PublisHer: "Georgian publishing: a ‘paradise of gender equality’"

Achievements of Georgia's publishing sector for gender equality and opportunities for women are the central subject of a PublisHer interview with Gvantsa Jobava, chair of the Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association.

The online blog for the community working to "address their industry’s entrenched gender imbalances" published the talk with Jobava, who also works as editor and international relations manager at Georgian-based Intelekti Publishing/Artanuji Publishing and is member of the Executive Committee at the International Publishers Association.

When I started at the publishers association we faced many complications [...] The staff and board members had to make changes and unpopular decisions for a better future for our industry. All of us had to overcome that" - Gvantsa Jobava in conversation with PublisHer

In conversation with the website's publishing consultant Emma House Jobava deals with subjects of her background on the way to assuming positions on the Georgian and international scene as well as challenges she had to face in the country for her aspirations in publishing.

She also names Georgia's Guest of Honour participation at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair - the leading event of the kind across Europe - as the highlight of her career before detailing efforts of the GPBA for supporting women in the industry.

We didn’t have any experience doing such a huge international project [the Frankfurt Book Fair participation], it was a big challenge and unbelievably hard, but the results were worth it" - Gvantsa Jobava in conversation with PublisHer

The interview also goes into Jobava's optimistic outlook on the situation in Georgian publishing for women, backed by numbers related to gender equality and opportunities in the field. The interviewee also talks about her newly assumed membership in the IPA and Georgia's upcoming hosting of the association's Educational Publishers Forum.

Read the full story here.