Key topics will, you’ll be astounded to learn, include the impact of artificial intelligence on the publishing market.

In a landmark year for books and reading, with Rio de Janeiro being named the World Book Capital, the National Union of Book Publishers (SNEL) is hosting the second edition of the Rio International Publishers Summit.

The event will take place 11-12 June, just before the 2025 Bienal do Livro Rio 2025 (Brazil’s top book fair alternates between Rio and Sao Paulo).

As part of the World Book Capital calendar, the Summit will feature Flávia Bravin, Martha Ribas, and Luiz Alvaro Salles Aguiar de Menezes, reports Talita Facchini for PublishNews, my one-stop shop for Brazilian publishing news.

Focus Areas

The summit will be divided into two main tracks:

Future of the Market: Focusing on sustainable growth, innovation, market expansion, and impact strategies. Key topics will, you’ll be astounded to learn, include the impact of artificial intelligence on the publishing market.

Value of Creative Work: Emphasising the appreciation of editorial production and the professionals involved in the book chain. Intellectual property and the challenges of copyright in the digital age will be essential themes, balancing technology and creation. In other words, AI again.

The View From The Beach

Head over to PublishNews for an extensive report from Talita, in Portuguese, which is my excuse for a quick and personal View From The Beach add-on.

Brazil was joint second-choice, along with India, when I decided to quit the UK for warmer and friendlier climes.

The Gambia won out not least because I’m a British monoglot. English is the language used in most schools here, whereas Indian local languages outnumber English by several billion to one, and even if I’d managed to master Bengali in my time in Kolkata, the next state would speak something totally different.

In Brazil the usual (and admirably confident, but not at all arrogant) response to “Do you speak English?” is “Why would we want to?“

Compare France where most people speak English as a second language but won’t let on so they can watch you struggle with French. Or Sweden, where every child emerges from the womb speaking English better than any Brit every will.

And they can do it in sub-zero temperatures! Which was the other factor in my choosing The Gambia. Wall-to-wall sunshine! That and the Indian snakes and Brazil’s man-eating spiders.

But still mystified why a polyglot like Carlo Carrenho would leave beautiful, warm Brazil for a life in sub-Arctic Sweden.

This post first appeared in the TNPS Linked In newsfeed.