This year, the main objective of the ICIP meeting is to collectively organise the next International Conference of Independent Publishing, which will be held in Fez (Morocco) in 2027.
The ICIP programme is available here.
The International Alliance of Independent Publishers warmly thanks its partners for their support of this ICIP meeting: the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation and the French Embassy in Togo.
Jean has left us.
Jean was a founding member of the Alliance, one of its pillars, who always believed in people, dialogue, and the intersection of languages and cultures. A fervent advocate of solidarity co-publishings, he initiated and participated in numerous projects aimed at circulating literature across countries and continents.
It is so hard right now to realise that we will no longer see Jean, that his laughter will no longer ring out, that we will no longer be able to learn from him. Jean’s passing reminds us of the necessity and importance of solidarity, friendship and generosity; it is up to us to continue on this path, to be curious about life and about others; it is up to us to believe in utopias.
The next edition of the International online book fair of independent publishing, Babelica, will take place on 24 and 25 September 2025. To find out about all the activities at Babelica, click here!
The programme for the 2025 edition focuses on three themes:
The Babelica programme is available here and online here
The books featured in the 2025 edition of Babelica will be unveiled on 21 September (International Bibliodiversity Day)!
Through the support of its international and local partners (ministère des Affaires culturelles en Tunisie, ALECSO, Clik2read, MIP Livre, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Centre national du livre en France, Institut français de Tunisie, Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer...) and the support of publishing houses in Tunisia, in particular Med Ali (Sfax), the Alliance brings together 30 independent publishers from 17 countries in Tunis (Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Palestine, Quebec, Senegal, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, and Yemen).
The meetings will be centred around 3 themes:
The full programme and list of participants can be found here!
The ’Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored’ was launched in London in May 2016 at the initiative of Nogaam Publishing. After its incredible success and the impressive reception of this fair, in the following years, with the efforts of independent Persian publishers outside of Iran, the fair traveled to various cities across Europe, the United States and Canada every year on a tour. So far, this book fair has been held eight times, and in 2025 for the ninth time, it will travel to 24 cities across Europe and North America from April 25 to June 13.
This book fair is symbolically held simultaneously with the Tehran International Book Fair held annually in Iran, and is an effort to reflect and introduce the culture and literature that has been suppressed and censored by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This fair is organized by independent Iranian publishers outside Iran and scores of volunteers from cultural organisations and communities. It is an opportunity to introduce books that have been published free of censorship and to celebrate Iranian writers and thinkers who defy censorship and welcome pluralism and diversity.
This is a civil movement by publishers abroad to stand in solidarity with Iranian publishers and writers. A civil protest to reclaim the right to freedom of expression, freedom of creativity, and awareness with the help of all political, cultural, and social groups in Iranian society, as well as an opportunity for the Iranian and Afghan diaspora communities to access books and interact with authors and publishers who aspire the enrich and nourish the cultural life of their communities.
All the information (in Farsi) can be found here: https://uncensoredbookcom.wordpress.com/
Watch the replay of the two rights markets offered by the Alliance on 8 and 9 April 2025.
For any information (contact with publishing houses, request for details of a title, etc.), please do not hesitate to contact the Alliance team.
Samia Zennadi, co-founder of the APIC publishing house in Algeria, coordinator of the Alliance’s French-language network, friend, comrade... Samia lit up minds and faces, Samia was committed, Samia was funny, Samia had a big heart.
Samia left us in January 2025 and we are at a loss for words to express our immense sadness.
The members of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers send their warmest and most supportive thoughts to Samia’s family, friends and loved ones.
Author(s) : Vandana SHIVA
Publishing countries : Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Syria, Tunisia
Vandana Shiva has worked with farmers’ and people’s movements across the world against what she calls “seed imperialism”, economic polarisation, and the digital colonisation of our ecological and social diversity. This powerful memoir looks back at the most memorable campaigns and movements that she has been part of, while looking ahead to the challenges posed by the COVID crisis, the privatisation of biotechnology, and the commodification of our biological and natural resources. “The awareness that Vandana’s work and actions provoke is sublime”, says Gilles-Éric Séralini, “it will bring you light”.
© Women Unlimited (India)
First publication by two Alliance’s members, Women Unlimited (India) and Spinifex (Australia).
Translations and co-publishings of Terra viva by members of the Alliance:
Several of these translations have benefited from the support of the Jan Michalski Foundation.
Vandana Shiva is one of the Alliance’s Bibliodiversity Ambassador. Listen here the replay of the round table with Vandana Shiva during Babelica 2023.
The coordinators of the Alliance’s language networks, meeting as the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP), will be gathering in Paris from 22 to 24 October for the Alliance’s annual governance and operational meeting.
Consult the programme here.
An online workshop on book ecology, held on 20 January 2026.
This workshop was offered by the Institut de l’Ecoedició (an initiative launched by Pol·len Edicions – a member of the Alliance in Catalonia/Spain).
The Institute proposes analytical tools to manage and improve the publication of eco-books. In this workshop, the Institute’s team shares their experience and practices and presents the BookDAPer (an environmental calculator for the publishers).
More information here: https://institutecoedicio.cat/lentitat/
Un taller dirigido por Jordi Panyella Carbonell (Pol·len edicions / Institut de l’Ecoedició, Cataluña, España) y Marta Fonolleda Riberaygua (directora del Institut de l’Ecoedició), aquí la grabación de este taller, en el canal de YouTube de la Alianza.
Available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
Following the publication in 2019 of a mapping of public book policies in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa/ Madagascar and Latin America, the independent publishers of the Arab world are pleased to present the mapping of public book policies in 11 countries in the region: Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
Given the instability and socio-political fragility in the region, this project was a challenge that the project coordination team (Samar Haddad, Atlas Publishing in Syria; Fayez Allam, Syria; Hani Altelfah, Marfaa for Culture and Publishing in Turkey) met with determination and conviction.
(Re)experience in pictures the launch of the mapping of public policies in the Arab world, which took place at the Cité de la Culture in Tunis in June 2025.
Objectives and methodology
The mapping was developed between 2018 and 2019 for the following 2 regions: Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa/ Madagascar. Work to update the data for these two regions has been underway since November 2025. The mapping was finalised in 2025 for the Arab world (the data collected dates from 2023-2024 for this region).
The mapping proposes a comparative approach to public book policies in three regions of the world –Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa/Madagascar and the Arab world– and emphasises the need for them to maintain bibliodiversity in the regions studied. These overviews provide an overall context, particularly through the cross-sectional analyses, as well as information on the specific measures being implemented in each country, through the country profiles. These two levels of information highlight both the similarities and the differences between the countries studied. One of the main aims of this tool is to encourage dialogue between publishing professionals and public authorities to consolidate and/or develop public policies in each country.
For the Arab world, data was collected from book professionals and public authorities in around twenty countries. In many cases, the data collected was not sufficiently accurate or complete: while the absence of and/or difficulty in obtaining information is a significant element of analysis in itself (on the lack of transparency of book support schemes, on the lack of knowledge among book professionals of existing legislative frameworks, on the absence of book-related policies, etc.), the information was too incomplete for these countries to be mapped. There are therefore gaps in this mapping: several countries representing very significant economic and cultural weight for books in the Arab world are not (yet) mapped. This mapping (undoubtedly) contains inaccuracies, even errors: several pieces of information received were contradictory and although they were checked, it was sometimes very difficult to arrive at certainties. We apologise for this in advance and would be grateful for any comments or remarks you may have. The mapping is not set in stone and is work in progress: you can contribute to it (click on “Contribute” when you are in a country file). If you would like to add a country to the map, please contact us: equipe@alliance-editeurs.org
Once the data had been collected, Hani Altelfah (a researcher and publisher based in Turkey) carried out a cross-cutting analysis of the data. This analysis focuses on several key issues, including freedom of expression, the various forms of censorship, the socio-economic environment of the book, intellectual property rights, etc. It is available here in Arabic and here in English.
More information on the methodology and the project here.
Acknowledgements
The International Alliance of Independent Publishers warmly thanks all the book professionals who have contributed to this project; Samar Haddad, who has tirelessly supported this project, despite all the challenges encountered and the many moments of doubt! Fayez Allam, who worked behind the scenes with immense patience; Hani Altelfah for his energy and the quality of his analyses; Franck Mermier for his proofreading and advice; the team of translators and proofreaders (Dahouk Rukieh, Abdulla Fadel, Anna Akkash); Dépli Studio for designing the mapping website; Nouri Abid (Med Ali, Tunisia) for organising the mapping launch in Tunis.
Finally, the Alliance would like to thank the Open Society Foundations for their invaluable support and trust.
Principles and best practices in public book purchases, a document produced by LIBRE (Brazilian League of Independent Publishers) in 2025.
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