Last week, EIBF Policy Officer, Tora Åsling, attended and contributed to the programme of the Bookselling as Resistance conference, hosted by the Booksellers Research Network (BRN) at the University of Münster, Germany 10–12 September.
The conference brought together people from near and far as the Booksellers Research Network (BRN) is an international network of academic researchers, booksellers and other industry professionals sharing an interest in the history, practice, and culture of bookselling. Its members conduct research on a diverse range of topics within bookselling, from past to present.
Image: Words of welcome from conference organisers and BRN chairs
EIBF Policy Officer, Tora Åsling, joined the programme to present the RISE Industry Insights research paper on Bookshops, Censorship and Freedom of Expression, sharing insights on how booksellers navigate challenges of censorship and intimidation while ensuring readers have access to books and ideas worldwide. You can find the full report on the RISE website here.
Image: EIBF Policy Officer, Tora Åsling presenting the Industry Insights: Bookshops, Censorship and Freedom of Expression
Other speakers explored topics like new iterations of audiobook piracy and its gray zones, the shape of informal bookselling in India, the history of queer, left and other radical bookshops in the UK, US and Germany.
The conference’s packed programme was sprinkled with delightfully bookish activities, including a bookshop tour through the historical city of Münster and a visit to the Ehrenpreis Centre for Swift Studies, a research institute dedicated to Irish author Jonathan Swift, containing the world’s largest reconstruction of Swift’s library in identical imprints.
Image: A collection of miniature editions of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift in the Ehrenpreis Centre for Swift Studies
A big thank you to the organisers for bringing together researchers, booksellers, and industry professionals for such important conversations about the past, present, and future of bookselling.