The Sharjah Booksellers Conference in its 2025 iteration is focused on trends and issues in international publishing.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Bodour Al Qasimi Announces the Booksellers Conference

Some of the international publishers you’ll see leaving Bologna Children’s Book Fair quickly after it closes on April 3 will be those headed next for Sharjah International Booksellers Conference at the sprawling Expo Centre Sharjah.

Today (March 24), the  Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, chair of the Sharjah Book Authority, has confirmed the conference’s dates as April 7 and 8. And the Booksellers Conference has become one of the fastest-growing international publishing-industry events on the world scene.

Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the Book Authority and Mansour Al Hassani, the director of publisher services, told Publishing Perspectives at London Book Fair that the registered attendance has reached some 757 publishing and distribution leadership attendees for the Booksellers Conference this year. That biggest-yet registration for the show comes from 92 countries, and will, as each year, feature onstage commentary from internationally influential figures, and the signature round-table workshop sessions that have become a Sharjah specialty, thanks to the programming innovation of Emma House.

Registration is still open, and those interested can see the Sharjah Booksellers Conference page here. For those in our world readership who haven’t experienced the program, the essential statement of its intent is “to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange while exploring new opportunities in book distribution and developing innovative strategies for global market growth.”

The program’s relaxed format and comprehensive mix of networking and expert commentary has, in fact, begun to influence some of the programming of the annual Sharjah Publishers Conference, which occurs just before Sharjah International Book Fair in the autumn.

‘Committed to Advancing the Publishing Sector’

Al Ameri today is stressing that despite strides made in publishing technology, the distribution and sales sector in so many markets “continues to face significant challenges.

“Since its inception,” he says, “the International Booksellers Conference has aimed to address these challenges by encouraging dialogue among distributors, publishers, and industry leaders while offering practical solutions.

“Guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the leadership of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the conference has grown into a global platform that drives the development of book distribution, expands publishing opportunities, and enables publishers and booksellers to reach wider audiences.”

The event has become yet another yearly fixture on the calendar of international events that the UAE’s third emirate stages to expand Sharjah’s culture of reading and contribute to the development of world publishing, particularly in the vast Middle Eastern and African markets.

April 7

The conference opens at 10 a.m. with moderator Jeremy Cammy of Canada’s Rock the Bus Productions introducing Bodour Al Qasimi, who will give the morning’s agenda-setting keynote address.

• At 10:20 a.m., Renato Salvetti, the CEO of Italy’s distribution powerhouse Mesaggerie Libri, will sit down with Publishing Perspectives for a keynote conversation.
• After lunch, at 1:15 p.m., Nadia Wassef of Diwan in Egypt, will be in conversation onstage with Serban Radu and Nicoleta Jordan of Romania’s Carturesti Bookstores.
• And at 11:15 a.m., the vast hall’s first set of 14 round-table workshops, devised by House, will begin, 14 of them devised for international attendees, and six for Arab-world participants. This year’s speakers include Ajay Mago of India; Kristine Pikenena of Latvia’s Jānis Rose; Maria Manning of Paris’ Shakespeare and Company; Adebola Eyinade of Rovingheights in Nigeria; Skander Jabbes of Tunisia’s Al Kitab; Harriet Vocking of Supadu in the United Kingdom (our recent story is here); Maddelena Fossombroni of Todo Modo, in Italy; Steve Jones of the UAE’s division of Kinokuniya; Fernando Pascal on data management for booksellers; and Philippe Hunziker of Sophos in Guatemala.
• Once again, PublisHer, the international networking program for women in publishing founded by Bodour Al Qasimi, will stage its PublisHer Lounge, with special programming, including trends and strategies for TikTok, presented by Sara Al Mouaz , partnership manager at TikTok. There also are professional photoshoots offered in the PublisHer Lounge, and the conference continues on the afternoon of April 7 with more programming—in PublisHer lounge with “AchieveHer: Unshakable Confidence, the Body-Based Shift You’ve Been Missing,” with Anna Al Qasimi Roberts, the founder of Achiever and Soma Edge in the UAE.
• Another session of round-table workshops follows on the afternoon of the 7th, taking the day to 5 p.m.

April 8

• On the second day of the conference at 10 a.m., following Cammy’s welcome and introduction, the keynote presentation will be Publishing Perspectives’ live interview onstage with Michael Busch, the managing partner of Germany’s leading bookstore chain Thalia.
• Another speaker, at 10:45 will be Federico Lang of Libreria Luces in Spain on his concept of the Global Book Crawl.
• More round-table workshops will be held in two sessions again on the second day’s afternoon.
• In addition, the PublisHer Lounge will have a workshop titled “The Power of Networking and Collaboration, with Suegoli and Achasah Weinreb, the co-founders of Women Who Thrive.
• Another PublisHer program that second afternoon is “What Not To Wear, the PublisHer Edition,” with Sarah Ruxton and Faisa Bouguessa.

Again, that link for registration for the 2025 Sharjah Booksellers Conference is here.

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More from Publishing Perspectives about the Sharjah Booksellers Conference is here, more on PublisHer is here, and more on Sharjah and its market is here.