The Translators Café

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

When a story crosses borders, it doesn’t arrive unchanged. Its rhythms shift, its humor bends, its images take on new meaning. In picture books and illustrated novels especially, translation is not just technical work—it’s creative work. It reshapes pacing, tone, symbolism, even the emotional weight of a page turn. Text and image move together, and both must be reimagined for a new language. In this conversation, Dasha Tolstikova and Lawrence Schimel explore how translated books expand not only empathy, but the very boundaries of a young reader’s imagination.

Panel

Dasha Tolstikova, illustrator; Lawrence Schimmel, writer, editor and translator.

Organised by

SCBWI-The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Three publishers present a translation project from their catalogue.

Panel

Marta Rota Nunez, translator; Giovanna Zoboli, editor, Topipittori; Francesca Firmiani, editor, EDT-GIRALANGOLO; Chiara Baffa translator; Lavinia Azzone, editor, Fandango.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

A translator opens up her workshop to discuss the challenges and creative solutions she encounters in her translation work.

Panel

Alessandra Petrelli, translator.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Established in 2006 following a European Directive, the Public Lending Right Fund serves to compensate authors for lost revenue resulting from the lending of their works in public libraries. In Italy, remuneration is allocated to the most representative associations in each sector, which must use the funds for the benefit of their respective categories. The Ministry of Culture recently recognised Calibro, the Confederation of Book Authors, as the most representative association of authors of printed works. During the round table, we will explain how the Public Lending Right works in Italy and Europe and how it will be utilised by Calibro.

Moderator

Francesca Sophie Giona, editorial translator, Literary scout

Panel

Fabio Galimberti, Calibro; Gianluca Garofalo, AI-Autori di immagini; Eva Valvo, Strade.

Organised by

Strade, Calibro

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Moderator

Margit Walsø, Director, NORLA

Panel

Jostein Gaarder, writer; Andrea Romanzi, translator and university lecturer; Kristin Roskifte, writer and illustrator.

Organised by

NORLA − Norwegian Literature Abroad

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Panel

Dan Beeke, EU Read; Debbie Bibo, Kid Lit Literary Agent; Alexandra Büchler Literature across Frontiers/ ENLIT – European Network for Literary Translation; Francesca Novajra CEATL, AITI

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Fairy tales have ancient origins and have been passed down through the ages, undergoing numerous reinterpretations and rewritings, as well as new ‘translations’ in a dialogue between text and illustrations.

Panel

Fabian Negrin, writer and illustrator (Cappuccetti Rossi); Cora Presezzi, Adelphi (Stephen King, Hansel e Gretel); Giusi Quarenghi, writer (C’era una volta, c’è ancora); Federico Salvan, Edizioni BD & J-POP Manga (Takashi Murakami, Pino Manga)

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Three modern fairy tales that pay homage to tradition and retell age-old stories in a fresh new way.

Panel

Luigi Berio, translator (Una barca nel cielo, Quentin Blake); Claudia Tatasciore, translator (Gianningegno, Noémi László); Milena Zemira Ciccimarra, translator (La scatola delle lacrime, Han Kang).

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Panel discussion with translators Eva Valvo and Andrea Romanzi, who have made two separate versions of Nobel laureate Jon Fosse’s book My oh my . Translators Laura Cangemi and Giovanna Paterniti discuss the different versions with the panel and the audience

Panel

Andrea Romanzi, translator and university lecturer; Eva Valvo, translator; Laura Cangemi; Giovanna Paterniti.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Children’s literature poses a particular challenge to translators because it so often contains various forms of wordplay. Crafting a translation that’s just as fun and engaging as its original takes creativity, skill and patience. Drawing from her three decades of experience as an Italian-to-English literary translator, in this talk Leah Janeczko will explore tricky translations that play with rhymes, humor and musicality,

Panel

Leah Janeczko, translator.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Moderator

Jan Christopher Næss, author, Norwegian Association of Literary Translator

Panel

Francesca Novajra, CEATL; Kaja Bakkejord, translator; Della Passarelli, Sinnos Editrice.

Organised by

NORLA − Norwegian Literature Abroad, The Norwegian Association of Literary Translators

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

A translator opens her workshop to talk about challenges and tricks when translating from French.

Panel

Emmanuelle Caillat, translator.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Challenges and joy in translation from Norwegian and other Nordic languages into Italian.

Panel

Coordinators: Laura Cangemi, Alba Mantovani, Giovanna Paterniti, Roberta Scarabelli, Loredana Serratore (translators)

Organised by

AITI e StradeLab

In cooperation with

FAAM Lab

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

A project supporting lesser-used languages as a strategic resource for dialogue between peoples and cultures, promoting peace, reconciliation processes, and sustainable development.

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Children grow up between languages—sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. How do stories travel between languages and what changes along the way? What happens to humor, wordplay, and culturally specific references when they move into another linguistic world? Are some things in children’s books simply untranslatable—and what do translators do then? In this conversation, we will explore how children's book translators guide growing readers between cultures, experiences, and emotions. The discussion will also touch on multilingual childhoods and the role of books in helping young readers navigate complex realities. How do stories speak to children who grow up between several languages? How can literature address experiences of migration, war, or displacement without losing tenderness, imagination, and hope? Together, the participants will share examples of creative solutions, surprising losses and discoveries in translation, and the small “miracles” that allow stories to cross borders. After all, everything between us is a translation: between the language of adults and the language of children, between the world we inherit and the one we are learning to name.

Moderator

Yuliia Кozlovets, Director, International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv, Ukraine

Panel

Lawrence Schimmel, writer, editor and translator; Richa Jha, author and editor, founder and publisher of Pickle Yolk Books; Eva Valvo, translator, literary scout and expert in Nordic literature

Organised by

International Book Arsenal Festival, Ukraine

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

The jury will provide an overall feedback to participants in the translation competition from Norwegian.

Panel

Giovanna Paterniti, translator from Norwegian and literary scout; Eva Valvo, translator, literary scout and expert in Nordic literature.

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

NORWAY GUEST OF HONOUR

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Organised by

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Translators Café

HALL 30

THE TRANSLATORS CAFÉ

Now in its forth year, the experimental Honyaku Dōjō will focus on picture books for younger children, filled with onomatopoeia. Translators, illustrators and editors are invited to join us to find interesting solutions in Italian translation.

Panel

Maria Elena Tisi, University of Bologna; Ayami Moriizumi, researcher and curator