Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi has revealed nine shortlisted nominees for the inaugural PublisHer Excellence Awards, which recognise outstanding women who have made a clear difference to the publishing industry.

The PublisHer and Kalimat Group founder announced the names during The London Book Fair in a video message, saying they had been picked from 113 candidates. The eventual winners will be announced at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, in April.

Sheikha Bodour compared a female publisher’s journey to “navigating a vast ocean”, because it demands “the skill to navigate calm waters, the courage to confront storms, the resilience to sail against the tide, and the wisdom to believe in herself despite uncertainty and myriad challenges.”

The PublisHer Excellence Awards foreground women who are improving publishing and blazing trails for others to follow, have the power to spur the winners on to further achievements and inspire others, and create awareness of the challenges many women still face in the publishing business.

The shortlists are:

Lifetime Achievement Award ● Akosua (Akoss) Ofori-Mensah, Publisher, Founder and Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Publishers ● Ana Maria Cabanellas, CEO, Grupo Claridad ● Shirley Yvonne Carby, Chairperson, Carlong Publishers Caribbean Ltd.

Emerging Leader Award ● Mitia Osman Tisma, CEO and Publisher, Mayurpankhi and Executive Director, Agamee Prakashani ● Fernanda Valezini Ferreira, Editor and founder, She Publishes Podcast ● Cassie Rocks, Marketing Manager, Collins and Co-Director, The FLIP

Innovation Award ● Awatef Mosbeh, CEO and Co-founder, Morbiket ● Anne Friebel, Founder and Publishing Director, Palomaa Publishing ● Jasmine Richards, Founder and CEO, Storymix

The announcement was part of a broad PublisHer programme in London, which included two panel discussions exploring female representation in books as a means to advance SDG5, Gender Equality, and women’s leadership and innovation in publishing.

The participants were Canadian publishing consultant, Lisa Lyons Johnston; Sharmaine Lovegrove, co-founder and creative director at Dialogue Berlin; Amira Abou El Magd, founder of Dar El Shorouk, in Egypt; founder of Akoobooks, Ama Dadson; Emma House, Director of Oreham Group; President & Publisher of the HarperOne Group, Judith Curr; and Ameena Saiyid, OBE, Founder and Managing Director of Lightstone Publishers.