Egyptian publisher Yehia Fekry was awarded the 2026 International Publishers Association’s (IPA) Prix Voltaire at the award ceremony of the 35th International Publishers Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The IPA also announced a Prix Voltaire Special Award for the deceased Egyptian publisher Mohamed Hashem.
Fekry, founder and CEO of El Maraya, said: El Maraya was founded in 2016 with a simple but ambitious mission: to provide a platform for young voices emerging from Egypt’s new democratic and liberal currents, and for critical perspectives that often struggle to find space within dominant intellectual and political discourse. Over time, El Maraya has succeeded in building a wide community of readers and followers. Yet the nature of our cultural mission—and the critical perspectives reflected in our publications—has exposed us to numerous institutional pressures that have challenged our work from the very beginning and continue to do so today. Despite these ongoing pressures, we remain committed to our mission and determined to carry it forward. We remain committed to the right of people to knowledge, and to the right of writers and researchers to express their ideas freely.”
Accepting the Prix Voltaire Special Award Mohamed Hashem’s daughter, Mirette Hashem said: “My father dedicated his life to the belief that books are the cornerstone of a free and enlightened society. As a publisher, he was a staunch defender of freedom of expression, consistently advocating for the right to think, write, and publish without fear in Egypt. He sacrificed much to protect these values, always believing that freedom of expression is essential to a nation’s progress. Thank you for honoring my father’s legacy and for standing with those who champion the freedom to publish and the courage to think freely.”
During the ceremony, Jessica Sanger, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, said: Through this year’s shortlist we yet again see publishers having to operate in exile. Publishers being excluded from book fairs and literary festivals, publishers standing up for diverse ideas and challenging restrictive laws, giving a voice to communities who would otherwise be deprived of the chance to tell their stories. Publishers living in the context of war and still trying to publish books that help make sense of the world around us. As the Freedom to Publish Committee we are very much aware that not only do we have the responsibility of stewarding the prize on the basis of the nominations we receive, but every new year brings a renewed commitment to the laureates of previous years.”
With reference to recent news reports, she added: “We remain very concerned by the indefensible sentencing of Sihem Bensedrine, our 2009 laureate, to 25 years in prison for her work in defence of freedom in Tunisia.”
