The shortlist for The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2019 has been announced, with USA leading the way with five nominations, closely followed by Brazil and India with three each – and 26 countries represented.

The awards, held in partnership with the UK Publishers Association (PA), celebrate publishing success in seventeen categories, representing the best publishing ambassadors, innovative publishing, and ground-breaking initiatives in the industry. In each award category, the judging panel was comprised of experts in that sector.

The new International Book Trade Journalist Award will see a tight contest between shortlisted Anja Sieg – Buchreport (Germany), Leonardo Neto – PublishNews (Brazil) and Porter Anderson – Publishing Perspectives (USA). BOA Bookstore (Vietnam), Fang Suo Commune (China) and Unity Books (Wellington) Ltd (New Zealand) will all hope to take home the Bookstore of the Year, sponsored by Gardners. Festivals across the world are nominated for Literary Festival of the Year, with Book Arsenal Literature Festival (Ukraine), International Literature Festival Utrecht (Netherlands) and Makassar International Writers Festival (Indonesia) all in the running. Virtual Reading Gym (South Africa) is nominated twice in the Educational Initiatives and Educational Learning Resources, supported by The China Publishing & Media Journal, categories.

USA (5), Brazil (3), India (3), Canada (2), France (2), Germany (2), South Africa (2) and Market Focus Indonesia (10) all received multiple entries. Africa have a strong presence with nominations for Botswana (1), Kenya (1), South Africa (2) and Zambia (1).

Jacks Thomas, Director, The London Book Fair, said:

The breadth of the sixth International Excellence Awards’ shortlist, with its impressive count of 26 countries, highlights how the global book industry is going from strength to strength. The nominees all showcase the diverse talent working in the publishing industry today, and I am thrilled to give them the international platform at the Book Fair to showcase their success. I look forward to welcoming the shortlistees to The London Book Fair in March – best of luck to everyone.

Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive, the Publishers Association, said:

We are proud to celebrate publishing success at this year’s International Excellence Awards. The geographical diversity of the shortlist reflects the growing strength of publishing markets across the globe. As well as celebrating all of these global publishing ambassadors, we look forward to awarding the Inclusivity in Publishing Award to a UK publisher at the Fair.

The Academic and Professional Publisher Award

o De Gruyter (Germany)

o Rutgers University Press (USA)

o University of Michigan Press (USA)

The Audiobook Publisher of the Year

o Booklava (UAE)

o Karadi Tales (India)

o Macmillan Audio (USA)

The Bookstore of the Year Award sponsored by Gardners

o BOA Bookstore (Vietnam)

o Fang Suo Commune (China)

o Unity Books (Wellington) Ltd (New Zealand)

The Educational Initiatives Award

o Tata Trusts (India)

o Virtual Reading Gym (South Africa)

o West Java Agency of Library and Archive (Indonesia)

The Educational Learning Resources Award, supported by The China Publishing & Media Journal

o Bookful by Inception (USA)

o Pamegincius (Lithuania)

o Virtual Reading Gym (South Africa)

The International Book Trade Journalist Award (new)

o Anja Sieg – Buchreport (Germany)

o Leonardo Neto – PublishNews (Brazil)

o Porter Anderson – Publishing Perspectives (USA)

The Library of the Year Award

o Espoo City Library (Finland)

o Lubuto Library Partners (Zambia)

o Parque Villa-Lobos Library (Brazil)

The Literary Translation Initiative Award

o Latvian Literature (Latvia)

o The Lontar Foundation (Indonesia)

o Tulika Publishers (India)

o Yiddish Book Centre (USA)

The Literary Agent Award

o Asta Trummel – Ministry of Culture of Estonia (Estonia)

o Pierre Astier – Astier-Pecher Literary & Film Agency (France)

o Yasmina Jraissati – RAYA The agency for Arabic literature (France)

The Literary Festival Award

o Book Arsenal Literature Festival (Ukraine)

o International Literature Festival Utrecht (Netherlands)

o Makassar International Writers Festival (Indonesia)

The Rights Professional Award

o Kyoko Ishigaki – Sekaibunka Publishing Inc. (Japan)

o Rose Janssens – Clavis Publishing (Belgium)

o Yuliani Liputo – PT Mizan Pustaka (Indonesia)

Eligible for entries from Market Focus Indonesia only:

The Market Focus Indonesia Adult Trade Award

o Educa Studio

o Mizan

o PT. Bestari Buana Murni

The Market Focus Indonesia Children’s, Young Adult and Education Award

o Bentang Pustaka

o Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia Publishing House

o Noura Publishing

Eligible for entries from all countries, including the UK:

Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Publisher

o Ediciones Godot (Argentina)

o EDITORIAL 5 (Brazil)

o Kogan Page Ltd (UK)

Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Initiative

o BC Libraries Cooperative, National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) (Canada)

o Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) (Canada)

o Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) (Botswana)

o eKitabu (Kenya)

o Fondazione LIA (Italy)

Eligible for entries from the UK only:

Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association

o Emerald Publishing

o Dialogue Books

o Jacaranda Books

The winners of several other Awards will also be presented on the night including: The Simon Master’s Chairman Award and The Association for Publishing Education (APE) Student Awards.

The London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented at the ceremony.

The LBF International Excellence Awards ceremony is an invitation-only event, and takes place on Tuesday 12 March 2019 in The Conference Centre, Olympia, London.

For further information, please contact:

Ashley Baugh at Midas Public Relations on 0207 361 7860 /

Ashley.baugh@midaspr.co.uk