Speakers

Bill Rosenblatt
Bill Rosenblatt is president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies, a consulting firm focused on intellectual property issues in the digital age. He is also an adjunct professor in the Music Business program at NYU in New York City. GiantSteps’ clients include content providers and digital media technology companies, ranging from early-stage startups to multinationals, as well law and public policy entities and investment firms worldwide. He is currently an advisor to startup companies in the areas of rights administration and blockchain technology.

Bill is the author of books, articles, and whitepapers on digital media and copyright, as well as of a forthcoming book on the history of technology disruption in the music industry to be published by Oxford University Press. He chairs the annual Copyright and Technology conferences in partnership with the Copyright Society of the USA. He has spoken at other conferences worldwide and has guest lectured at various universities and law schools. Bill holds degrees in computer science from Princeton and the University of Massachusetts.

Laurence O’Bryan
Laurence O’Bryan developed the first NFT ebook special edition marketplace in 2021. The NFTs created use a carbon neutral minting process to ensure they don’t add to our woes.
Previously, he had three novels published by HarperCollins. His books have been translated into 11 languages. One has been optioned for a TV series. He also self-published another series based about global conspiracies, which his publisher wouldn’t touch and other books.
Laurence started BooksGoSocial and the International Dublin Writers Festival, now in its 7th year.

Ana Maria Caballero
Ana Maria Caballero’s writing has won the Beverly International Prize, Colombia’s José Miguel Arango National Poetry Prize, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize + been a finalist for the Academy of American Poets Prize. Her digital poems were featured by MOCDA and received a Sevens Foundation x Playboy grant. Much of her work questions romanticized motherhood and notions that present female sacrifice as a virtue. Her straightforward verse gives voice to what’s left unsaid in the home. Co-founder of theVERSEvese.com literary NFT gallery. anamariacaballero.com

Liz Frances
Liz Frances is the founder and publisher of Street Noise Books, a new independent publishing company, with a focus on heavily illustrated, and graphic novel nonfiction, based in Brooklyn, NY. Street Noise books have a radical, intersectional feminist, queer, and inclusive vision, and provide a platform for the voices of marginalized people. Before founding Street Noise, Liz worked for over 15 years as a book designer and art director at several of the big publishing houses in New York, most recently at Scholastic. Liz lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Jin Youn
She is the publisher and editor of Achim. Achim means ‘Morning’ in Korean. We share inspirations acquired every grateful morning. The magazine is being published quarterly since 2015. Every Issue has a different topic in the time frame of the morning. It comprises an opening letter, Interview, breakfast recipe, essay, cereal review, cultural guide, photography, and playlist. Achim has been made by four vibrant creators based in Seoul. In April we open an online cereal shop. Also, I’m obsessed with Cereal and Collecting over 300 Cereal boxes since 2013 and Published as Last year. hope we can talk about more morning inspirations.

Grace Flahive
Grace Flahive is a London-based Canadian writer of literary fiction. In her most recent novel, Current, Beyoncé died, the Eiffel Tower fell collapsed and a baby’s shoe was discovered on Mars. Grace works as Content & Community Manager at Thames & Hudson, where she looks after social media, email marketing and website content. She can be found on Instagram as @graceflahivewrites.

Steven Watson
Steven Watson runs Stack, the service that searches out the world’s best independent magazines and delivers them to thousands of readers around the world every month. Before starting Stack, he was an editorial director working with organisations including Google, the World Economic Forum and PlayStation.

Syima Aslam
Syima Aslam is the founder and Director of the Bradford Literature Festival (BLF), which she established in 2014. A 10-day literary and cultural celebration, BLF welcomes more than 70,000 visitors to Bradford annually and is celebrated as the most socio-economically and ethnically diverse literary festival in the UK.

Under Syima’s directorship, BLF has made a significant impact on the country’s literary landscape, hailed as ‘one of the most innovative and inspirational festivals in the UK’, bringing together literature from all genres, promoting intercultural fluency, providing a platform for marginalised voices, and reflecting the changing face of contemporary Britain through a programme which celebrates diversity, empathy and artistic excellence.

Julius Wiedemann
Julius Wiedemann was born in Brazil, where he studied design and marketing, before working in Japan, Germany, Spain, the United States and in the UK. He was a Senior Editor for Architecture, Design and Pop Culture at TASCHEN and is currently the Chief Curator at www.domestika.org. He is member of the advisory board of German science magazine Science Notes and weekly columnist at StirWorld. He has edited and co-authored over 100 books, is a regular lecturer, contributor to magazines, and has been in the jury of several awards all over the world. Wiedemann’s publications have sold over 2 million copies worldwide, and among his most popular titles are History of Graphic Design, Jamie Hewlett, Information Graphics, Understanding the World, and the books about record covers and web design. His main interests reside in the intersection between culture, communication and technology. He is the father of three, lives and works wherever he has wifi.

Cristina Fuentes La Roche
La Roche’s early career had her working three years at Canning House, and was later the Director of the National Events at Arts and Business for five years. In 2006, she created Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Hay Festival Segovia, Spain (where she served as a co-director), and in 2010, Hay Festival Querétaro in Mexico. She later worked on Hay Festival Beirut, Lebanon since 2011, though it has since been interrupted. In 2015, she began work on Hay Festival Arequipa, Perú since 2015. She has also been responsible for multiple projects which sought to promote upcoming literary young talent. These included Bogotá39 in both 2007 and 2017, Beirut39 in 2010, and Africa39 in 2014 at the Port Harcourt Unesco World Book Capital. In 2015, she managed Mexico20, Aarhus39, and in 2020 Europa28.