AGP Executive Report

Education Watch: The 2025 PISA results, released Sept. 8, flag a sharp global slide in reading and math, with OECD reading down 28 points since 2015 and math down 22—raising fresh pressure on literacy strategies. Screen-to-Page Buzz: Ali Hazelwood’s romance “The Love Hypothesis” is moving from bestseller to big screen, with the trailer spotlighting key book scenes and casting that ties back to the story’s fan-fiction origins. Library Tech & Policy: Kazakhstan launched a new library information portal in Kazakh, Russian, and English, bundling legislation, training, and AI-enabled tools as reforms roll forward. Community Reading Support: Ghana’s NANA will equip a senior high school library in Shia, part of broader education and health commitments. Publishing & Culture Events: Abu Dhabi Book Fair returns with a packed literature-and-arts programme, including major sessions around “Don Quixote” and regional cultural spotlights. Literary Spotlight: Taiwan’s culture minister says the Booker-winning “Taiwan Travelogue” is giving Taiwanese literature a rare global opening. Industry/Books & Learning: A new book series, “New Cars & New Technology II,” explores the software-defined vehicle “intelligent hub,” reflecting how AI is reshaping automotive tech.

AI Governance Publishing: OneAccord’s When2AI imprint released Volume II of The Field Guide to the New Economy, adding an executive “leadership & oversight” layer for scaling AI with accountability. Audiobook Expansion: Two Spurs Press put David Vega’s Fool for Thought, Fool for Sentiment and Running the Business into audiobook form. Back-to-School Reading Culture: A new nine-book series from Chris Orcutt spotlights a phone-free 1980s analog high school experience. Literary Events & New Titles: Ibram X. Kendi will discuss Chain of Ideas in September; Sarah Ignatius and Dana Walrath launch The Kaleidoscope of Destiny (Sept. 22). Community Reading Picks: Lincoln’s 2026 One Book One Lincoln selection is Bruce Holsinger’s Culpability. International Publishing News: SPCK group acquired US religious publisher Eerdmans (undisclosed sum). EU Consumer Rights: Poland’s regulator ordered major banks to revisit rejected unauthorized-payment fraud claims under EU next-business-day refund rules. Craft & Culture: Macramé’s window-hanger comeback gets a history spotlight.

BookTok & Authorship Disputes: A TikTok plagiarism storm around YA titles “Red Queen” and “Powerless” is examined through anti-fandom dynamics, highlighting how comment sections can drive publishing narratives. Digital Reading Expansion: Latin American platform Skeelo hires ex-Globo executive Carolina Iacia as content director, aiming to deepen ties with publishers and grow original IP. Religious Scholarship Publishing: Qatar’s Ministry of Awqaf issues a critically edited, eight-volume hadith edition, continuing efforts to preserve and standardize classical Islamic texts. Interfaith Book Release: Rajan Zed co-authors “Atheism in 150 Words,” positioning atheism and religion as parallel ways of engaging ultimate questions. Literary Awards: Nepal’s Madan Puraskar goes to Beena Joshi for documentation of Newar mask dances, underscoring publishing as cultural archiving. Rights & Money Fight: Authors and writers challenge publisher/agent claims tied to Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement, with some reporting unexpected payment disputes. Festival & Community: Ithaca is Books returns for its sixth year, pairing author events with community activities across downtown. K-Book Week in Paris: Korea launches “K-Book Week” to showcase picture books and literary titles and push rights deals with European partners.

Publishing & Rights: Nigeria’s Copyright Commission raided a Garki Market outlet, seizing suspected pirated books worth about N7 million and sealing the premises after intelligence-led checks. Big-Name Memoir Publishing: HarperCollins India picked up Sonia Gandhi’s memoir for a Nov 10 release after Penguin Random House India dropped it, turning a publishing shake-up into a high-profile calendar moment. Author Loss: Tributes followed BBC Northern Ireland journalist-author Stephen Walker, who died at 61; he wrote major biographies including John Hume and David Trimble. Book-to-Screen Buzz: Channel 5 set a Sept 14 premiere for Graham Norton’s thriller Forever Home, a six-part adaptation starring Amy Nuttall and Douglas Henshall. Local Book Culture: Sunbury’s Books & Booze Fair brought local authors and readers together at Iron Vines Winery. Reading & Health Narrative: A new spotlight on stroke risk challenges assumptions, using a memoir account of an ischaemic stroke diagnosis despite a “healthy” lifestyle. Literary Events: Odisha’s Walking BookFairs Travel Writing Festival turned a train ride into a day-long celebration of reading, poetry, and the “Gift A Book” campaign. Tech & E-Reading: A report flags why some buyers may pause before purchasing a 2026 Kindle, citing price hikes and concerns about digital ownership.

Book Festivals & Events: Athens’ 54th Book Festival opens Sept. 7 at Pedion tou Areos with 210 publishing houses, 285 stalls, and a sustainability-focused program of 200+ cultural events for all ages. Global Maps & Education: The UN General Assembly backs a shift away from the Mercator projection, endorsing Equal Earth to better reflect Africa’s size; Togo says it aims to change school map materials. Publishing & Rights in Court: India’s J&K High Court quashes preventive detention of an academic scholar, saying mere possession of “anti-national” books isn’t enough for criminalization. Children’s Books & Learning: A PNG literacy group, Buk Bilong Pikinini, plans three more “When I Grow Up” career titles, using role-play and workplace visits to teach kids. Nature & Photo Books: Y Lolfa helps complete a late conservationist’s West Wales wildflower photo book with 200 images, framed as a celebration rather than a field guide. New Releases & Launches: UK author Sarah Bayliss debuts “The Taming of Tigris,” a humorous cat story about cross-ocean emailing; and S.R. Moore’s “Burger Wars” arrives Oct. 6 as a dystopian fast-food satire. Controversy & Culture: Twinkle Khanna’s Mughal-history food remark draws backlash online, reigniting debate over how history and cuisine get compared.

National Book Festival (U.S.): New Mexico will represent itself in Washington, D.C., with two Gila National Forest titles—Caroline Starr Rose’s youth book The Burning Season and Philip Connors’ The Mountain Knows the Mountain: A Fire Watch Diary—both centered on fire lookouts. Teen Screen Habits: Journalist Madonna King’s Screen Wise draws on interviews with 300 teenagers to argue that screen harm goes beyond social media bans. Speculative Fiction & “What If?”: Queenstown author Kahli Scott debuts Our Common Thread, a portal novel where one woman explores alternate versions of her life. Publishing & AI Accountability: Rich Carr’s Stake Skills: Owning the Work AI Does for You urges workers to keep records of AI-assisted work. Book-to-TV/Streaming Buzz: Reacher won’t adapt Lee Child’s “61 Hours” (too snowbound to film), while Apple TV’s Dark Matter Season 2 keeps strong review momentum. Global Book Culture: Togo plans to update school geography materials using the Equal Earth map projection after a UN vote. Local Events: Syracuse Public Library’s Local Authors Festival invites regional writers to sign and promote books.

Publishing Politics: HarperCollins India will publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love on Nov 10 after a Penguin India dispute over edits, ending months of uncertainty. Industry & AI: A debate keeps heating up as self-publishing and AI tools spread—one author rejects AI-made covers, while another story warns that AI firms are buying and destructively scanning used books. Books & Culture: Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov won the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature for Death and the Gardener, translated by Marie Vrinat-Nikolov. Reading in Schools: PM Modi urged teachers to “get out of books” and connect lessons to children’s lives, while Australia’s school-library groups push for a national reading strategy and better-funded libraries. Market Outlook: India’s publishing market is projected to hit ₹2 lakh crore by 2030-31, with growth tied to print, digital, education, and copyright protections. Local Literary Loss: Resil B. Mojares, National Artist for Literature in the Philippines, died at 83.

Publishing & Rights Market: At Venice Film Festival’s Book Adaptation Rights Market (Sept. 4–6), publishers and agents pitch novels, thrillers, graphic novels, biographies and children’s books as studios increasingly discuss screen rights early. Major Memoir Publisher Switch: Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging is set for India publication by HarperCollins after a Penguin India dispute, with release pegged for Nov. 10. Book-to-Stage Spotlight: Sara Bareilles talks adapting Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings into a stage musical, framing the story as love and loss braided together. New Book Releases: Mary Mathis Burke debuts Amid Vapors: A Clandestine Adventure; Michael Curtis Broughton publishes THE SEAPORT EXECUTION SYSTEM; Cole Brauer’s memoir First Light lands Sept. 15 ahead of a Sept. 16 event. Libraries & Community Reading: Sharjah Library Literature Forum spotlights “Library 4.0” leadership; Jefferson County Library District promotes Library Card Sign-Up Month with Yoto Players; Park City’s Miners Day Weekend sale returns Sept. 5–6. Book Culture in Motion: A Good Used Bookstore keeps its Sunday market tradition alive in Los Angeles.

Publishing Politics: HarperCollins India will publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love on Nov. 10, after Penguin Random House India backed out following an editorial/legal dispute, reigniting questions about where legal caution ends and censorship begins. K-pop Documentary: BLACKPINK’s Lisa announces Always Lalisa for a theatrical Oct. 12, 2026 release, with tickets starting Sept. 9 and a later YouTube rollout. Book-to-World Events: A Malaysian Islamic economic foundation, YAPEIM, earns its first Malaysia Book of Records entry for “Most Guests Featured in a Podcast Programme,” highlighting podcasts as a low-cost way to spread knowledge. Children’s Refugee Story: Hamed Amiri’s The Other Boy (for ages 10+) turns his Afghanistan-to-Wales journey into a child-focused non-fiction book aimed at helping readers understand refugee life. Industry Outlook: A new India publishing report projects the market could reach ₹2 lakh crore by 2030-31, stressing copyright, creator rights, and responsible AI adoption. Community & Access: ICE detention mail rules are under fire after advocates say book deliveries were banned to Batavia detainees, with the agency citing security concerns. Literary Loss: Wendell Berry, the agrarian writer and fierce critic of industrial farming, dies at 92.

Literary Awards: Poet Luis A. Estable won the 2026 NYC Big Book Award for Religious, Ten Songs And Thirty Sonnets, a faith-focused collection blending songs and sonnets. Author News: Gloria Steinem died at 92, just weeks before her memoir An Unexpected Life was released. Indigenous & Postcolonial Scholarship: Elin Anna Labba’s The Home of the Drowned (forced Sámi displacement after hydroelectric development) is set for a Sweden-hosted conversation, while Irish Ecomedia examines how colonialism, environment, and media modernization intertwine in postcolonial Ireland. Publishing, Adaptations & Reading Culture: Brandon Sanderson argues you should read Project Hail Mary even if you’ve seen the movie, and DC teases Batman of Two Worlds for Batman Day with two theft-centered stories. Censorship & Democracy: A Mali military court sentenced a former colonel to 20 years for a critical book, and a separate op-ed warns about book bans and authoritarian drift. Tech & Books: A new iPhone app, Cibby, targets physical media collectors, and a security book The Quiet Door spotlights how breaches often start with ordinary, documented decisions.

US Copyright & AI: The DOJ urged a judge to side with OpenAI and Microsoft in the New York Times copyright suit, arguing limits on large language models would harm creative and scientific progress. AI in Publishing Workflows: Sense Street teamed with S&P Global Market Intelligence to automate primary bond order capture inside the bookbuilding process, aiming to cut manual work and operational risk. AI Text Detection Backlash: Pangram Labs’ near-zero false-positive AI detector is reportedly being treated like a verdict by publishers and universities, raising questions about how scores shape careers and deals. Books & Borders: Qatar’s Ministry of Culture is backing a high-profile presence at the Moscow International Book Fair, spotlighting Qatari intellectual materials through a cultural booth. Regional History Publishing: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House launched two new history titles tracing China’s Xinjiang region and its religious past. Festival Disruption: Ukraine’s “Book Country. Mysterious” was postponed to spring over safety concerns. Literary Events: Romania’s Iași FILIT festival announced major international guests, including Paul Lynch, David Foenkinos, and Aleksandar Hemon. Publishing Practice Debate: A new commentary argues print books still need indexes and doubts AI can replace that usefulness. Book World Business: Britain’s York National Book Fair returns with 100,000+ books, maps, and prints, including rare Orwell items. Debt & Self-Help Spotlight: Robert Kiyosaki’s renewed $1.2 billion debt headlines keep fueling debate about “good” versus “bad” debt.

Wildlife Illustration Award: Annie Chen’s children’s book Salmon Run: An Epic Journey to the Ocean and Back won the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 2026 Bull-Bransom Award for nature-focused illustration. Archaeology & Human Origins: Dr. Alex Menez published Dorothy Garrod and the Devil’s Tower Skull, revisiting the story behind a Neanderthal child’s skull discovered a century ago. Poetry for Endangered Species: Virginia Poet Laureate Emerita Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda and Joyce Brinkman released Vanishing Life: A Poetic Warning, pairing structured tercets with a free-flowing second section to spotlight threatened animals. Civic Reading & Election Scrutiny: David Cain’s How They Fool You and free Fallacy Tester aim to help voters spot logical fallacies ahead of the 2026 midterms. Libraries & Community Books: Bikes for Kids hit its 18,000th-bike milestone; meanwhile, local library events include page-turning suggestions and a fall book sale returning Sept. 13. Publishing & Awards: Massachusetts Book Awards named Jill Lepore’s We the People nonfiction winner and Stuart Nadler’s Rooms for Vanishing fiction winner. Kids’ Literature & Events: Delaware’s F is for First State illustrator Elizabeth Traynor signs books Sept. 5. Global Book Fair: Iraq’s 27th Baghdad International Book Fair opened Sept. 2–10 with broad regional and international participation.

Publishing & Culture: Vibe Media Group launched Journeys Unpacked, a “place intelligence” publication that shifts travel coverage from where to go to how destinations work, move, and shape culture. Education & AI: A major study of about 27,000 students in China finds generative AI boosts homework scores while cutting time spent, raising questions about what learning sticks when exams return without AI. Rail & Access: Indian Railways warned that screenshots of digital unreserved tickets aren’t valid; passengers must book on their own registered phone and carry it during travel. Books & Community: An Oxford author’s family-history project helped reconnect him with Saskatchewan relatives, while a yoga teacher’s children’s book event in Asheville turns “imperfectly perfect” poses into resilience lessons. Industry Watch: FIP and NielsenIQ BookData will launch India’s 2026–30 market report on Sept. 3, tracking AI, digitisation, languages, and distribution shifts. Comics: IDW titles were delayed a week after a truck accident damaged shipments, pushing releases to Sept. 9. Author News: AR Rahman announced a memoir, Rahman: A Renaissance, co-authored with Rupa Chakravarty.

New Fiction Release: Liza Losada’s debut fantasy Ink Honey Blossom drops Sept. 1, centering a captive teen whose forced “hallucinogen” work keeps a plague at bay. Publishing & Culture: Dutch publisher Athenaeum says translating Chinese classics can build a cultural bridge between China and the Netherlands, highlighting its long-running Dream of the Red Chamber project. Children’s Books: Louise Flaherty’s Tuutarjuk: The Spirit of String Figures brings Inuit string-game lore to ages 9–13, while Lisa Craig’s Birds of a Feather follows two ducks who can’t fly and learn belonging. Literary Loss: Wendell Berry, the Kentucky-born novelist and environmentalist, dies at 92. Book Industry & Tech: Black Book Research warns hospitals are adopting AI faster than cybersecurity and identity controls can keep up. Controversy & Education: A UK report alleges children under five are being referred for forced marriage, and a Newfoundland classroom controversy sparks outrage over exercise books missing Newfoundland and Cape Breton. Thriller Spotlight: Justin Thomas Loop’s The Shadow’s Ledger follows two assassins uncovering corruption reaching the top of the U.S. government.

Publishing & Culture: Liberia’s Historical Society has launched a Presidents Biography Series, aiming for 24 volumes since 1848, with the first biography on Edwin Barclay and multiple authors lined up through 2028. Book Industry & Rights: A major legal fight over Sonia Gandhi’s memoir “Belonging” continues, with reports of publishers’ lawyers seeking cuts and changes before the India deal collapsed. Books & Education: Ukraine says Russian strikes destroyed millions of school books and disrupted textbook deliveries ahead of the new term. Literary Loss: Wendell Berry, the Kentucky writer and farmer whose work shaped modern thinking on land and community, has died at 92. Crime & Media: A Nevada jury convicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the 1996 Tupac Shakur murder case. Reading Access: Milwaukee’s fifth annual free library book giveaway drew about 500 visitors and distributed around 3,000 books. Court & Books: Pakistan’s Islamabad High Court ordered jail authorities to stop Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi being kept in solitary confinement and to provide newspapers and books daily. Comics Preview: Image Comics’ “Rook: Exodus #11” hits stores Sept. 2 as the penultimate chapter of its second arc.

AI & Translation: Ashoka University’s Bhashavaad 3.0 conference put human translators in the spotlight, arguing AI can speed language work but still misses idioms, humor, dialect, and author voice. Libraries & Kids’ Reading: Stillwater Public Library’s storytimes restart this September, while Gibbs Library lines up wildlife-focused author Tamra Wight for Sept. 12 to close its summer reading program. New Releases & Author Notes: Ali Smith compares writing a novel to riding a horse, and her latest “Glyph” returns to a childhood story with a WWI-blinded horse; Google’s Gemini Notebook also adds Google Play books as research sources. Publishing in Crisis: Russian strikes have destroyed millions of books and hit Ukrainian publishing and textbook supply ahead of the school year. Industry & Tech Tensions: Music publishers and Sony/Warner are suing Anthropic over AI training claims, as separate reporting warns AI agents can hack without human oversight. Local Book Culture: A used-book store manager helped save at-risk turtle eggs after finding a rare turtle on the road. Literacy Tribute: After Dolly Parton’s death, a “Dolly Takeover” tribute fundraiser will benefit a local Imagination Library.