Ewa Bolińska (POLAND, ZNAK Publishing) – Foreign Rights Manager and Senior Editor in ZNAK Publishers, translator and culture manager involved in projects promoting literature and reading. Member of the board of The New Art Foundation ZNACZY SIĘ and member of the programme council in The City of Literature Foundation, organizer of the international festival of poetry – The Miłosz Festival. Author and organizer of the reading-encouragement campaign Strefa Wolnego Czytania/Free Reading Zone, that rejuvenates and broadens Kraków’s literary culture through workshops for children and young adults. Founder & curator of Word2Picture initiative joining book publishers and film producers during series of masterclasses, workshops, pitching sessions. Graduated in MA and PhD studies in Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University, Poland and the postgraduate studies in intellectual property law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University. Speaks fluent English, reads some French, Spanish and now learns Portugese. Loves to run.
Fields of interest: foreign law, international festivals, dissemination of literature and culture through workshops for children
Aleksey Burov (RUSSIA, Eksmo Fiction) was born in 1985 in Vladimir region of Russia. He graduated from the Moscow State Social University, foreign languages department in 2007. From 2007 to 2017 he worked for an IT company as the foreign licensing manager acquiring publication rights for e-dictionaries (for PC, laptops, hand held devices, etc.). In 2017, he started as the foreign rights manager at Eksmo Fiction. Today he is the head of the foreign rights department of Eksmo Fiction with more than 300 contracts a year. He is working with the whole world to acquire the translation rights for the Russian language editions. He is fluent in English and speaks freely German (enough to communicate in the local territories).
Fields of interest: e-dictionaries (for PCs, laptops, handheld devices), foreign law
Nopi Chatzigeorgiou (GREECE, Hellenic Foundation for Culture) has been working in the book industry (in the fields of cultural management and communication) since 1997. After studying philosophy, philology, (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and theater, she collaborated for five years with Kastaniotis Publications; after that, she worked at the National Book Center of Greece (EKEBI) as Press and Communication manager. Since 2014, she is working as the Coordinator of the Thessaloniki International Book Fair and the Greek participation in international book fairs around the world at the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (which succeeded EKEBI).
Fields of interest: cultural management and communications, international book fairs
Aylin Efe (TURKEY, Kalem Agency) was born in 1999, Istanbul. She joined Kalem Agency right after her graduation from English Literature and Language department. After working in Kalem as the royalty coordinator and contract coordinator, she is currently representing foreign titles as the fiction agent. Additionally, she has been working as the festival coordinator of ITEF – Istanbul International Literature Festival since 2023.
Fields of interest: fiction
Bassem El-Kheshen (UAE, Bears Factor Literary Agency) – Bears Factor Literary Agency is a leading literary agency in the MENA and Gulf region. It is located in United Arab Emirates and exclusively represents a wide range of literary agencies, publishers, authors, translators, and content creators from around the world. It was founded by Bassem El-Kheshen an author and a veteran in the publishing market. It has a diverse team of literary agents, editors, translators, content creators, and digital artists who are dedicated to provide all the client’s needs to bring forth their next project to life.
At Bears Factor we have a great understanding of the challenging, fast-paced publishing industry, and a firsthand experience in the Arabic market’s trends and needs. This ensures that we can match the right book with the right audience.
Fields of interest: content from around the world that follows trends in the Arab market
German Gacio Baquiola (ECUADOR, Corredor Sur Editores) is a cultural manager, editor and bookseller. Studied Sociology in the University of Buenos Aires and Cinema CIEVYC. Has worked in a variety of areas including film, music, literature and human rights. He cofounded the publisher Nulu Bonsai in 2008 and since 2014; he has directed the publisher La Caída (Ecuador). He has worked as an audiovisual arts instructor in Argentina, Peru and Ecuador.
His imprints have published close to 150 books and more than 100 Ecuadorian authors over the past eight years. As a cultural manager, he formed the Corredor Sur Editores, and has participated in more than 100 book fairs and festivals at the international level. He also specializes in the organization of book fairs and literary events, having worked in various countries. In 2011, he was part of the consulting committee for the Editors’ Forum at the 2012 Guadalajara International Book Fair. In Ecuador, he has collaborated on various occasions with the Quito International Book Fair, and has produced the PUCE (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ecuador) Book Fair since 2015. He directs the Corredor Sur Bookstores (Quito and Cuenca) and Palier Book Coffee. He also coordinates FIL QUITO and FIL CUENCA, in Ecuador, two of the main 3 book fairs in Ecador.
He is Founding Member and General Secretary of the Ecuadorian Association of Independent Editors and a general coordinator of Alliance international du editeurs/RED Hispanospeaker. He is actually president of PEN group ECUADOR.
Fields of interest: music, literature, human rights
Eva Kecková (CZECHIA, Host Publishing) works as a non-fiction and general fiction editor for Host publishing in the Czech Republic. As a non-fiction editor, she concentrates mostly on narrative non-fiction and memoirs with emphasis on feminist topics and environmentalism.
Fields of interest: narrative journalism and memoirs with an emphasis on feminist themes and environmental protection
Nestoras Poulakos (GREECE, Vakxikon Publication) is a publisher & co-founder of Vakxikon Publications in Greece. Vakxikon Publications is one of the largest literature publishing house in the country. Its annual publishing program includes more than 100 Greek and translated books of prose, poetry, essays and children’s books. Nestoras Poulakos has been the general secretary of the Association of Book Publishers (2016-2019). He’s a member of the Disciplinary Board of PEN Greece (2021-). He’s a member of International Alliance of Independent Publishers (2022-). He participates in several publishing fellowship and residency programs, such as: Young Publishing Professionals in Brussels (by FEP), Taiwan Publishing Fellowship, Book Arsenal Fellowship (Kyiv), Ljubljana Residency Program (by Sodobnost), Istanbul Publishing Fellowship, Sharjah Publishers Conference, etc.
Fields of interest: Greek and translated books of prose, poetry, essays and children’s books
Senja Požar (SLOVENIA, Ljubljana Literary Agency) has been working in the publishing industry for almost 30 years. During this time, she has held various positions including Head of Marketing, Editor and Developer of Digital Textbook Publishing, Editor-in-chief of the Reference Book Department, Editorial Director for Educational Publishing and Editor-in-chief for Magazines. Since 2016, she has been developing foreign sales and international literary cooperation to a highly professional level for two largest publishing houses in Slovenia when she also worked intensively on projects for Frankfurt 2023 and Bologna 2024, where Slovenia was the country in focus. In 2024, she launched the first professional literary agency in Slovenia, dedicated to exchanging rights, consultancy and professional program with the special focus on small book markets and the Alps-Mediterranean region. Senja is a proud member and renowned expert of the group Publishers Without Borders from the very beginning in 2020.
Fields of interest: digital textbooks, manuals, educational publishing, magazines, foreign sales and international literary cooperation
Nora Rawn (USA, Harlequin Trade Publishing) has been a foreign rights manager, an editor, and a book scout; she presently represents the list of Harlequin Trade Publishing. She is based in NYC and loves reading books in translation.
Fields of interest: foreign law, literature
Sara Saorin (ITALY, Just Right Agency) lives in the northeast of Italy, not far from Venice. She graduated in Translation at the School for Interpreters and Translators in Bologna and since then she has always worked as a translator from French and English. In 2011, she co-founded the publishing house Camelozampa, winner of the BOP 2020 – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year (Europe). In 2024, she co-founded Just Right, an agency specializing in children’s literature that deals the rights of some interesting Italian publishing houses, as well as authors and illustrators.
Fields of interest: children’s literature
Farrukh Sohail Goindi (PAKISTAN, Jumhoori Books) is one of the eminent intellectuals of Pakistan. He is author of several books, anchor and analyst. Even during his student life, his articles and columns started publishing on editorial pages leading Pakistani newspapers. He has written additional detailed papers and various articles on a wide variety of subjects including Globalization, New World Order, Colonialism, Democracy, Fundamentalism, and South Asia. Besides his thousands of articles have been published in different newspapers, magazines and journals of Pakistan, he has authored ten books on different topics. While being associated with Pakistan Television, he hosted weekly current affairs program, Tanazur, at prime time in which he recorded more than 180 interviews of Political leaders and leading intellectuals of Pakistan. He has been appearing as an analyst in national and international electronic media such as BBC and Voice of America.
Fields of interest: globalization, new world order, colonialism, democracy, fundamentalism, South Asia
