Ingunn Trosholmen. Image: WEXFO
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
At Norway’s WEXFO, a Vow to Fight ‘Disinformation, Censorship, Polarization’
IPA’s Prix Voltaire: Dmitri Strotsev and Nadia Kandrusevich at WEXFO
Norway’s WEXFO: ‘The Cellular Level of Democracy’
At Norway’s WEXFO: Democracies Depend on Reading’
Norway’s World Expression Forum in a ‘Year of Resistance’
Nygaard: ‘An Experienced and Highly Qualified Leader’
On January 1, Ingunn Trosholmen will take the role of managing director at Norway’s World Expression Forum, WEXFO, coming into the position at a time when the still young program is gaining rapidly in influence and visibility.
As WEXFO was established in 2021, its founding managing director was the former Norwegian Publishers Association CEO Kristenn Einarsson, longtime chair of the Freedom to Publish committee of the International Publishers Association (IPA), and the chair of Norges Televisjon.
Now, as the acclaimed Einarsson prepares to leave the helm of the organization he founded four years ago—you’ll find more about this in our upcoming Frankfurt Show Magazine, publishing on October 15—his intent is to focus full-time on the “DemRead” project he has committed his work to, more fully called Democracies Depend on Reading. The essential point to know about DemRead is that it binds the success and longevity of democratic values to the importance of reading, and long-form reading at that:
“Democracy depends on citizens who are informed and who engage in shaping society based on knowledge and understanding. And informed citizens are, first and foremost, reading citizens. Reading remains democracy’s most powerful tool and freedom’s strongest defense.”
As Einarsson works on the progress of the DemRead effort, the wider World Expression Forum community will be getting to know Trosholmen and her background.
Trosholmen: Free Expression ‘Enables All the Other Liberties’
She currently is the state secretary at the office of Norway’s prime minister. Some in our international readership may want know that the statssekretær is not the equivalent of a “secretary of state” in the United States. The Norwegian state secretary is described as a political appointee who serves as a kind of deputy to a minister in a specific industry.
As part of the weekend announcement of her appointment to become WEXFO’s managing director, Trosholmen says, “Freedom of expression is the foundation that enables all the other liberties we hold dear.
“Without words, criticism, and the exchange of ideas, we cannot safeguard those rights. Without it, the right to life may be violated without resistance, abuses of power may go unchecked, freedom of religion may be stripped away, and the freedom of association may lose its significance.
“In short, without freedom of expression, the individual is deprived of freedom itself.”
Mads Nygaard
Mads Nygaard, chair of the WEXFO board, says, “Trosholmen has a highly relevant background and expertise, which makes her particularly well-suited to lead WEXFO into the future.
“Furthermore, she’s an experienced and highly qualified leader who will be able to support and strengthen our team and efforts.”
Before serving as state secretary to the prime minister, she was the mayor of Lillehammer between 2019–2023.
Her previous roles have included international coordinator at Oppland County Municipality and general manager at the Nansen Peace Center, as well as deputy mayor in both Øyer and Lillehammer.
She’s a trained teacher and holds a degree in social sciences from the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Additionally, she has served on the Norwegian Labor Party’s central international committee.
A Programming Note
The International Publishers Association and PEN International have quite a bit of programming in play during Frankfurt relative to the freedom-of expression elements of this news.
On “Frankfurt Wednesday,” IPA president Gvantsa Jobava and PEN International president Burhan Sönmez will host a program celebrating “freedom of expression defenders” and the new IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders award.
Date: October 15
Time: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. (reception follows)
Venue: Frankfurt Messe Congress Center, Room Fantasie
On “Frankfurt Thursday,” the IPA presents What Can We Do To Resist Attacks on the Trinity of Freedoms?
“The freedom of expression, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read are all coming under increasing pressure from a range of directions. What practical tools are available to the book sector to resist these attacks? And what can international publishers do to support each other?”
Publishing Perspectives’ Porter Anderson moderates with speakers Anke Steinecke, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel U.S., Penguin Random House (USA); Jaeho Kang, Korean Publishers Association (Korea); and Sherif Bakr, Al Arabi (Egypt)
Date: October 16
Time: 10 to 10:50 a.m.
Venue: Center Stage, Hall 4.1
Also on “Frankfurt Thursday,” PEN International board member Ege Dundar moderates The Future of Writing and Free Expression: Promoting Young Voices and Peer-to-Peer Solidarity Around the World
Speakers include Fatoumata Sissi Ngom, Zoya Miari, and Nedim Türfent
Date: October 16
Time 5 p.m.
Venue: Center Stage, Hall 4.1
More from Publishing Perspectives on issues of the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, more on the World Expression Forum (WEXFO) is here, more on the IPA’s Prix Voltaire is here, and on the International Publishers Association is here.
More on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here. Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.
Wherever our international readers are in the world, they use our free daily email to be sure they don’t miss any news. Sign up now.