{"id":658,"date":"2019-04-07T20:04:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T19:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/?p=658"},"modified":"2019-04-08T08:40:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T07:40:34","slug":"the-56th-bologna-childrens-book-fair-creative-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/the-56th-bologna-childrens-book-fair-creative-crossroads\/","title":{"rendered":"The 56th Bologna Children’s Book Fair: Creative Crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Francesca\u00a0<\/em>Tancini is a Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Fellow at\u00a0Newcastle\u00a0University<\/a>, \u00a0Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books<\/a> and the Victoria and Albert Museum<\/a>, working on PiCoBoo, a project on 19th<\/sup> century European colour picturebooks. \u00a0Here, Francesca recounts her visit to the 2019 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, comparing it to her visits there as a child growing up in Bologna and as a young illustrator.<\/i><\/p>\n

The beginning of April saw spring arrive in Italy, and, with it, the Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair. Last week marked the 56th\u00a0<\/sup>year of the fair with over 250 conferences and workshops<\/a>\u00a0and almost 1,500 exhibitors spread over 6 pavilions \u2026 \u00a0comfy shoes were a must!<\/p>\n

\"\"
BCBF toolkit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sheer size of the Fair can be overwhelming and you can easily find yourself wandering about and feeling a little lost. But if you take the time to carefully study the Fair\u2019s programme in advance and plot your course, you\u2019ll be in for a real treat and have a golden opportunity to discover the latest trends in children\u2019s illustration and publishing. The Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair is the world\u2019s most important and prestigious book fair for children\u2019s book publishing. The Book Fair\u2019s BolognaRagazzi Awards<\/a> are considered among the most important international prizes in children\u2019s publishing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The winner and honorary mention of the BolognaRagazzi Fiction Award: Pan\u00e1\u010dek, pecka, \u0161vestka, poleno a zase pan\u00e1\u010dek<\/a><\/em>\u00a0by Chrudo\u0161 Valou\u0161ek and Vojt\u011bch Ma\u0161ek for Baobab (Czech Republic) and Et puis<\/a><\/em>\u00a0by Icinori for Albin Michel Jeuness (France)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was born in Bologna, and so the Fair has always been an integral part of my life (and has probably contributed to the factors that made me, today, a researcher in children\u2019s book illustration). My mum, a school teacher, would take me there as a child. At that time, teachers were considered as \u2018workers in the sector\u2019 and would be given discounted tickets. With hundreds of other children, I flocked to my favourite illustrators, clamouring for book signings and sketches. I browsed new books in arcane languages, and hoped that I might be able to take one home, as a souvenir to treasure from a magical day out at the Fair.<\/p>\n

When I grew up, I was an illustrator and comic artist, and, for a little while, I was one of the young illustrators at the fair, big black portfolio folder in arm, going from publisher to publisher to show my work.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustrators\u2019 Exhibition and Illustrators\u2019 Wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, and many of my generation, the Fair was a wide window onto yet unknown worlds of possibilities. We also thought it a symbol of hope: for some, at least, making a living out of children\u2019s books was a reality.<\/p>\n

However, for a long time after my early visits to the Fair, that window closed. Children were \u2013 and still are \u2013 banned from the Fair. \u00a0‘Visitors must be over 18 to enter the fair,’ the website warns, betraying the wishes of intellectuals such as Gianni Rodari, who thought the Fair should be open to children as well, and, in fact, are the Fair\u2019s true audience.*\u00a0The definition of \u2018workers in the sector\u2019 was reduced to publishers and literary agents.<\/p>\n

A reminder that the Fair was, and still is, the place for the book business. Not for the books’ child readers.<\/p>\n

The Fair now again admits some members of the public, although the \u2018workers in the sector\u2019 category does not extend to school-teachers, booksellers, librarians and academics (which means full price tickets for us).\u00a0While children cannot attend, the Bologna city council launched BOOM! Crescere nei libri<\/a>\u00a0in 2017, offering children and their families a wide programme of exhibitions, meetings, workshops, readings and performances in the city centre during and after the Fair.<\/p>\n

Although of course the core economic focus of the Fair remains the purchase and exchange of foreign publishing rights, business takes place in stalls decorated as secret gardens and pleasure islands\u2026 this is a children\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>book fair after all.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Stalls of L\u2019ippocampo<\/a>, Slovenian Book Agency<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lupoguido<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Fair also has a big focus on young illustrators. \u00a0In 2017, an Illustrators Survival Corner<\/a>\u00a0was set up, where young illustrators can come and take part in workshops (from storyboard to published book; secrets of creativity; publication process; material and contents in non-fiction visual narratives; publishers\u2019 contracts), portfolio reviews (how to make a portfolio more effective), consult well-established illustrators and artists (e.g. Beatrice Alemagna, Emiliano Ponzi, Johanna Schaible, Chih-Yuan Chen, Lorenzo Mattotti, Christopher Myers and Kestutis Kasparavicius) and, this year, remember those in the illustrators’ community who have recently died (The BCBF had memorials for Grazia Nidasio (1931-2018), Tomi Ungerer* (1931-2019), Livio Sossi (1951-2019)).<\/p>\n

The Fair is widening its horizons to acknowledge children\u2019s publishing trends. The BolognaRagazzi Awards now include Digital Awards<\/a>\u00a0and an award for best Toddler book<\/a>.\u00a0Silent books<\/a> (also known as wordless picturebooks) have been exhibited in recent years\u00a0and from next year, comic books will be among the categories to be separately considered and awarded.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The winner of Toddlers 2019: \u00a1A dormir gatitos!<\/a>\u00a0by B\u00e0rbara Castro Ur\u00edo for Zahor\u00ec Books (Spain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, for me, and many others, the Illustrators Exhibition remains the main point of attraction.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustrations by Emma Lewis, one of the three British illustrators selected for the Illustrators’ Exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since 1967, Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair has been offering illustrators from all over the world the chance to showcase their work to an international audience of professionals and peers.<\/p>\n

This year, the Illustrators’ Exhibition selected work by 76 illustrators\u00a0from almost 3,000 artists from 62 countries.<\/p>\n

In the opening mall, five long showcase tables unroll the work of the selected artists. For sure, from this stage they will be successfully projected into the world of professional illustration, if they are not there already.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Illustrators\u2019 Wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those whose work was not selected for exhibition and aspiring to join the selected in the coming years, an Illustrators\u2019 Wall (or, rather, something of a maze of walls) is available to pin business cards and presentations, hang illustrations and draw sketches.<\/p>\n

Walls of hope, they might be called.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To learn more about the history of the Bologna Children Book Fair, some knowledge of Italian is required (William Grandi,<\/em> La vetrina magica. 50 anni di BolognaRagazzi Awards, editori e libri per l’infanzia, Pisa 2015), but Shirley Hugues does provide a small account of it in<\/em> A life drawing. Recollections of an illustrator (London 2002).<\/em><\/p>\n

*Gianni Rodari (1920-1980) was an innovative children\u2019s writing and the first Italian recipient of the Hans Christian Anderson Award in 1970. The 2020 Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair will be celebrating the centenary of Rodari\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

*You can read a tribute to Tomi Ungerer on the blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Francesca\u00a0Tancini is a Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Fellow at\u00a0Newcastle\u00a0University, \u00a0Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and the Victoria and Albert Museum, working on PiCoBoo, a project on 19th century European colour picturebooks. \u00a0Here, Francesca recounts her visit to the 2019 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, comparing it to her visits there as a child growing … Continue reading The 56th Bologna Children’s Book Fair: Creative Crossroads<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6724,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[177,140],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bologna-childrens-book-fair","tag-illustration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/childrensliteratureinnewcastle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}