Bodour hails publishing industry
IPA president shares her belief in its indispensable value
Shaikha Bodour Al Qasimi, President of International Publishers Association (IPA), shared her belief in the indispensable value of the publishing industry for cultural, social, economic, and educational progress around the world, during the inaugural edition of BolognaBookPlus.
A new initiative, running in parallel with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) from June 14 — 17, in its fully online format this year, BolognaBookPlus aims to reach a wider professional audience across the global publishing industry. Co-chairing the event with Richard Charkin, founder of Mensch Publishing, the IPA President addressed the occasion of the IPA’s 125th anniversary as a major milestone to the publishers, leaders and professionals attending the conference, adding that publishing predates the IPA by several centuries, a reminder of how long the business has been around.
Forging forward
At the full-day conference titled ‘Forging forward: The pandemic an interruption, or an opportunity to rethink’, designed by BCBF to cater to the wider publishing sector, not just children’s publishing, Bodour noted that despite undergoing many periods of disruption, publishing has always adapted and evolved to remain a cornerstone of humanity’s cultural progress. She stressed the need to bolster and build the industry’s resistance to pressure and turn challenges into opportunities with the right mindset, skillset and toolset.
Early in the day’s programme, Bodour held a spotlight conversation with multi-literary award winner, academic and public speaker, Elif Shafak, exploring key themes surrounding the speed and complexity of change in the global publishing industry and pathways to forging its secure future. A key strategy for the IPA, as it celebrates 125 years of serving, shaping and upskilling the industry, remains the continuous development of publishing know-how to meet emerging trends and to upskill the global publishing ecosystem.