The British Council and London Book Fair announced their second UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur (UKYPE) award in 2008. Launched in 2007, this British Book Industry Award  (BBIA) seeks to further stimulate the development of the UK publishing industry in an international business context. The aim is to find the most talented young entrepreneurs working in the UK’s publishing industry and give them the chance to find out more about what is happening out there, by becoming part of the British Council’s international network of young creative entrepreneurs.

The winner was announced at London Book Fair (together with the winner of the International Young Publishing Entrepreneur IYPE award 08), on Wednesday 16 April. The winner also attended the British Book Industry Awards on the final night of The Booksellers Association conference in Brighton on 13 May 2008.

The winner was accredited with a Nibbie (BBIA) award, and travelled together with the two runners-up to Argentina in the course of 2008 for a tailored tour of its publishing industry. For more information on who won and about the 2009 award, see our Creative Economy site.

Why Argentina?

• Argentina has one of the most developed and fastest-growing Spanish-speaking publishing industries.
• Since 2003, the industry has experienced the consolidation of an extremely diverse market, with new independent actors and traditional publishers accounting for a sharp increase in the number of titles published every year.
• Buenos Aires is one of the cultural and literary capitals of Latin America. Home to renowned writers Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar and Manuel Puig, the city’s literary scene is still one of the main sources for Spanish-speaking fiction publishers. Since 2003 there has been a literary renaissance through new authors like Marina Marisch, Santiago Llach, Fabián Casas and Washington Cucurto.
• The Buenos Aires International Book Fair is the largest Spanish-speaking Fair in the world, and one of the most important cultural and editorial events in Latin America. Over 1,200,000 readers visit it every year.
• Argentina has taken part five times in our International Young Publishing Entrepreneur (IYPE) award, which has enabled us to establish a long and important network of contacts within their publishing industry.

What is included?

• Economy return flight
• Accommodation for two weeks
• Subsistence at our standard Argentina rates.
• Participation in an industry tour of Argentina’s publishing scene. This will involve meetings with big publishes houses, independent publishers, public bodies and institutions devoted to publishing issues, etc...

After the industry tour

The participants will be asked to complete an evaluation for the British Council as well as articles for trade journals, e.g. Publishing News.