IPA Vice President speaks at Pen International Congress

Moderated by Ronald Blunden, Co-founder of Les Nouveaux Editeurs, the session featured Ayi Renaud Dossavi from PEN Togo, Kerstin Almegard from PEN Sweden and Manuel Angel from PEN Guatemala alongside Hoepli.

Hoepli spoke about IPA's work on the Freedom to Publish and with organisations from the broader book sector, including PEN International on the trinity of freedoms (the freedom of expression, the freedom to publish and the freedom to read). Hoepli was able to present the range of challenges publishers face in different publishing markets from formal censorship of particular books, to administrative barriers around ISBNs, via the abuse of legal process through SLAPPs and online pressure groups.

The session took place on the final day and demonstrated the strong links that need to exist between publishers and authors to resist censorship and secure the freedom to publish.

You can read highlights from the Congress here: https://www.pen-international.org/news/freedom-of-words-words-of-the-free-highlights