MAI announces new dates for the LittWorld global publishing conference in Hungary. The conference will be held April 24-29, 2022—six months later than previously announced.
“Holding the conference in April 2022 offers many advantages,” MAI President John Maust said. “It will allow more time for participants to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, to regain their confidence in international travel, and to begin to recover from financial hardship caused by the pandemic.”
The decision comes with full support from the MAI-Europe host team and local chair Kornel Herjeczcki of Harmat Publishers in Budapest, who believe the April 2022 dates will result in a stronger participation by publishing staff and writers from all the world regions.
Except for the dates, plans remain the same for the coming LittWorld. Celebrated author Philip Yancey will be the keynote speaker, and the conference will be held at Hotel Azur on Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, 60 miles from Budapest. This will be the first LittWorld in continental Europe.
More than 200 publishing staff and writers from 40-plus countries are expected at the conference, which will have as its theme: Stronger Together: Publishing Hope Beyond Crisis.
“The pandemic has radically changed the world and work of global Christian publishers and writers,” Maust said. “How can we persevere and excel in this new environment? What is God saying to us? What should we be doing differently? How can we more effectively serve our readers? LittWorld 2022 will give us an opportunity to meet and consider these questions together.”
Maust added, “Conference plenary sessions and small group workshops will be interactive in nature. Ideas, experiences, and best practices will be shared. New friendships and networks will form. Needs will be bathed in personal and corporate prayer. In the process, participants will grow stronger together in their ministry of the published word, and countless readers will be the spiritual beneficiaries.”
Leading up to the conference in April 2022, MAI will hold virtual meetings and a writing contest tied to the conference theme. Prayer for God’s leading and provision for the conference is requested of all MAI partners and friends.
Participants from 94 countries have attended the LittWorld conference since it began in 1986. The previous LittWorld 2018 conference in Singapore gathered more than 250 Christian publishing staff and writers from 52 countries.
Through LittWorld, MAI has seen publishing houses born; new books, magazines, and podcasts conceived; and skills refined for more effective communication. Inevitably, participants take away a new or reinforced commitment to produce content by writers in the local heart language and culture:
- “I have rarely been as inspired by anything related to my work as I was by the time with the people who gathered [at LittWorld].” –Jeff Crosby, publisher, InterVarsity Press, U.S.
- “I came home from LittWorld 2018 with many new thoughts, insights and knowledge and a deepened experience of God. The sense of care, unity and servanthood particularly struck me.” –Joan Campbell, author, South Africa
- “It was a good opportunity for me to be at LittWorld. We have lots of foreign books and authors translated from foreign languages. We need to raise up our Ukrainian authors. LittWorld has the same vision.” –Sergey Sologub, author, Ukraine
“Come to LittWorld and share with global colleagues what God has taught us as writers and publishers,” Herjeczki encouraged.
Further program and registration details will become available here. For more information, email [email protected].
