IPA President Gvantsa Jobava Says Publishers Must Be Brave and Vocal

The president of the International Publishers Association (IPA), the global body that represents book publishers, says publishers must take an active role in the future of their societies.

Gvantsa Jobava made the case in an interview with Publishing Perspectives, the international publishing news site. The conversation was led by the site's editor-in-chief, Andrew Richard Albanese, and published on 30 October 2026. It carries the headline "We Must Be Brave. We Must Be Vocal."

Jobava is serving the IPA's 2025–2026 term as president, and that term was winding down when she spoke. She described her time in the role as an unforgettable experience. She said she had led the fight for publishers worldwide while taking part in a similar struggle in her own country, Georgia, which sits in the South Caucasus region between Europe and Asia.

The IPA has also created a new prize. In 2026 it launched the IPA Freedom of Expression Defenders Award, which recognises groups and projects that do the everyday work of protecting the freedom to publish and speak openly. Jobava said the award is meant to honour that steady, unglamorous effort rather than one-off campaigns.

Before becoming president, she headed the Literacy Taskforce, a small working group inside the IPA's Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee. Literacy work, which aims to help more people read confidently, sits close to the daily business of publishing. It is also the part of the trade most readers never see.

The interview came just ahead of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the Frankfurt Book Fair, where publishers from around the world gather to buy and sell the rights to books. Much of that business happens behind closed doors, in meeting rooms and at stands. Jobava's remarks point to a different side of the industry: the lobbying, the awards and the advocacy carried out on behalf of the whole trade.

For readers, the takeaway is simple. A book reaches a shelf through editors, printers, booksellers and rights deals, and it also depends on the freedom to publish in the first place. Jobava's message, as reported, is that publishers should speak up for that freedom, not wait for others to do it.

The IPA's presidency will pass to a new holder as the term ends. For now, the interview offers a clear view of how one of the sector's leading voices sees its job.