Can a nation’s literature truly reach the world if no one is tracking where it has already gone?
The Safal Kiswahili Prize for African Literature: From an Idea to an Ecosystem
On its 10th anniversary, one of the prize’s co-founders reflects on how the award has helped expand the contemporary Kiswahili canon, and demonstrated that there is a vibrant market for quality literature written in African languages.
How to Spend $50 Million on the Nonprofit Literary Arts
Open Letter Books founder and publisher Chad W. Post sees the recently launched Literary Arts Foundation in the U.S. as not only a funding opportunity, but a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rethink how we support serious book culture, including translated works.
The French Book Business Grapples with the Rise of the Secondhand Book Trade
Among the many challenges facing the book business in France is the rise of the secondhand book trade, which publishers and observers point out has evolved from a marginal exchange between readers into a mature, sophisticated market that competes with new books.
Building a Nigerian Picturebook Ecosystem
Author, festival organizer, and Ouida Books founder Lola Shoneyin on her efforts to establish “a living picturebook culture” for Nigerian children “that can also compete confidently in global marketplaces.”
The Surprise Blossoming of Omani Literature
In the last decade, writers from Oman have won dozens of prestigious international literary prizes, including the only Arab writer to win the International Booker Prize. Author, translator, and ArabLit founder M. Lynx Qualey explores the sudden, growing acclaim for Omani writers.
Who Gets to Disagree?
Frankfurt Calling’s John Steinmark on how ‘the language of freedom’ has been hijacked by an array of reactionary political actors—and how young voices in the publishing industry are organizing to push back.
Editing for the Ear: What I Learned Producing My Own Audiobook
When the themes and text of her book proved challenging for an audiobook publisher to find a narrator, author Shelley Fisher Fishkin took on producing the book herself.
‘Plutonium, or Salt?’ When It Comes to Books, How Much AI Is Too Much?
“This AI moment—in the industry, in the world—is revealing a lot about what we believe to be important,” observes Rakuten Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn, “and about why we all do the jobs we do.”
The Importance of Copyright for African and Latin American Publishers
At the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 48th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, The International Publishers Association organized an event highlighting concerns over copyright and education exceptions in Africa and Latin America.