International Publishers Association president Gvantsa Jobava at Beijing International Book Fair. Image: BIBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Strengthening Democracy’
As most Frankfurt regulars know, the International Publishers Association (IPA) Prix Voltaire is an annual award for heroes in publishing—those who often risk their safety, their livelihoods, their freedom, and even their lives for the freedom to publish, the broader freedom of expression, the freedom to read … the “trinity of freedoms,” as we call them.
Helmed by the IPA’s Freedom to Publish committee and directed by IPA communications specialist James Taylor, the Prix Voltaire has honored publishers imprisoned; the widows and/or widowers of publishers whose lives were taken; and brave publishers who daily stare down censorship to produce the literature their consumers need.
Even if you’re not familiar with the Prix Voltaire, you likely know the Tbilisi-based publisher Gvantsa Jobava.
In the first year of her term as IPA president, she has been a ubiquitous and eloquent presence on the world stage—you’ll see her daily here at Frankfurt this week on stages and in quiet conversations, listening to IPA members and lending her support to ennobling efforts.
This week, she’ll be joined by Frankfurt president and CEO Juergen Boos; PEN International president Burhan Sönmez; and several other figures on freedom of expression in introducing the IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award. (FEDA).
Publishing Perspectives has had a chance to ask Jobava about this new development and the thinking behind it. She tells us that she actually sees it as a “new mission” for IPA’s portfolio, “to encourage publishers—to take action and resist, to highlight their important role and mission in strengthening democracy.
‘A New Mission’
“As the new IPA president,” she says, “I approached the Freedom to Publish committee with the initiative to establish this new Defenders Award.
“A new mission to encourage publishers—to take action and resist, to highlight their important role and mission in strengthening democracy.”Gvantsa Jobava
“My hope was that IPA could create a project that would allow us to recognize companies or organizations related to the book sector in demonstrating their commitment to the freedom of expression, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read in their activities.
“An example might be a coalition that fought against restrictive laws, or an organization that stages an event to raise awareness about the above-mentioned freedoms.
“Over the years,” she says, “applications submitted for IPA’s Prix Voltaire have highlighted the dedication of book sector representatives in defending this trinity of freedoms.
But because of the specific nature and defined rules of the existing award, we weren’t able to accept or consider some of these applications.
“With this new initiative,” to be formally launched on Wednesday (October 15) at Frankfurt, “I hope we’ll be able to significantly expand our efforts in this direction, highlighting organizations that make invaluable contributions to defending the trinity of freedoms on both local and global levels, and drawing attention to how crucial this work is for the book sector.”
Jobava says that IPA expects to open the new Defenders Award for nominations, and Publishing Perspectives will of course notify our readership when the submissions period begins.
Meanwhile, Jobava says, “It has been one of the many happy moments of my presidency so far to see the Freedom to Publish committee take my idea, look at it critically and refine it, to give it a name and to agree to be the jury. I’m truly grateful to the committee for such impressive work accomplished in so short a time.
“In addition to this new award,” Jobava says, “we’ll also be looking at the growing restrictions on human freedom, increasing inequality, and the erosion of rights affecting millions of people—even in our modern world. Clearly, when we talk about inequality in the world, one of the first issues that comes to mind is women’s rights and the challenges of achieving gender equality.”
To that end, Jobava speaks of what she sees as a need for gender equality. “I believe it’s important that, authors and publishers use books to tell the world countless stories of women’s oppression, as well as the stories of those remarkable figures who fight tirelessly to achieve equality.
“Our own sector must itself be an example of that same equality. Of course, much has been done, but there is still a long way to go to truly achieve gender parity.”
Praising the three women who have preceded her in the 129 years of the IPA’s presidency—Ana Maria Cabanellas, Bodour Al Qasimi, and Karine Pansa—Jobava points to Al Qasimi’s establishment of the PublisHer program and says, “This year, IPA decided to take more institutional action in this field.
“To that end, during the IPA Sustainability Summit at Frankfurt, I’ll sign an MoU with UN Women, which will aim to empower women within our industry.”
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the International Publishers Association.
More on Frankfurter Buchmesse, its events and people, is here. More on the International Publishers Association is here, more on the Prix Voltaire is here, and more on the freedom to publish is here.
A version of this story appears in our Publishing Perspectives show magazine, which will be available at the 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse on Wednesday morning (October 15) when the trade show opens.
If you can’t be with us in Frankfurt this year to get your print copy of our magazine, be sure to download our PDF here (a link that will go live on Wednesday morning, CEST).
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