Belarusian publisher Dmitri Strotsev accepts his IPA Prix Voltaire at the 2025 World Expression Forum, with International Publishers Association president Gvantsa Jobava and WEXFO founding CEO and IPA Freedom to Publish chair, Kristen Einarsson, June 2. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
A Joint Win for Belarusian Publishers in Exile
See also:
Norway’s WEXFO Opens in Lillehammer: ‘The Cellular Level of a Democracy’
At Norway’s WEXFO: ‘Democracies Depend on Reading’
Norway’s World Expression Forum in a ‘Year of Resistance’
The IPA Prix Voltaire Announces Its 2025 Shortlist
Norway’s WEXFO: New Dates, Early Notes on 2025 in Lillehammer
Dmitri Strotsev of the press Hochroth Minsk and Nadia Kandrusevich of the publisher Koska are the independent publishers named to receive an unusual joint accolade. The news was greeted by an extended standing ovation from an audience of hundreds this evening here in Lillehammer.
Strotsev and Kandrusevich become the second and third Prix Voltaire winners from Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. Ihar Lohvinau won in 2014. What’s more, a group of Belarusian publishers were shortlisted in 2021 anonymously because of perceived risks to several houses. In addition, Andrej Januškevič was shortlisted by the Prix Voltaire last year, and went on to win another such honor, the 2024 Association of American Publishers‘ (AAP) International Freedom to Publish Award.
Like Januškevič, tonight’s IPA winners have placed themselves in exile to operate outside their country—Strotsev moving to Germany and Kandrusevich to Poland.
As many World Expression Forum-goers know, the Monday evening conference dinner often includes the announcement of the International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) Prix Voltaire, which recognizes publishers “who have typically published controversial works amid pressure, threats, intimidation, or harassment, whether from governments, other authorities, or private interests.”
Strotsev and Kandrusevich thus become the joint winners of this year’s 10,000-Swiss-franc honor (US$12,244.), a recognition now in its 18th year.
Strotsev: ‘Voices of Dignity’
Dmitri Strotsev was able to appear onstage in Norway and spoke in Belarusian from an acceptance statement in which he described joining dissidents in Minsk in 1980, seeing for the first time tamizdot, “books published abroad and brought secretly to the Soviet Union.
“It was political, fiction, and philosophical literature. There were far fewer of these books than I could find in Soviet bookstores or libraries, but they carried free speech and changed my consciousness.” Strotsev went on to say:
“In March 2022, I left for the West with one small suitcase.
“I was fleeing political persecution, but I was also preparing for a new mission to use 30 years of publishing experience to create a free Belarusian publishing house in exile.
“These are voices of dignity, voices of the Belarusian revolution of 2020, and voices of testimony about the brutal war in Ukraine. These books are widely distributed in the diaspora and penetrate Belarus. Today, about 30 Belarusian publishing houses have re-emerged or restored their work in exile, and we are all closely connected. We have a publishing community.
“I’d like to thank the International Publishers Association for the Prix Voltaire. This is important support for the Belarusian democratic resistance, an open invitation to Belarusian independent publishers to join the international publishing family.”
“I was fleeing political persecution, but I was also preparing for a new mission to use 30 years of publishing experience to create a free Belarusian publishing house in exile.In a brief biography, Strotsev is described as “an award-winning Belarusian poet, publisher, and activist. After his publishing house Vinograd lost its license, he continued as an underground publisher, resisting state censorship.
“Arrested in October 2020, he subsequently faced threats and restrictions on his work. Forced into exile, he relocated to Berlin and founded Hochroth Minsk as a platform on which Belarusian and exiled writers can publish their works freely.”
Kandrusevich: ‘Even the Smallest Readers’
Nadia Kandrusevich was unable to be in Lillehammer and sent this statement of appreciation:
“This recognition affirms not only the importance of publishing and translating books for children but also the belief in the quiet power of words to shape minds, to open hearts, and to build bridges across languages, cultures, and generations.
“This award belongs to all the translators, publishers, and writers who keep working despite all circumstances. To all the children who read or listen to bedtime stories and to all the parents who believe in the power of a good book.”
“The belief that even the smallest readers deserve stories that speak truth, nurture imagination, and offer a mirror—or a window—into the world. About her work, the IPA tells us, “Nadja Kandrusevich founded Koska, a children’s book publisher, in Belarus in 2018. The press’ goal was to provide literature in Belarusian that promotes free thinking and an escape from oppression. In a market dominated by Russian-language publishing and strict regulation, the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election saw Koska have publications seized and offices closed.
“Since 2022, Kandrusevich has continued her work in exile, still reaching Belarusian children back at home.
Einarsson: ‘A Worrying Number of Nominations This Year’
IPA president Gvantsa Jobava and World Expression Forum founding CEO and IPA Freedom to Publish chair Kristenn Einarsson speak at the WEXFO dinner’s 2025 Prix Voltaire winners’ announcement, June 2. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
Kristenn Einarsson—for eight years chief of the International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) Freedom to Publish committee, and the founding CEO of WEXFO—spoke of the Prix Voltaire, noting that “for the first time, three of the nominees publish in exile.”
As you may recall, the shortlist for the Prix Voltaire this year—a program directed by the IPA’s James Taylor—was announced on April 11 from the 2025 Festival du Livre de Paris.
“We received a worrying number of nominations this year,” Einarsson said, “including a number from people in this room. Thank you for that.
“The shortlisted publishers you are about to see have all faced different risks in trying and bringing books to readers. Their stories are sometimes unknown outside of their countries or regions, but their bravery is no less great.
I must also thank those generous publishers who sponsor the Prix Voltaire and in so doing support their publisher colleagues around the world.”
The publishers Einarsson referred to who this year have sponsored the Prix Voltaire with their contributions are:
- Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah (Egypt)
- Albert Bonniers Förlag (Sweden)
- Changbi Publishing (Korea)
- C.H.Beck (Germany)
- Dar El Shorouk (Egypt)
- Nowon Mungo (Korea)
- Sahoipyoungnon Publishing (Korea)
More sponsors from the world publishing community are always needed to support the unparalleled efforts of the Prix Voltaire program and its annual cash award. It continues to be the case that a very small number of world publishers become donors. To find out how you or your organization can support the IPA Prix Voltaire, contact prix-voltaire@internationalpublishers.org.
Jobava: ‘The Year of Resistance’
IPA president Gvantsa Jobava—whose base in Tbilisi had reached the 187th day of street protests, partly over the Georgian government’s decision to suspend talks about joining the European Union—said, “This year’s WEXFO theme, ‘the year of resistance,’ speaks to me so clearly. And in this story of resistance, we all are also characters.
“Books are a symbol of that resistance. Maria Ressa’s How To Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future was held by our prominent journalist, political prisoner Mzia Amaghlobeli, as she was arrested. She carried the book in court, to encourage her supporters never to give up.
“Books have become symbols of our fight against violence, arrests, injustice. They are weapons in our fight for freedom.
“The 2025 IPA Prix Voltaire laureates are central characters. At great personal risk, they are inspiring hope, demanding reflection, carrying culture. It is an honor to celebrate them.”
As it would happen Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa also appeared onstage to announce Imaan Mazari-Hazir winner of WEXFO’s first Young Inspiration Award “for her extraordinary courage, integrity, and impact in the struggle for the rule of law and justice.”
For a first time, the International Publishers Association produced a commemorative brochure on the Prix Voltaire, its 2025 laureates and shortlistees, and elements of the program and its history. Image: Publishing Perspectives: Porter Anderson
Past Prix Voltaire Laureates
These are the IPA Prix Voltaire winners prior to the 2025 joint win by Dimitri Strotsev and Nadia Kandrusevich.
| Year | Prix Voltaire Laureate | Special Award |
| 2024 | Samir Mansour (Palestine) | Victoria Amelina (Ukraine) |
| 2023 | Mazin Lateef Ali (Iraq) | Volodymyr Vakulenko (Ukraine) |
| 2022 | Same Sky Books (Thailand) | |
| 2021 | Dar Al Jadeed (Lebanon) | Li Liqun (China) |
| 2020 | Liberal Publishing House (Vietnam) | |
| 2019 | Khaled Lotfy (Egypt) | |
| 2018 | Gui Minhai (Sweden / Hong Kong | Faisal Arefin Dipan (Bangladesh), Liu Xiaobo (China) |
| 2017 | Turhan Günay and publishing house Evrensel | |
| 2016 | Raif Badawi (Saudi Arabia) | |
| 2014 | Ihar Lohvinau (Belarus) | |
| 2012 | “Zapiro” (South Africa) | |
| 2011 | Bui Chat (Vietnam) | |
| 2010 | I. Shovkhalov and V. Kogan-Yasni of DOSH (Chechnya / Russia) | |
| 2009 | S Bensedrine, N. Rijba, M. Talbi, Founders of OLPEC (Tunisia) | Irfran Sanci (Turkey) |
| 2008 | Ragip Zarakolu (Turkey) | |
| 2007 | Trevor Ncube (Zimbabwe) | Anna Politkovskaya (Russia), Hrant Dink (Turkey) |
| 2006 | Shalah Lahiji (Iran) |
More from Publishing Perspectives on issues of the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, more on the Prix Voltaire is here, and on the International Publishers Association is here. More on the World Expression Forum, WEXFO, is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.