The Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi opens the 2024 edition of Sharjah’s Publishers Conference in the United Arab Emirates. In the foreground, conference presenter and delegate Lola Shoneyin — winner of the Aficionado Award and director of the Aké Arts and Book Festival — listens to Al Qasimi’s commentary. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Main Stage Presentations and Round Tables
The 15th Sharjah Publishers Conference on November 2 will build on the steady development work that the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi and Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri have dedicated from the beginning.
Set just before the opening of each year’s Sharjah International Book Fair, the conference itself last year drew 1,065 delegates from 108 nations
Respectively the chair and CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, Bodour Al Qasimi and Al Ameri are supported by the programming work of Emma House and communications liaison work of Tony Mulliken, with the aid of Mansour Al Hassan, director of publisher relations from the Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, and Khoula Al Mujaini, who handles coordination of Sharjah’s many book fairs and trade shows.
This year, the publishers conference has International Publishers Association (IPA) president Gvantsa Jobava as its emcee. A special keynote conversation will feature Madeline McIntosh, the co-founding CEO and publisher of Authors’ Equity and the former CEO of Penguin Random House USA, with BookBrunch’s Jo Henry.
From left, the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Gvantsa Jobava, Madeline MacIntosh, and Phaedon Grigorios Kidoniatis
There’s also a keynote address planned from Athens-based publisher Phaedon Gregorios Kidoniatis, the Eurasia Partners founder, vice-president of the Federation of European Publishers, and a representative of the Guest of Honor Greece program coming to Sharjah International Book Fair (November 5 through 16).
Round Table Breakout Sessions
Following the mainstage events, the Sharjah Publishers Conference will again stage Emma House’s innovative round-table programming with specialized discussions on as many as 32 topics.
Members of the organizing team behind the Sharjah Publishers Conference from left are Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Tony Mulliken, Mansour Al Hassan, and Emma House
Some of these round-table programs include:
- Penguin Random House Audio’s Amanda D’Acierno on “Building an Audio Team”
- Jon Watt of Bonnier Books in the UK and Juliana Rueda of Ears/MiVoz in Spain on “Global Audio: How You Can Use Ethical AI Translation and Audiobook Production To Open new Audio Markets for Your Business”
- YS Chi, a Sharjah Book Authority board member, in “Leadership in Time of Change”
- Keith Riegert of the States’ Ulysses Press on “Developing an AI Strategy and Tools”
- Meru Gokhale of India’s Editrix on “AI for Editorial”
- Juan Mila of HarperCollins’ HarperVia in the States on “The US Book Market and How to Approach Editors’
- Sissy Papathanassiou of the Hellenic ministry of culture and Nikos Bakounakis of the Greek Foundation of Book and Culture on “The Greek Book Market and GreekLit Translation Program”
- Mette Hammerich Caserta of Denmark’s Forlaget Fioranello on “Digital Publishing First”
- Amy Fletcher of Simon & Schuster UK on “Selling translation rights in the Digital Age”
- Ainei Edoro of Brittle Paper (Nigeria and the States) on “Inside the African Literary Market: What Global Publishers Need to Know”
And a Frankfurt Programming Note
The PublisHer Lounge at Sharjah. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
If you’re going to join us at Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 15 to 19) before going to Sharjah, note that the PublisHer Lounge—which was premiered in Sharjah—will be in at Frankfurt, at Hall 4.1, Stand C28 with a roster of events of its own.
Here‘s a recent article on PublisHer’s special event in New York City, and we expect to have more details of the programming at Frankfurt released for publication soon.
At Frankfurt in October, PublisHer is expected to announce its third round of the still-young PublisHer Excellence Awards, and the PublisHer appearance this year is made possible, in part, by a partnership with Frankfurter Buchmesse.
Some of the highlights planned for PublisHer’s presence include the following:
October 15, Frankfurt Wednesday
Starting at 1 p.m.
Center Stage, Hall 4.1
A welcome speech with PublisHer managing director Zhora Qureshi is followed by a panel, The Invisible Women of Publishing.
“Exploring why such women’s work is undervalued and discussing how we can elevate and celebrate every contribution that powers the industry.”
With Bologna Children’s Book Fair (April 13 to 16) director Elena Pasoli; Copyright Clearance Center president and CEO Tracey Armstrong; Agamee Parkashani’s executive director Mitia Osman; and BookCareers’ Suzanne Collier.
PublisHer was founded during London Book Fair by the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi in 2019.
More from Publishing Perspectives on international book fairs and trade shows is here, more on Sharjah Book Authority and its programs is here, more on the Sharjah International Book Fair is here, more on Sharjah Publishers Conference is here, and more on international book and publishing awards is here.
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