The "Bologna Portfolio Award" aims to recognize the illustrator's portfolio as a fundamental tool for professional development, emphasizing its primary role as a means to access new job opportunities and as a communication tool between the illustrator and key players in the publishing industry.
The purpose of the initiative is to highlight those characteristics of the portfolio, such as clarity of presentation and consistency of language, that make it a professional facilitator between the world of creativity and content production.
The award is organised by Bologna Children's Book Fair and curated by Mimaster Illustrazione
After its debut at the Guadalajara fair, the new "Bologna Portfolio Award" had its first Italian stop at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2025. On this occasion, participation in the award was exclusively dedicated to the finalist illustrators of the 2025 Illustrators Exhibition, as a recognition of their talent.
The qualification phase for the final selection of the winner took place on April 3rd as part of the "Portfolio Marathon 2025" initiative, held within "The Illustrators Survival Corner" program during the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
FINALISTS BOLOGNA PORTFOLIO AWARD - BCBF25
A sincere thank you to the reviewers involved in the qualification phase, who evaluated the portfolios during the Portfolio Marathon 2025:
The portfolios of the 37 finalists will be evaluated by a jury composed of three publishing industry professionals: Maria Russo editor at large (Union Square Kids), Begoña Lobo publisher (Media Vaca), Justinas Vancevičius (Head of the Children's and Youth Literature Center at the National Library of Lithuania).
For the illustrator with the best portfolio, Bologna Children’s Book Fair offers a trip to Shanghai to participate in the next China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair (November 2025).
The result of the final selection will be announced on June 15, 2025.
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