The International Publishers Association has opened the call for nominees for its freedom to publish award, which last year was renamed The Prix Voltaire. The prize, which has been awarded since 2006, has transitioned from a bi-annual to annual award and carries a cash prize of 10,000 Swiss francs ($9,975).
The prize aims to offer financial and media support to publishers who persist in publishing challenging or controversial work despite ongoing threats or harassment from “governments, extremists or private interests.”
Anyone can nominate a publisher, which the IPA defines as “an individual, collective or organization that provides others with the means to share their ideas in written form, including via digital platforms.”
The IPA is putting a renewed focus on the organizations mission to support Freedom to Publish since the organization voted in Saudi Arabia and China as full members in 2015, a move which prompted several critics to question the organization’s integrity.
Underscoring the IPA’s commitment to free specch, it awarded the 2016 Freedom to Publish prize to jailed Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi. Prior winners include Belarusian publisher Ihar Lohvinau (2014), and South African cartoonist Zapiro (2012).
Nominations are open until April 7 and can be made by filling out a downloadable form and emailing it to the IPA director of communications & freedom to publish, Ben Steward.
Sponsors of the prize include Albert Bonniers Förlag, Elsevier, HarperCollins, Kodansha, Oxford University Press, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster and Springer Nature.
