Creating an international and intercultural fair: a balancing act

Lire en français **** Leer en español

To reflect the International Alliance of Independent Publishers’ 800 members, Babelica is designed to welcome multiple sensibilities, different editorial genres and publications in many languages, including languages that are fighting to be preserved and recognised.

Replicating this diversity is far from easy. While we have chosen to build the structure of this interface in English (as we lack the resources to develop a multilingual site, but also to ensure the readability of the entire site), we have taken care, as far as possible, to ensure the visibility the diversity of languages in which the books presented have been published. To increase accessibility, the content of round tables will be interpreted in several languages.

While the online format gives us an opportunity to promote meeting and discovery and offers a solution to certain limiting factors (such as distance, travel costs and the environmental footprint of a physical book fair), it has also meant that certain choices have had to be made in terms of programming. Indeed, given that there is a 16-hour time difference between Australia and Peru, it has been impossible to choose times that suit everybody. That is why all our activities will be available to view after the event on the Alliance’s YouTube channel.