Earlier this autumn, a groundbreaking international publishing event challenged the traditional book fair model. The inaugural READ Barcelona brought together nearly 200 politically-committed publishers, magazine editors, and intellectuals for three days in September, offering an alternative to commercial giants like Frankfurt and London—and signaling a shift in how independent and like-minded publishers might connect and collaborate.

A month before the Frankfurt book fair, READ Barcelona ran from September 17–19, the culmination of a decade-long vision by editors at such radical and independent publishing houses as Verso Books and France's La Fabrique.

"We've been trying to create an alternative space to other international fairs for a long time," said Stella Magliani-Belkacem, copublisher of La Fabrique. Publishers' catalogues are increasingly homogeneous, she explained, and finding new voices is essential—which is why magazine editors were included in the event, the aim of which is to help participants brainstorm ways of innovating what is published.

The city of Barcelona donated space at La Model, the former prison that was C's most important penitentiary during the 20th century. During the day, meetings were held between publishers; in the evening, public events drew up to 400 participants for discussions on subjects like "hypercapitalism," "techno feudalism," and "feminism in an era of authoritarian neoliberalism."

The autonomous region of Catalonia provided additional resources, as did organizations such as the Madrid and Lisbon chapters of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Of the nearly 200 international publishers and editors attending READ, 90 received funding for travel and/or accommodation—a significant benefit for small independent publishers who cannot afford trips to Frankfurt or London.

Ronny Augustinus of Marjin Kiri in Indonesia noted that in his experience attending international book fairs, "the most promising ones are with like-minded publishers."

Origin and vision

Founders of the event include Magliani-Belkacem; Simon Budgen of Verso (UK); Simón Vásquez, now with Verso Libros (Catalonia-Spain); Ole Rauch of Brumaire Verlag (Germany); and the German journals Jacobin Magazin and Surplus Magazin.

Vásquez, who pulled together the funding with his team in Barcelona, underlined that "our generation of critical thinkers are getting old. Over the next several years we will need a new generation. We need to think together strategically about what the new issues are and share advice about how to publish them."

Vásquez offered the example of Swedish author Andreas Malm's 2021 manifesto How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which sold well in the U.S., U.K., and France, and was turned into a feature film in 2022. "In Spain it [didn’t sell], even if climate change is an emergency here. We need to think about market problems and other issues together,” Vásquez said.

Rauch added that panel discussions at READ on subjects such as methods to counter reactionary narratives were very useful and, contrary to other fairs, "it's not about someone trying to sell you software.”

"These are difficult times whether in publishing or otherwise," said Budgen. "We didn't just want to sit around and whine. We are being proactive, and we want to create long-term collaborations. As publishers we can't remain uninvolved."

Budgen emphasized that the publishers present were not just activist indie publishers, but also editors from larger companies, including Christian Heilbronn of Suhrkamp Verlag, Manasi Subramaniam of Penguin Random House India, Sophie Kucoyanis of Gallimard, Isabel Obiols of Anagrama, and Ernesto Fuentes from Sexto Piso.

"We share the same considerations," said Kucoyanis. "Europe is facing war, a genocide is underway, and the far right is at the doorstep of all democracies. It's a struggle for the Global South to reach us, even if the center of the world has shifted." For her, deep thought is essential today, and "books are a channel to share and deepen this thinking."

The literary agency French Books and More saw the opportunity and took advantage of READ to meet indie publishers and highlight the books it represents with indie Francophone publishing houses.

"Some of the publishers we see here would be lost in other fairs, or I wouldn't necessarily have time to meet with them," explained Julián Nossa of Books and More. He said that in Frankfurt, for example, "to make the trip worthwhile, I have to prioritize the more commercial titles in my catalog."

Tom Dark of Manchester University Press came away from the fair optimistic about acquiring books from France and Spain and is following up with other publishers he met. "We're not officially political," Dark said, "but are interested in using our rigor to expose and criticize authority with a progressive angle in this era of untruth."

Like many, Dark said that Barcelona was accessible, well supported, and more affordable than Frankfurt. Alexandre Sanchez, who runs the European operation of the Quebec-based Lux Éditeur, concurred. "The classic fair format is running out of steam," she said.

READ, Sanchez continued, comes at a "pivotal moment for our catalog: we are trying to create a balance between one generation and another and to amplify new voices, especially those from the Global South. This is the ideal place for that. We are witnessing the birth of something that will endure."

The second edition of READ Barcelona will be held September 16-18, 2026. Registration opens in the spring.

A version of this article originally appeared in Livres Hebdo.