The 12th Sharjah Publishers Conference opens its doors to the world’s publishing professionals on Sunday, 30 October.
After a welcome by Ahmed Al Amari, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), delegates will enjoy a keynote address by Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association and Founder/CEO of Kalimat Group, Kalimat Foundation and the PublisHer network.
The morning sessions continue with three speakers from Italy, this year’s Guest of Honour, on a panel moderated by Jacks Thomas of Bologna Books Plus: LeeAnn Bortolussi, rights manager at Giunti Editore, Carlo Gallucci, publisher at Carlo Gallucci Editore and Marco Sbrozi, editorial director at Hoepli. For more information on the Guest of Honour activities planned during the Sharjah International Book Fair and the Italian book market generally please see page 3.
After the coffee break a panel moderated by Eman Hylooz of Jordan’s Adjad Website will look at Digital Publishing in the Arab World, asking how Arab publishers are embracing the digital landscape, and who the major operators are. Panellists are Salah Chebaro of Neelwafurt, Lebanon, Ali Abdelmoneim Mohamed Ahmed, a digital publishing consultant from Liberty Education, Doha Al Refae of Rufoof.com, Jordan and Khaled Ababneh of the Almotahida Education Group in Jordan.
This will be followed by a panel looking at Audiobook Publishing in Emerging Markets, with speakers Ama Dadson of Akoo Books, Ghana, Govind Deecee of DC Books in India and Beatrice Lin of Co. Mint, South Korea, moderated by Nathan Hull of BEAT Technology. More details are this session are given on page 6.
The final session before lunch is a presentation on how to apply for the SIBF translation grant scheme, a $300,000 fund exclusively available to Publishers Conference participants, by Mariam Al Ali of the Sharjah Book Authority.
On day two of the Publishers Conference the morning starts with a Fireside Chat between Karine Pansa, Vice Chair of the International Publishers Association (IPA), and Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books UK, followed by a panel looking at Publishing from Northern Africa, with speakers Tarik El Slaiki of Slaiki Publishing in Morocco, Karim Ben Smail of Ceres in Tunisia and Hussan bin Numan of Dar Al Omah in Algeria. The session is moderated by Wafaa Mazgali, publishing consultant, children’s writer and editor and cultural advisor from Tunisia.
After coffee a panel will look at New Forms of Content Licensing, a session devoted to looking at how companies are working with publishers to maximise their IP and develop new income streams. Speakers include Carla Herbertson of Small Audio and Michael Beckett of Miko, while the session is moderated by Porter Anderson of Publishing Perspectives.
The Growing Global Market for Manga is the final session of the morning, moderated by Kuo-yu Liang. This will investigate why manga is so popular today with speakers Kevin Hamric of Viz, USA, Daihei Shiohama of Media Do, USA, Ju-Youn Lee of Yes Press, USA and Dr. Essam Bukhary of Manga Arabia, Saudi Arabia. Further details about this session are given on page 8.
The final day of the Publishers Conference, 1 November, starts with Bodour Al Qasimi in conversation with Penguin Random House supremo Marcus Dohle, followed by a session looking at The Future of the Supply Chain with speakers including Hassan Ali of Lightning Source in Sharjah and Shereen Kreidieh of Dar Asala, Lebanon, moderated by Ashley Gordon of HP Inc.
The next session looks at Promoting a Nation’s Literature for Translation, asking how a country can grow the market for literature in translation through its national initiatives. Delegates will hear from speakers who are successfully promoting their nation’s literature and gaining ground in translations, including Sarah Hemens, Project Director at New Books in German and Gvantsa Jobava, Editor and Head of International Projects at Intelekti Publishing in Georgia. The panel is moderated by Catriona Ferguson of the Publishers Association, New Zealand.
After a coffee break the final session of the morning looks at Global vs Local, asking how multi-national publishers are working to ensure a global strategy with a regional focus, with speakers Cyrus Kheradi of PRH US, Kevin Hanson of S&S Canada and Ananth Padmanabhan of HarperCollins Publishers, India. The session will be moderated by Seth Russo; further details are on page 20.
