IPA President Speaks at Babelica on Resisting Authoritarianism

The fascinating session, led by moderator Kenza Sefrioui (En toutes lettres, Morocco), also featured Romana Cacchioli (Director of PEN International, United Kingdom) and Maia Simonishvili (National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, member of the IFLA European Regional Committee and the FAIFE Advisory Committee), and covered a broad range of topics from the challenges on the ground for authors and publishers to how organisations like the IPA protect themselves from restrictions on participation in the life of an international association.

Jobava spoke about the range of challenges that IPA sees 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. Cacchiloi spoke about the many cases Pen International follows and the challenges that authors and their supportive NGOs face around funding. Simonishvili spoke about the role of libraries in presenting a range of books to readers.

You can see the full video on this page and the Babelica website here: https://babelica.alliance-publishers.org/