Dear IPA members and friends,

I dedicated myself last year to representing publishers’ interests on our pillars of copyright and freedom to publish. Through our work with our Committees, we spoke at the World Intellectual Property Organization for strong copyright, we celebrated two brave Belarusian publishers at the Prix Voltaire ceremony and launched a new Freedom of Expression Defenders Award. We signed a new partnership with UN Women to build on our work to reduce gender inequalities in our sector, and we proudly continued our work with the United Nations, WIPO and UNESCO.

None of this was possible without the valuable support of our members and partners and I thank you all for your hospitality and generosity.

But I will not dwell on the year gone by.

This year marks two major anniversaries: IPA’s 130th Anniversary, and the 20th anniversary of our Prix Voltaire.

We celebrate these while growing to 107 members from 85 countries with the arrival of the Georgian Book Association and the Latvian Publishers Association officially becoming new Provisional Members and the Bulgarian Book Association transitioning to Full Membership. Welcome to you all.

We also welcome new Committee members and I’m very happy to congratulate Jessica Sänger on her election as the new Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee following 8 years under the exceptional leadership of Kristenn Einarsson.

Our 130th year will also be the occasion of our 35th International Publishers Congress – from 5-9 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A Congress that is resolutely forward-looking under the theme Publishing Intelligence, Sustaining Forward. It will feature some of the best minds in our sector. It isn’t too late to get an early bird ticket. Join us.

Outside of the Congress we already know we will be in Cairo, London, Bologna, and Frankfurt with many more fairs under discussion. Come and see us, share your thoughts for the future of our sector. If you can’t come to these events, write to me or my Vice President, Giovanni Hoepli, or contact our wonderful secretariat team of José, Vera, Olivier and James.

One thing that is obvious to me after one year is that our sector is as vital today as it was 130 years ago.

Tech companies know it. They want our works without paying for them.

Governments know it. There are many who want to control what we read and there are those who recognise that the future of their democracies depend on them encouraging more people to read.

2026 is still young but it has sent a clear signal: despite the growing inequality in the world, the often oppressed yet profoundly courageous groups within our societies are prepared to fight for freedom and for democratic values at any cost – even with their own lives. This makes the role of literature, and publishing more broadly, more vital than ever. For what, if not books, can capture the defining moments of such unyielding resistance and give voice to the voiceless, telling their stories loudly and clearly to the entire world, and making the spirit of their struggle and defiance understood by all.
Dear colleagues, this year you may be called upon to make difficult, risky, uncomfortable, and not entirely safe – but just – decisions. Our readers place their trust in our integrity, our sense of justice, and our commitment to freedom.
Our strength at IPA is you. Our network of members and partners from around the world.

With your help we will keep fighting for the freedom to publish, with the Prix Voltaire and our new Freedom of Expression Defenders Award. You can already submit nominations.

We will keep fighting for strong copyright, and for effective enforcement.

We will keep promoting the wonderful work that publishers are doing for our societies and our contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

These anniversaries are like chapters in the book of the IPA and my small contribution to that book last year has left me eager to write what comes next.

I look forward to writing it with you.