The Alliance

Bibliodiversity is cultural diversity applied to the world of books. Echoing biodiversity, it refers to the critical diversity of products (books, scripts, eBooks, apps, and oral literature) made available to readers. Bibliodiversity is a complex, self-sustaining system of storytelling, writing, publishing, and other kinds of production of oral and written literature. The writers and producers are comparable to the inhabitants of an ecosystem. Bibliodiversity contributes to a thriving life of culture and a healthy eco-social system. While large publishers do contribute to publishing diversity through the quantitative importance of their production, it is not enough to guarantee bibliodiversity, which is not only measured by the number of titles available.
Independent publishers, even if they consider their publishing houses’ economic balance, are above all concerned with the content of published products. Independent publishers’ books bring a different outlook and voice, as opposed to the more standardised publications offered by major groups. Independent publishers’ books and other products and their preferred diffusion channels (independent booksellers, among others) are therefore essential to preserve and strengthen plurality and the diffusion of ideas. The word bibliodiversity was invented by Chilean publishers, during the creation of the “Editores independientes de Chile” collective in the late 1990s. The International Alliance of independent publishers significantly contributed to the diffusion and promotion of this notion in several languages, including through the Dakar Declaration (2003), Guadalajara Declaration (2005), Paris Declaration (2007), Cape Town Declaration (2014) and the Pamplona-Iruñea Declaration (2021). Since 2010, International Bibliodiversity Day is celebrated on 21 September.

See the article “Bibliodiversity” on Wikipedia.
The article also exists in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

The bibliodiversity, in pictures!

Container full of books inundating the market, books produced in another cultural setting given away free to readers or public libraries, the setup of local branches by publishing groups from abroad aiming to achieve monopoly conditions… Drawing on some examples of practices with damaging consequences to the publishing market in developing countries, Étienne Galliand (founder of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers) presents an overview of the predation to which emerging markets are subjected directly or indirectly. An edifying panorama.

As a complement to this article, you can consult the Guidelines for Fair Publishing Partnerships (in French).

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.

The notion of fair speech expands the idea of ‘free speech’ to incorporate the concept of justice. Indeed, in a context of media concentration, dominant powers (whether political, economic, religious, ideological, etc.) are the most represented and heard (because they are powerful or loud). Fair speech fosters speech equity for other voices that are often marginalised and/or censored to be heard. Fair speech therefore promotes an equitable access to expression (for example for women, historically marginalised groups, etc.), enabling an authentic diversity of voices. This concept was created by Betty McLellan in Unspeakable (Spinifex Press, 2010, Australia) and promoted by Susan Hawthorne in Bibliodiversity: A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (Spinifex Press, 2014, Australia).

The Dakar Declaration (December 2003) is the foundational text of the Alliance and birth certificate of the association. The Guadalajara Declaration (October 2005) is the outcome of a meeting held in Mexico between independent publishers from the Latin world.
The International Declaration of independent publishers for the protection and promotion of bibliodiversity (July 2007) was drafted and signed by the 70 publishers participating to the International Assembly of independent publishers held in Paris in 2007.
These three texts, as well as the 2014 International Declaration of independent publishers, are milestones in the history of the Alliance – they are a reminder, and bear witness to the present bearing testimony to the commitment of independent publishers, and serve as their policy guidelines.

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.

• Rights market for fiction and non-fiction: 25 independent publishers from 21 countries present titles from their catalogue.

• Rights market for children’s literature: 13 independent publishers from 10 countries present titles from their catalogue.

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.

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:

• Boitempo (Brazil), 2024
• Marjin Kiri (Indonesia), 2024
• Wildproject and Rue de l’échiquier (France), 2023
• Continta Me Tienes (Spain), LOM Ediciones (Chile) and Econautas Editorial (Argentina) for a co-publishing in Spain and Latin America, 2024
• Nogaam Publishing (UK/Iran) and Dena Books (Netherlands/Iran) for a co-publishing into Persian, 2025
• Atlas Publishing (Syria), Med Ali (Tunisia), Sefsafa Publishing (Egypt), Mamdouh Adwan Publishing (Syria) and Arab Diffusion Company (Lebanon) for a co-publishing in the Arab world, 2026
• Vakxikon Publications (Greece), 2026

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.

See the list of the 12 members (Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Haiti, Madagascar, Portugal, South Africa, Syria, Togo, United Kingdom/Iran) of the ICIP.

Consult the programme here.

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) and 9 languages offer you an immersion in the literature, humanities and children’s literature of the Arab world!

Through this HotList, available in Arabic and English, the independent publishers of the Arab world invite you to discover the 1001 facets of literary and intellectual creativity of their country.

Discover the HotList Arab world here!

Replays of Babelica 2024 are online on the Babelica platform and on the Alliance’s YouTube channel!

From 19 September, the books of the 2024 Babelica fair will be unveiled: over 90 publishing houses represented in 53 countries around the world.

A wealth of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books to discover here (and filters to help you refine your searches, by language, literary genre or country).

The 2024 edition of Babelica will take place on 20 and 21 September, 21 September being International Bibliodiversity Day.

The Babelica program is online here!

The Babelica book fair is available online throughout the year. Here you can find the books presented during the 2023 edition of Babelica. The books of the 2024 edition of Babelica will be unveiled on 19 September.

To watch the discussions and debates at Babelica 2023, click here.

Jérôme Chevrier has been working for 20 years in the book and reading sector. As a librarian, he has worked at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Ministry of Culture, the Centre national du livre and the French Institute of South Africa.
He was in charge of cultural mediation at the Centre Pompidou public information library. He is currently cultural attaché in charge of the Book Department at the French Embassy in London.
He joined the Alliance Board in July 2021.

With a multidisciplinary Master’s degree, Christian Ambaud holds degrees in Information and Communication Sciences (specialising in digital technologies), Philosophy, French and Comparative Literature, and more recently in environmental and social sustainability in business.
With expertise in impact project management and over 20 years of experience in development aid, particularly in strengthening innovative digital uses in the cultural sector in French-speaking Africa, he is passionate about creating shared value and promoting responsible practices within organisations. Christian joined the Board of the Alliance in 2025.

Nathalie Carré is a professor of modern literature and lecturer in Swahili language and literature at INALCO, where she is also co-director of the Master’s programme in Literary Translation. Her current research focuses on the circulation of texts and ideas in a globalised publishing context where certain languages appear to be largely dominant, with a particular interest in publishing in Africa and in African languages. For several years, she participated in the development of the ‘Terres solidaires’ collection within the International Alliance of Independent Publishers. She is also a graduate of ETL (class of 2023) and a translator from Swahili and English into French.
She joined the Board of the Alliance in 2025.

A committed journalist with a special interest in international solidarity, sustainable development and human rights, David Eloy founded Altermondes in 2005, a media focusing on civil society’s actors, where he was editor-in-chief until 2016. He previously held positions in several international NGOs, including the Centre de recherche et d’information pour le développement (CRID), Peuples Solidaires – Action Aid France and the Association internationale de techniciens, experts et chercheurs (Aitec).

After serving as managing director of EMI (École des Métiers de l’Information), he has been director of Territories at La Cimade since November 2025.

As an English professor with a degree in languages and comparative literature, Marielle Morin’s professional career has revolved around books, languages and research.
She has worked in the International Rights Department at the University of Chicago Press, and as a librarian at the Centre for Indian and South Asian Studies (CEIAS-EHESS). She has translated Indian literature from English (Khushwant Singh, Anita Naïr, Amruta Patil) and Bengali (Mahasweta Devi) and then went on to manage the media libraries and the book office of the French Embassy/ Institute in New Delhi first, then in Cairo, for eight years until 2014.

She is now back at the CEIAS, where she is in charge of international research projects within the research focus areas of Asia, Middle East and Muslim Worlds and African Studies.

She continues to be interested in languages, Indian literature, translation, and book history, and is an associate member of the DELI academic project (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Indian Literature).

Georges Lory was cultural advisor in South Africa from 1990 to 1994, and participated to the country’s democratic transition. Between 1998 and 2008, as Director of International Affairs of Radio France Internationale, he increased the number of its FM relays in the world from 76 to 169. From 2009 to 2013, he led the general delegation of the Alliance Française in Southern Africa.
He has written three volumes of poetry (including one in Afrikaans), edited a book published by Autrement on South Africa, translated poets including Breyten Breytenbach, Antjie Krog and Lebo Mashile, novels and short stories by Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Laureate, texts by JM Coetzee, André Brink and Kopano Matlwa, as well as the Dutch writer Adriaan van Dis. He is the author of four books, mainly on South Africa.

Hélène Kloeckner is the founder of Beau travail, which helps organisations improve their working conditions. She is the author of a survey on textbooks in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, published in the Africultures journal in 2003. She has worked for more than twelve years in publishing, and collaborated with Nouvelles éditions africaines in Senegal, Dakar. As a volunteer at the Alliance since 2004, she has been particularly interested in the pan-African collection “Terres Solidaires” . She was the president of the Alliance between 2013 and 2020.

Treasurer of the Alliance, Annie Gogat works for the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation as Accounting Manager. Passionnate about integration issues and involved in her neighborhood’s school life, she finds herself naturally acting as a mediator in many situations. After spending years in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, she now lives in Bouffémont (Paris region). She was the treasurer of the Alliance between 2002 and 2020.

Born in 1946, after obtaining a degree from the Centre de Formation des Journalistes and a postgraduate qualification in political sociology, Gérard Aimé started his career as a journalist and photo-reporter in Canada. The co-founder of Alternatives publishing and co-author of its first publications, he ran the publishing house for 35 years until its takeover by Gallimard. Today he works as a consultant for various publishing houses. Gérard Aimé was a member of the Board of the Alliance between 2011 and 2016.

From 2002 to 2009, Étienne GALLIAND (founder of the Alliance) managed the association. He then created Double Ponctuation, with which the Alliance regularly collaborates. Double Ponctuation is, among other things, copublisher of the Bibliodiversity journal.

Alexandre TIPHAGNE joined the Alliance from 2002 to 2007, as manager of co-editions and the Portuguese and Spanish languages networks. From December 2012 to April 2014, Alexandre was vice-chair of Cabinet in the Ministry of Culture and Communication and technical councillor responsible of the book, and later chair of Cabinet. Formerly a parliamentary collaborator of Aurélie Filippetti at the National Assembly, he is currently in charge of Culture at Paris City Council.

Thomas WEISS worked for the Alliance between 2003 and 2006 as a logistician, administrator and Webmaster. He also coordinated co-publishing projects of the English and Arabic languages networks. In 2007, he became an independent consultant and web developer, and worked principally for the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation, Exemole Sarl, and the Research Institute, and contributed to discussions on governance. In 2013, he joined the French IT group, Netapsys Conseil, as central director. He is currently a consultant at OCTO Technology.

Between 2008 and 2010, Nathalie CARRÉ contributed her expertise to “Terres solidaires” and “Terres d’écritures”, both solidary copublishings collections. Nathalie continued facilitating the reading committee of the “Terres solidaires” collection. She is currently a Swahili teacher at Inalco.

Sonbol REGNAULT-BAHMANYAR contributed to the Alliance between 2010 to 2012, by developing the Persian language publishers group. Sonbol is currently in Iran, where she runs a French pastry shop.

Matthieu JOULIN joined the Alliance’s team in 2011, after a master’s degree in Hispano-American Language, Literature and Civilisation at Bordeaux University and a master’s degree in Book Commercialisation at University of Paris 13-Villetaneuse. Between 2011 and 2019, Matthieu was especially in charge of the Digital Lab of the Alliance; and maintaining and supporting the Spanish and Portuguese language networks.

Clémence HEDDE worked for 10 years at the Alliance, between 2010 and 2020. After a double degree in Geography/ Book Trade in France and the United Kingdom, and experiences in different publishing houses (Autrement, La Découverte, Phaidon), Clémence Hedde was Programme Manager at the International Alliance of independent publishers, more specifically responsible for overseeing the Alliance’s French-language network and the children’s books/youth literature thematic group, coordinating international co-publishings, organisation of meetings and workshops, as well as monitoring the research initiatives of the Bibliodiversity Observatory. She is now Literary Coordinator at Ciclic, the regional Agency of the Center Val de Loire for books, images and digital culture.

Mariam PELLICER is a graduate from Sciences Politiques in Toulouse (specialising on the fight against discrimination and the struggle for equality), after an academic exchange at the University in Chile, stuying among other things, sociology of gender. Mariam’s early professional experiences were with the International Alliance of Women in Athens and then with the Fondation des Femmes in Paris.
Between 2020 and 2024, Mariam coordinated the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking networks, the Bibliodiversity Observatory and the Alliance’s advocacy unit.