BOLOGNA CHILDREN’S BOOK FAIR - THE 2023 GRAND TOUR ARRIVES AT THE FERIA INTERNACIONAL DEL LIBRO DE GUADALAJARA

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), as it looks forward to welcoming its visiting public of professionals to the event’s 61st edition (at the BolognaFiere exhibition centre from 8 to 11 April 2024), will be heading out to meet with the international book community (from 25 November to 3 December 2023), bringing its initiatives and know-how to the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara. Guadalajara is the third stage of the 2023 Grand Tour to the world’s leading publishing events, organised by BCBF wit  BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus), the trade fair extension for generalist publishing and produced in collaboration with the Association of Italian Publishers (AIE), and with the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/Kids), the main Italian and European licensing event specifically geared towards brands for children and young adults.

An essential event in a part of the world that has a particular interest in Italy and that continues to represent for BCBF an area of great potential well worth exploring and a reference point for all Latin American and Spanish language publishing. BCBF is brining to the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara two exhibitions and a rich programme of panel discussions, workshops and masterclasses, in addition to the Illustrators Survival Corner, developed in collaboration with Mimaster Illustrazione and one of the Fair’s most successful initiatives. BCBF’s involvement has been made possible thanks to ITA - the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), with the dual aim of developing the Bologna Fair’s network of international partners and their participation in BCBF, and of promoting the best of Italian publishing and the publishing industry worldwide, laying new foundations for opportunities for cultural exchanges and business relations.

Exhibitions

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the great Italian author, BCBF will be bringing the exhibition Italian Excellence – Illustrations for Italo Calvino, curated by Accademia Drosselmeier/Cooperativa Giannino Stoppani, promoted by the Emilia-Romagna regional administration and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The exhibition brings together a selection of illustrations interpreting and inspired by the great  author’s works. This will be accompanied by the exhibition Honour List - Mettere il mondo sottosopra (Honour List - Putting the world upside down), organized by the Italian section of IBBY - International Board on Books for Young People, of which BCBF and the Association of Italian Publishers (AIE) are founding members. A valuable tool for publishers, teachers, librarians and the international public, the Honour List brings together 60 titles representing the best of Italian publishing releases for children and young people, published during the two-year period 2021/22.

BLTF/Kids Meetings

Also featuring in Guadalajara is the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids. The Licensing event that takes place at the heart of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair will be inviting illustrators to the BCBF stand at the Mexico event to present their portfolios and showcase their talent in the preliminary selection to participate in the Licensing Portfolio Reviews in BCBF 2024. For the first time in 2024, in fact, BLTF/Kids will be enriched with this important opportunity: a new and innovative way of bringing together, and introducing to one another, the big names in animation, brands and manufacturers of consumer goods – and everything that revolves around these categories – as well as talents from the worlds of illustration and design, creating new opportunities to meet and collaborate.

Events offering a behind-the-scenes look at the world of illustration

Bologna Children’s Book Fair will also organise some events at the Italy Pavilion Forum (stand HH7, International Area, produced in collaboration with Mimaster Illustrazione) and at the E-book Forum:

Monday 27 November

Simona Casonato, Maria Sole Macchia and Andrea Antinori will be discussing on “What it takes… to make a children’s book” at 4 pm, in the Italy Pavilion Forum. This event will offer a peek “behind the scenes” at the process of making a book, taking in the creativity of the text to the fine-tuning of the words, the illustrations to the cover, the book series, launch and promotion: from creative intuition to the bookshelf. Each fundamental stage in the extraordinary publishing adventure of creating a book for young readers will be retraced. Following on from this will be the panel “Reading in the 21st Century” at 6 pm at the E-book Forum (aisle HH, International Area), in collaboration with Instituto Emilia. Maria Teresa Andruetto will be answering questions from Dolores Prades about today’s reading models and the challenges they pose, as well as current literary production and its

historical roots, with the aim of helping and providing those who promote reading with new ideas.

Tuesday 28 November

Stefano Cipolla and Ivan Canu will be telling the audience “What it takes… to make an illustrated magazine” at 3 pm in the Italy Pavilion Forum. In collaboration with BolognaBookPlus, the talk will outline how an edition of a magazine on culture, politics and society is created and put together, taking a look at its anatomy, form and language.

Wednesday 29 November

Elena Pasoli, Ivan Canu and Giacomo Benelli will talk about “From Bologna to the world: the journey of an editorial idea, The Illustrators Survival Corner” (4 pm at the Italy Pavilion Forum). The short story of a long journey, how taking a punt on an illustrated leaflet led to the creation of a “home” for illustrators from all over the world. Established in 2016, the Illustrators Survival Corner is the area of Bologna Children’s Book Fair specifically for the illustration community and for promoting interaction between established professionals and new generations of illustrators.

The Illustrators Survival Corner

Meanwhile, the BCBF stand (stand HH11 in the International Area) will host a rich programme of workshops and masterclasses with leading names in international illustration and children’s publishing, as well as the Illustrators Survival Corner with its calendar of portfolio reviews.

Guests include: Andrea Antinori (illustrator, Italy), Maria Sole Macchia (illustrator, Italy), Nicolò Minetti (foreign rights, White Star, Italy), Stefano Cipolla (art director L’Espresso, Italy), Mónica Bergna, (publisher Alboroto Ediciones, Mexico), Dolores Prades (founder, director and editor of the Istituto Emília, Brazil), Maru Aguzzi (director Gran Salòn México, Mexico), Simona Casonato (publisher Mondadori, Italy), Silvia Vassena (publisher Acoma Book, Italy), Ivan Canu (illustrator and director of The Illustrators Survival Corner, Italy), Peggy Espinosa (publisher Petra Ediciones, Mexico), Alexia Halteman and Carlos Armenta (co-directors Impronta Casa Editora, Mexico), Sandra Feldman (director Leetra editorial, Mexico), Elisabeth Pérez Fernández (editor-in-chief, illustrator and writer Bonito Editorial, Spain).

For further info www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com