Event Highlights

The market focus will present the latest figures of the Italian publishing market to foreign operators, with an insight on the children’s book market. This year the seminar will also host a short in-depth look at the publishing market in Greece, the guest of honor at the Fair.

Dopo anni di impatto culturale e sull’immaginario collettivo, i manga sono diventati di recente un fenomeno editoriale globale anche sul piano commerciale. Un incontro per esplorare specificità e potenzialità di uno dei segmenti del mercato in maggiore crescita.

The recent release of new powerful Artificial Intelligence models, with acclaimed tools like chatGPT, are forcing us to rethink how we work and create. But is AI a threat, or an opportunity?

Nello spazio digitale bambini e giovani sperimentano nuove forme di lettura e narrazione, in complessi mondi narrativi, dove i libri diventano webcomic e webnovel, podcast e audiolibri, video e serie tv, storie immersive e interattive.

The Folio Society launches the second Folio Book Illustration Award, announcing the story, the judges, what they will be looking for in the artwork, and how to enter.

Shining the spotlight on five key markets using Nielsen BookScan insights. This session will explore the leading trends for each market including the UK, Italy and Greece. It will also highlight common shared themes across the territories as well as what differentiates them. 

The IBBY Press Conference features premium information about IBBY's prominent activities and events: announcement of the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award candidates; presentation of the 2023 selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities; presentation of the 2024 IBBY World Congress in Trieste (Italy) and much more.

Tales of EUkraine (TEUk) is an opportunity for European publishers to support their Ukrainian counterparts and to display their solidarity to the most vulnerable victims of the conflict by doing what they do best: publishing books. This project will bring together European and Ukrainian publishers to deliver bilingual children’s books to several communities hosting Ukrainian refugees, fostering integration and mutual understanding. TEUk has built a catalogue of Ukrainian children’s books available for publishers to acquire the rights to and publish in bilingual editions. The project partners will purchase the part of the print run to be distributed to displaced children and organise its distribution to the Ukrainian refugee communities, whilst publishers will be invited to promote the book to their national communities. TEUk will facilitate the integration of Ukrainian children in their host countries, increase the knowledge of Ukrainian culture across the Union, and support the Ukrainian publishing sector in a time of dire need. TEUk is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

To celebrate its 60! Candles, BCBF dedicates an event to Pierre Marchand, who started Gallimard Jeunesse 50 years ago and was a key figure for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Over the years, Gallimard Jeunesse has acquired a worldwide reputation for excellence and creativity. Pierre Marchand was one of the first captains of this great adventure. Discover the incredible story of this man of genius, creator at heart, his links with Bologna and more generally the story of Gallimard Jeunesse, which created hundreds of collections, revealed thousands of French and foreign authors and illustrators.

Giunti alla 6° edizione, i Bologna Licensing Awards verranno annunciati in occasione di un evento dedicato e nel cuore della Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids. Il premio è unico nel suo genere in quanto premia i migliori casi di successo di brand e prodotti a misura di bambini e ragazzi a livello internazionale.

In the field of education, edtech companies are competing to launch AI services. But is Artificial Intelligence able to write full-length novels? Not yet. However, AI can reverse this industry with ‘AI drawing platforms’ that change creative original sentences to imaginary paintings automatically. In this way books, turned into images, can become more accessible. This means that any talented storyteller could become a bookmaker and a publisher if they adapt their writing to the needs of these platforms. A new era full of opportunities is coming, let’s wait and see!

In occasione della 15esima edizione del BolognaRagazzi Award Opera Prima, un incontro per celebrare il successo di un premio volto a dare un palcoscenico e a valorizzare i migliori libri illustrati a opera di nuovi giovani talenti. Insieme a due vincitori delle edizioni passate, ripercorriamo le tappe che hanno portato alla nascita di questa categoria e che dal 2009 a oggi è cresciuta fino a superare le 200 opere prime iscritte. Un successo internazionale che quest’anno vede i vincitori di ogni edizione del premio e venti libri esordienti selezionati tra le proposte giunte ai tavoli della giuria, presentati all’elite editoriale mondiale nella mostra Amazing Bookshelf.

This year the International Women’s Day falls during the Book Fair. To celebrate this lucky coincidence, a special programme of events is presented by BCBF in partnership with PublisHer, an informal networking body – founded by Bodour Al Qasimi (Kalimat Publishing Group) - that seeks to increase the number of women in leadership roles within the publishing industry.

PublisHer Conference

10.10 – 11.10 The Role of Women in Challenging the Status Quo in Children’s Books

11.10 – 12.10 Women Helping Women in Reaching the Heights of Global Publishing Governance Institutions

12.10 – 13.10 The Role of Mentorship in Developing Emerging Publishing Markets

 Censorship is an ancient practice. Whether it be Cato the Censor, or later Popes to blacklist certain books, the goal is always the same: to control, redact and censor, in other words, to stop disclosure. Censorship takes place in many sectors – the press, communications, politics and cinema. Totalitarian regimes exert strict controls. But why is there censorship in more democratic countries? And why, around the world, are some children’s books banned? Long-debated, this issue will be a discussion focus at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, following up on David Levithan’s troubling and visionary article in the New York Times of 23 September 2022 entitled Standing up to the new censorship. In his article, Levithan - America’s 11th most censored author according to PEN America - talks about how censorship today has become a tool used to attempt to deprive communities of their voices and erase their history. A panel of experts, including publishers and scholars from around the world, will give their views of the state of children’s book banning around the world and of what is being done.

Questa tavola rotonda apre una conversazione tra le produzioni africane e quelle dell'America Latina e del Nord America. Autori, mediatori ed editori scambiano idee da una fonte comune che prende piede tra di loro con più o meno facilità a seconda della regione di provenienza. Riconoscere oggi una letteratura nera, rivolta a una comunità afro-discendente, è all'ordine del giorno. Tema centrale del dialogo è quello di individuare per questa letteratura un posto nel mercato e tra la maggioranza dei lettori.

Announcement of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2023, broadcast live from Stockholm.

BBPlus' author Author Ambassador Loyd Grossman, in conversation with Richard Charkin about his work.

A panel discussion with seven Children’s Laureates and reading ambassadors from around the world.

Literary experts debate the global challenge of how to make the past and its literature palatable.

Based on its current population growth, the African continent will be the home to some of the most populous nations on earth in the next 50 years. How can African and international publishers seize the opportunities presented by this population growth to create generations of readers of the future?

La traduzione in pannelli tattili di legno di 5 opere di 5 artisti selezionati nella Mostra Illustratori per visitatori ipovedenti e non vedenti.

Prizes for books in translation can have a real impact on the author's and the writer’s careers, publishing sales, and gaining visibility for books of this kind. Grants for translation are also very important to allow this lingual adaptation to happen. These subjects will be discussed by a panel of experts.

Incoraggiare la lettura fin dalla prima infanzia, soprattutto nelle comunità svantaggiate, è un modo comprovato per formare lettori per tutta la vita oltre che famiglie di lettori. Questa sessione riflette sull'importanza di promuovere la lettura nei bambini svantaggiati sulla base dell'esperienza del Progetto Nati per Leggere e del suo trasferimento a Parelheiros, un quartiere periferico di San Paolo in Brasile, passando per le comunità periferiche di Capetown, e del progetto promosso dal Ministero della Cultura della Croazia. Individuare questi segmenti specifici e pubblicare per loro è estremamente importante.

Incontro con la giuria e la vincitrice del Premio Poesio 2023 Caterina Foglieri con la tesi "Tra voli e cadute. Gli atterraggi di fortuna nella letteratura per l’infanzia" (Università di Bologna).

Presentazione ufficiale del 39° Congresso Internazionale di IBBY. Chiara Carminati, autrice e Roberto Piumini autore e presidente ad honorem del Comitato scientifico del Congresso 2024, raccontano cosa vuol dire “fare una rivoluzione” con libri di qualità rivolti a bambini e bambine, ragazzi e ragazze. Questo il tema guida del Congresso Internazionale di IBBY, che si terrà a Trieste il 30, 31 agosto e 1 settembre 2024, dove l’Italia, torna a essere paese ospite dopo 66 anni. A Trieste, città incantevole dove si intrecciano culture, lingue, letteratura, musica, scienza e storia.

As the race to carbon net zero is upon us, how do we as a publishing industry become much more environmentally neutral? Everyone in the supply chain has a role to play, action to take and education to spread, in our book production, our distribution and the responsibility we hold in what content we publish. 

Art has always been a medium for communicating ideas, self-expression, protest, and solidarity. Amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine, illustration became a powerful tool that helps Ukrainians to spread the truth about what’s happening in their country, to share their emotions and stories with the world. So what it’s like to live through war? How can artwork become an instrument or even a weapon? How to keep working while in danger? What is the role of creators today? And what it’s like to be Ukrainian? These are the questions the panel, made up offamous prize-winning Ukrainian illustrators, will answer.

Six finalist Greek jacket covers are reviewed and discussed, and the winner is announced.

BCBF hosts every other year the winners of two prestigious children’s book awards in the arts, the BIB – Biennial of Illustration Bratislava and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, to create the cover of the Illustrators Annual: the catalogue collecting all the works of the artists selected for the Illustrators Exhibition. The 2023 Illustrators Annual cover has been created by Suzy Lee (Korea), winner of the 2022 H.C. Andersen Award.

Book Dash works with creative professionals to make beautiful picture books in just 12 hours. 2023 will see the BCBF host the inaugural Book Dash outside of Africa. Join us in a reading of the two books created on the first two days of the Fair and meet the talented African writers, illustrators and designers who made them. Hear from Book Dash about their grand vision that "Every child should own a hundred books by the age of five".

Last year, at the Bologna Book Fair, Ukraine's stand was empty because the fair was held a month after the start of the full-scale invasion. There was a promise at the booth to return. What was the year like for Ukrainian publishers and illustrators, whether children's books were published in Ukraine and whether new stories were created.

Barbara Ferraro e Silvana Sola, Alir, presentano l'autrice che racconterà i suoi programmi come ambasciatrice della lettura.

BCBF dedica un incontro al grande autore e all'illustrazione italiana, insieme ad artisti affermati che ne hanno interpretato i testi e alcuni dei vincitori del contest, che hanno offerto la loro personale visione dei personaggi, dei luoghi e delle suggestioni dei romanzi di Calvino. 

Every child has the right to a safe home. Yet, children all over the world often face moments of doubt, insecurity, fear, loss or threat. This is where the power of stories comes in, because books can offer shelter, give hope and create awareness. Stories have the potential to show you that you are not alone, and that others are in the same situation. Books can offer ideas and scenarios that are beyond our own imagination, showing us a different and, perhaps, a better world. Because IBBY is committed to the right of every child to become a reader – we want our third European Regional Conference to send out a signal of hope in these challenging times. Our keynote speaker, the child and youth psychiatrist Winny Ang, will highlight the importance of stories for a child’s development and personal happiness. Furthermore, successful projects from France, Germany, Ireland and Slovenia will provide inspiration for all professionals in children's literature. And, of course, the programme will feature enthusiastic creators of books: Fabio Geda, Andriy Lesiv and Romana Romanyshin, Margaret Anne Suggs and Edward van de Vendel. The broad range and potential of children's literature is waiting for you!

Find out the programme and the speakers: https://www.ibby-europe.org/