.

Babelica is an opportunity for exchanges of rights : join us on 21 September for the event dedicated to literature and human sciences, opportunities for publishers to present the titles from their catalogues to the book professionals present.
Away from this event, if you are interested in buying or selling rights, you can contact publishing houses directly via the Babelica platform.

Finally, Babelica is a place for exchanging know-how and practices, a place for experimentation : therefore, from October 2023 workshops will take place to complement Babelica’s talks and round tables, to delve deeper and develop themes such as digital, discoverability, artificial intelligence and book ecology in small working groups.

For this second edition, the Babelica platform, which will be revealed in September, has been entirely redesigned and updated to reduce its environmental footprint.

Babelica is supported by the Agence française de développement (AFD Campus) and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

The 7th Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored, will be held from May 4 to June 6 in 17 European and American cities.

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.

All the information can be found here.

Several independent publishers from Latin America will attend the 47th edition of the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, 27 April-15 May 2023, where the guest of honour city this year is Santiago de Chile.

The Editoriales de Chile collective and the Alliance are organising a round table event there on 27 April at midday (local time) : “Independent publishing : meeting, showing solidarity and acting together in Latin America”, with the participation of Maria-Paz Morales (Dudo Ediciones/Editoriales de Chile) and Germán Gacio Baquiola (Corredor Sur Editores / Editores independientes de Ecuador) and Andrés Bracony (Tinta Limón, Argentina), moderated by Paulo Slachevsky (LOM Ediciones / coordinator of the Alliance’s Spanish-language network).

Find out more : The Buenos Aires International Book Fair

At the Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan/International Book Fair of Abidjan (SILA), the Alliance is organising a workshop targeted at book professionals from some fifteen publishing houses from francophone Africa. The workshop, led by Tchonté Silué, will cover the following themes : creating and managing a community of readers, using social networks, creating audio-visual content (videos, podcasts) and hosting book groups.
There will be a project fair where publishers will be able to present their catalogues with the intention of agreeing transfers of rights and establishing co-publishing projects. This project fair will be accompanied by an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience of solidarity co-publishing.

These events, organised thanks to the support of the Orange Foundation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, will be attended by the finalists of the Orange Book Award in Africa as well as by some ten publishing houses from francophone Africa who are members of the Alliance. The winner of the Orange Book Award in Africa will be announced during the book fair.

See all the SILA’s activities here.

See the programme of events organised by the Alliance here :

In 2023, let’s continue building a world with more solidarity, sharing ideas and defending bibliodiversity !

Illustration by Mariette Robbes

Read the conclusions and proposals formulated by publishers from Francophone Africa following the workshop organised by the Alliance on “Digital tools and African languages”, held in Conakry, in November 2017, thanks the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the partnership with the house publishing Ganndal.

Nouvelle édition publiée en 2017 par la marca editora (Argentine), en coédition avec EDINAR (Argentine) et le CERLALC.
Ouvrage de référence publié initialement par le CERLALC.

ISBN : 978-950-889-299-7
264 pages / 20 X 25 cm

Pour en savoir plus.

Voir également ci-dessous l’édition péruvienne du Manual de edición, éditée par La Travesía Editora, maison d’édition péruvienne, membre du collectif EIP au Pérou.

Publishing professionals charter and code of ethics, produced by the Organisation malienne des éditeurs de livre (OMEL), Mali, 2017.

This charter was produced by OMEL (Organisation malienne des éditeurs de livre) in April 2017, which authorized the Alliance to publish it on its website.

Re|Shaping Cultural Policies 2018 (UNESCO 2005 Convention Global Report)
Creativity at the Heart of Development
Excerpt from the foreword :
“This new UNESCO Global Report ‘Re|Shaping Cultural Policies’ is an invaluable tool for the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This Convention, now ratified by 146 Parties, including the European Union, is leading UNESCO’s efforts to strengthen capacities for the creation, production, and dissemination of cultural goods, services, and activities. States are supported in their sovereign right to implement public policies for the development of strong and dynamic cultural and creative industry sectors. UNESCO is committed to developing more effective and sustainable public policies in these areas.
Our roadmap is clear and requires the cooperation of governments and non-governmental actors in four key areas : strengthening governance for culture, improving the conditions for the mobility of artists, integrating culture in sustainable development strategies, and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms. These four goals are closely linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Audrey Azoulay
Director-General of UNESCO

Read the report here.

Octavio Kulesz, member of the Digital Lab of the Alliance is the author of Chapter 3 of the report : « Cultural Policies in the Age of Platforms ».

Feasibility study on the establishment of digital printing structures for independent publishers, by Gilles Colleu (November 2017)

Among the 80 recommendations of the International Assembly of independent publishers (2012-2014), independent publishers called on public authorities and international organisations to “contribute and support the establishment of in-country digital printers and printing facilities, on demand (including in sub-Saharan African) to promote access to books”.

The Alliance thus launched a feasibility study in 2016, on the establishment of digital printing facilities in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Above all, the aim was to find out whether digital printing is a relevant alternative, and on what conditions. To do so, the study surveys the needs of local professionals, and discusses the potentials and benefits as well as limitations inherent to digital printing, based on realities and practices of Francophone publishers from sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Finally, it discusses the feasibility scenarios for the establishment of a digital printing hub.

By focusing on the technical aspect of digital printing as well as on the development potential in a Francophone African context, this study goes beyond a feasibility study and proposes reflection points on the economic and strategic models of independent publishing.

This study was supported by the International Organisation of Francophonie. A full version of the study is available to members of the Alliance.
For questions or comments, please contact the team of the Alliance.

Gilles COLLEU, author of the study
Former lecturer at the University Institute of Technology « Book Trade » in Aix-en-Provence, former Director of production and digital publishing for Actes Sud, Gilles Colleu established and manages, with Jutta Hepke, Vents d’ailleurs (La Roque d’Anthéron, France), member of the International Alliance of independent publishers. He co manages the digital printing hub Yenooa and incubator Rue des éditeurs and actively participates in the Digital Lab of the Alliance (tutorials, training).

As the Frankfurt Book Fair (11-15 October 2017) opens in a few weeks’ time, with a special focus on France and French languages, the International Alliance of independent publishers takes the opportunity to revisit some key issues for independent publishers and bibliodiversity, as expressed by 400 publishers from 50 countries, in the International Declaration of independent publishers of 2014.

France wished, in the context of Frankfurt’s invitation, to provide a space for publishers from the South and we are grateful for this opportunity. We hope this openness will contribute towards meaningful networking, discussion, and exchanges among Francophone publishers. These mutual trust and interest, at the heart of the Alliance, have indeed proven themselves over the past 15 years, leading to unprecedented co-publishing and translation projects between continents.

However, other aspects of “Frankfurt in French” are counterintuitive to this dynamic. Book donation initiatives from France to Africa are indeed planned in Frankfurt this year. More specifically, the 30 000 books to be displayed in the French Pavilion will be distributed to foreign countries after Frankfurt – and this while some twenty African publishers are invited to participate in the Fair, in an “African/Haiti” stand. As mentioned in several reports and in the Frankfurt programme (see here), book donations, while underpinned by good intentions, can disrupt the local book economy.

We therefore call on the accountability of each involved — public authorities, associations, and professionals, for these donations to be made in close collaboration with participating African publishers, but also in consultation with local African booksellers. These are the basic conditions for balanced and respectful exchanges in the actors’ respective environments.

It is critical to rethink book donation. Encouraging and supporting sustainable and fair editorial partnerships must be a priority.

We hope that the readiness to showcase Francophonie’s diversity and plurality in Frankfurt will be paralleled with constructive actions by public authorities, both in the North and South. It is indeed essential for political will to accompany a change of perspective and relations among Francophone countries.

In a joint statement published on 15 June 2017, the Association internationale des libraires francophones (AILF) and the Alliance shared their concerns and highlighted the impacts of book donations on a country’s book chain.

The Bibliodiversity Observatory collects studies, analysis, and tools produced by the Alliance, in collaboration with its partners. It is built around issues identified as priorities by independent publishers as a follow-up to the International Conferences of Independent Publishers for the 2015-2021 and 2022-2025 period.
Aimed at professionals and public authorities, the Observatory’s mission includes strengthening bibliodiversity in the various regions of the world.

As an independent, evolving and collaborative space, the Observatory’s role includes :

• a “research and analysis” pillar : resource centre focusing on major issues related to independent publishing ;
• an “advocacy” pillar, including awareness and influence strategies.

The International Alliance of independent publishers acknowledges and thanks publishers and their partners (international organisations, Ministries of Culture, unions, etc.…) for their contributions and commitment to the Bibliodiversity Observatory.

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 !