The Freedom to Publish: Authors and Publishers Fighting SLAPPs and Censorship at London Book Fair

This session, delivered by the International Publishers Association, the Publishers Association, English PEN and PEN International, will focus on the use of libel laws and SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) to intimidate authors and publishers into self-censorship and the importance of the work to defend freedom of expression. Starting with the case studies of two high-profile books published by HarperCollins UK – Putin’s People by Catherine Belton and Kleptopia by Tom Burgis – the session will also examine the risks in other countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Finally, the IPA will announce the shortlist for the 2023 IPA Prix Voltaire

Chair: Simon Dowson-Collins, General Counsel & Company Secretary, HarperCollins UK

Speakers:

Tom Burgis, Investigations Correspondent, The Guardian
Tom Burgis is a bestselling author and award-winning investigative reporter. His latest book, Kleptopia: How dirty money is conquering the world, was published in 2020 and became an international bestseller. The Looting Machine, his first book, is an account of the plunder of Africa. It won an Overseas Press Club of America award. He worked at the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter from 2006 to 2022. This year he joined the Guardian’s investigations team. Tom is working on a new book about the truth and who gets to tell it

Judha Su, Publisher/Editor/Writer, soi squad
Judha Su is a founder and editor of ‘soi squad’ (est. 2020), an independent publishing platform and literary agency based in Bangkok. soi squad accounts the practices of writing, translating, and publishing for its transformative power in giving an access to knowledge. Since 2020, soi press has published books of English-to-Thai and Thai-to-English translation on contemporary discourses, fiction, and graphic novels. In parallel, soi literary represents a group of Thai authors/artists whose works range from fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, fragments, and anything in between.

Tanja Tuma, Board Member of PEN International, President of Slovenian PEN
Tanja Tuma is a publisher and writer, now president of PEN Slovenia and member of PEN international board. For the first 25 years she has worked in the publishing and bookselling industry locally and internationally, chairing the Slovenian Publishers’ Association and 38th Slovenian Book Fair. She was active in many juries and working groups, e.g. the Pazin festival of literature and Ljubljana – UNESCO city of literature. After 2010 she dedicated herself entirely to writing.

Tanja has published six books, four in English and two in Slovenian. In Slovenian: biographical novel about important Slovenian publisher Lavoslav Schwentner (1865-1952), very popular White and Red Cherries, a novel about the Slovenian civil war between 1941-1945 and the division in the society still present today. Internationally, first two parts of the Balkan Trilogy: Winds of Dalmatia and Tito’s Legacy.

Jeronimo Pimentel, Director General, Penguin Random House Peru