Athens, 23–24 September 2026 | Goethe-Institut Athen, Omirou 14–16, Athens
ThinkPub Athens, a two-day programme of seminars, talks, workshops, discussions, one-to-one consultations and networking for book professionals, will take place on Wednesday, 23 September, and Thursday, 24 September 2026 at the Goethe-Institut Athen in central Athens.
The programme is dedicated to three major challenges and opportunities shaping the contemporary book sector: reading in the digital age, translation and the emerging European rights market, and new technologies in publishing, ranging from Artificial Intelligence to ebooks and audiobooks.
Bringing together book professionals and academics from Greece and across Europe, ThinkPub Athens will deepen strategic discussions, explore practical applications and connect international experience with the realities of the Greek book market. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges faced by small and medium-sized publishing houses.
Admission is free, but registration is required, and the number of places is limited. Simultaneous interpretation between English and Greek will be provided throughout the event.
More information and registration are available at:
A programme for the wider book sector
ThinkPub Athens is aimed at publishers, translators, professionals working in rights, editing, production, marketing, promotion and sales, booksellers, book distributors, authors, librarians, reading-promotion professionals, cultural and digital-content specialists, and everyone interested in books and publishing.
The event is organised by Thinking in co-organisation with Goethe-Institut Athen, under the aegis of the Hellenic Foundation for Book and Culture, HFBC.
It is supported by the Greek Collecting Society for Literary Works, OSDEL, and BookPoint.gr, the Panhellenic Federation of Publishers and Booksellers, POEV, and the Association of Greek Librarians and Information Scientists, AGLIS.
The newspaper To Vima is the media sponsor of ThinkPub Athens.
The event is organised as part of the European project ThinkPub, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Reading in the digital age
The first day of the programme, Wednesday, 23 September, will focus on reading in the digital age.
Gerhard Lauer from the University of Mainz and Miha Kovač from the University of Ljubljana will examine contemporary reading culture and changing reading practices.
Luis González from Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, Anna Karakatsouli from the University of Athens and Ava Chalkiadaki from Diavazontas Megalono will then focus on European and Greek policies for reading promotion.
The programme will continue with presentations of reading-promotion campaigns and initiatives in Greece by Panagiotis Kapos from the Hellenic Foundation for Book and Culture, author Vangelis Iliopoulos from Greek IBBY, representatives of the Association of Greek Librarians and Information Scientists, and author and book-club coordinator Katerina Malakate.
The session will conclude with a round-table discussion featuring Gerhard Lauer, Miha Kovač and HFBC President Nikos Bakounakis. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Lambrini Kouzeli from To Vima.
Translation, Artificial Intelligence and the European rights market
The second day, Thursday, 24 September, will open with a session dedicated to translation today, the European rights market and the use of Artificial Intelligence in literary translation.
Yana Genova from Next Page Foundation will present a recent international report on translation flows in Europe, while Mirella Batziania from BookPoint.gr and OSDEL will discuss book translations in Greece.
Translator Maria Fakinou, translator Vasilis Babouris from meta|φραση and publisher Kostas Spatharakis from Antipodes will address the changing role of translators in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
A one-hour interactive workshop on the use of Artificial Intelligence tools in book translation will follow, led by translator Emily Diamandopoulou from Rhyme&Reason.
The session will conclude with a discussion on the European translation rights market. Participants will include Yana Genova, translator Kostas Athanasiou, Katerina Fragou from Iris Literary Agency and Nikoletta Stathopoulou from Goethe-Institut Athen.
The discussion will be moderated by journalist Grigoris Bekos from To Vima.
Emerging technologies in publishing
The afternoon programme on Thursday, 24 September, will focus on emerging technologies in publishing.
Sara Lloyd from Pan Macmillan will speak about strategies that publishing houses can adopt when approaching Artificial Intelligence.
Nathan Hull from Beat Technology will examine audiobook business models, production processes and the development of new audiences in emerging markets.
Michalis Kalamaras from Thinking will discuss international ebook trends, alongside the opportunities and challenges facing the Greek market.
Gautier Chomel from the European Digital Reading Lab, EDRLab, will speak about international standards, reading systems, accessibility and the next generation of Digital Rights Management.
The session will also include a one-hour interactive workshop on the practical application of Artificial Intelligence in publishing.
The programme will conclude with a round-table discussion on the next wave of digital transformation in the Greek book market. Publishers Argyris Kastaniotis from Kastaniotis Editions and Oliana Faldami from Kleidarithmos Publications will join Sara Lloyd and Nathan Hull for the discussion, which will be moderated by Michalis Kalamaras.
Networking and one-to-one consultations
Participants will have opportunities to meet the speakers and network during lunch and the evening buffet.
In parallel with the programme of talks, workshops and discussions, private one-to-one consultations will take place on the ground floor of Goethe-Institut Athen.
The consultations will consist of 30-minute individual meetings. Participants will be able to discuss specialised issues related to digital reading technologies with Gautier Chomel and questions concerning translation grants with Yana Genova.
Short biographies of all speakers are available at:
www.thinkpubathens.gr/en/speaker/
About the organisers
Thinking
Thinking is a consulting, technology and design company that has supported publishing houses, bookstores and cultural organisations in their digital transformation since 2009.
The Thinking team combines expertise and experience in publishing, content development, print and web design, website and software development, e-commerce, marketing, book production and business strategy.
Based in Athens, Thinking has worked with publishers in Greece and internationally. Since the first edition of the Limassol International Book Fair, and for five consecutive years, Thinking has curated the fair’s Professional Programme.
More information: www.thinking.gr
ThinkPub
ThinkPub is a consortium of 12 partners from 11 countries, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
The project connects publishing and technology companies, book fairs and industry experts. It offers resources for developing key competences that help publishers and authors understand and respond to changes in the book market, drawing on a pool of structured curricula and international experts.
More information: thinkpub.eu
Goethe-Institut Athen
Goethe-Institut Athen is the oldest institute in the Goethe-Institut network, the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global presence.
By co-organising ThinkPub Athens, Goethe-Institut Athen continues its contribution to creating an international framework for dialogue and cooperation. The event strengthens connections between the Greek book market, European experience, the German-language publishing sector and broader cultural exchange.
More information: goethe.de/athen
Programme at a glance
Wednesday, 23 September 2026, 14:00–20:00
Reading in the digital age
Thursday, 24 September 2026, 10:00–14:30
Translation and the rights market
Thursday, 24 September 2026, 15:30–20:00
Emerging technologies in publishing
Practical information
ThinkPub Athens
23–24 September 2026
Venue:
Goethe-Institut Athen
Omirou 14–16
10672 Athens
Admission:
Free admission
Registration required
Limited number of places
Languages:
Simultaneous interpretation between English and Greek
More information and registration:
www.thinkpubathens.gr/en/