Publishing at the London Book Fair 2009

The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies (OICPS) had a stand at the London Book Fair 20-22 April 2009. It was an excellent opportunity to meet many of our alumni who were working with their own companies at the fair, as well as many of our publishing contacts in the UK and international industries. Current students were greatly in evidence, wearing OICPS T-shirts and helping to run the Fair's seminar programme. Several students also helped out at the stand for the Independent Publishers Guild. We were busy throughout the Fair and, for example, hosted three well-attended seminars and hosted a party for our alumni.

The first seminar centred on children's publishing in India, the market focus for the fair. Sheila Lambie chaired the session and the speakers were V.K. Karthika, Chief Editor, Harper Collins, India; S.K. Ghai, CMD, Sterling Publishers and Chairman, Institute of Book Publishers; and Atiya Zaidi, Publisher, Ratna Sagar.

The second seminar covered the broader theme of children's publishing around the world. Chaired by Claire Squires, the speakers included Shereen Kreidieh, Asala Publishers, Lebanon; Dr Gillian Lathey, Director of the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, Roehampton University; and Luigi Spagnol, Publisher , Salani, Italy.

The third seminar covered the topic of publishing and censorship. Chaired by Angus Phillips, the speakers were Julia Farrington, Director of Arts at Index on Censorship; Arash Hejazi, founder of Caravan Books, Iran, currently studying at Oxford Brookes for an MA in Publishing; Hilary Wainwright, co-editor of Red Pepper; and Peter McDonald, author of The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences (2009).

See more photos in the gallery.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 24 Apr 2009 around 10am

Filed Under #Publishing