SHARJAH — The 16th Sharjah International Publishers Conference is highlighting international collaboration through dedicated business matchmaking and Global Exchange sessions, connecting professionals from 126 countries ahead of the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair.
Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority at the Expo Centre Sharjah, the annual event brings together 1,433 publishers for a professional programme focused on rights trading, market development, and cross-border partnerships. The conference features structured, one-on-one matchmaking meetings held across its second and third days, giving publishers, literary agents, and industry representatives direct opportunities to discuss catalogues and explore future cooperation.
Complementing the business-to-business meetings, Global Exchange sessions are providing targeted platforms for regional and niche discussions. One session for Arab and UK participants allowed six first-time UK publishers to engage with regional literary agents regarding local agenting and rights-selling practices. Rebecca Hart, Senior Relationship Manager at the British Council in London, noted that the platform helps UK publishers establish new market relationships and understand the regional landscape.
Additional Global Exchange panels gathered international creators and publishers from Colombia, Kazakhstan, Sharjah, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the United States to address shared challenges in the comics and graphic novels sector. San Mon Aung, President of the Myanmar Publishers Association, and Paolo Herras, President and Co-founder of Komiket in the Philippines, emphasized the value of sharing regional experiences and giving visual storytelling greater visibility within the broader publishing programme.
Upcoming Global Exchange meetings include gatherings connecting Arab publishers with the British Council, African publishers with an Asian delegation, and Tamil-language publishers with counterparts from the Arab world. The conference concludes on November 3.
