BOOKS
ACROSS
BORDERS
Connecting booksellers and readers to the international literary world
2025-2026
YEAR IN REVIEW
fall 2025 fellows
Frankfurter Buchmesse
Vanessa Martini, Green Apple Books, San Francisco, CA
FIL Guadalajara International Book Fair
Barbara Cerda, La Revo Books, Milwaukee, WI
Lisa Moser, Julia de Burgos Bookstore, Philadelphia, PA
Stephen Krause, Alienated Majesty Books, Austin TX
Spring 2026 Fellows
RISE Bookselling
sweet pea Flaherty, Kings Books, Tacoma, WA
Kimberly Brock, Joseph Beth Books, Cincinnati, OH
london book fair
Mira Braneck, A Room of One’s Own, Madison, WI
Pierce Alquist, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA
What you helped enable:
8 bookseller fellowships to four international book fairs, including the inaugural fellowship to London Book Fair
The launch of our Book Buzz series including: A New Year in Translation and Hot Translation Summer,which had over 300 registrations and expanded our mailing list into the library market.
New partnerships with the Booksellers Association (UK), EIBF, and Rise Bookselling to expand our reach and develop deeper connections with the international community
Reconnaissance to the Bologna Book Fair who we’ll partner with for a new fellowship specifically for a children’s booksellers
what we hope to accomplish next:
Incorporate additional book fairs into the fellowship program (Shanghai, Sharjah, Bogota, Madrid, and other conversations have already begun)
Continue to develop our audience (booksellers, librarians, and readers) to get more international and diverse literature into the hands of readers.
Expand our in-person programming and presence at places like Winter Institute and the regional trade shows
Expand our fundraising efforts (we’ve added 5 new board members to help with this!) in order to facilitate these goals!
read our bookseller reports in shelf awarenesS
Report from Frankfurt 2025 by Vanessa Martini
(Green Apple Books, San Francisco, CA)
Report from Guadalajara 2025 by Barbara Cerda
(La Revo Books, Milwaukee, WI)
Report from London Book Fair 2026 by Mira Braneck
(A Room of One’s Own, Madison, WI)
ShelfAwareness is a media sponsor of Books Across Borders
about us
Founded in 2016 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, BAB awards fellowships and residencies to booksellers to attend international book fairs, where they meet with publishers, editors, authors, agents, and other publishing professionals; connect with booksellers and with bookseller trade associations from around the world; speak on and attend professional panels; and visit local bookstores, distributors, cultural agencies, and literary arts organizations. Booksellers return better connected, better informed, more aware of the international book panorama, and better equipped to put international and diverse literatures into the hands of readers.
BAB also curates a monthly newsletter for translated literature, organizes book buzzes and virtual events between indie presses, booksellers, and librarians; partners with RISE Bookselling on International bookseller residencies, and builds relationships across the international book industry.
We hope that you’ll support and engage with our efforts.
thanks to our generous sponsors
