It's that time of year again: the Bologna Children's Book Fair is starting in a few short days! But right now, I'm 6152 miles away from it — and that's something that would normally give me a bad case of the Bologna Blues.
So if you do find yourself in Bologna (lucky you!), the SCBWI stand is at A/66 in Pavilion 26... that's the area that usually has a majority of English-language publishers present. Stop by and say hello!
PS. When I went to Bologna a few years ago, I wrote about it here and here. PPS. Anna Castagnoli has posted thishandy guide of Bologna's museums, bookshops, various events, plus places to eat and drink. Lots of good suggestions, check it out -- grazie, Anna! PPPS. Laura's got some advice
Good news — my illustrated book project has been selected for the Nambook Festival (aka Nami Island International Illustration Concours) !! It has to stay under wraps at present, but I can still show you a few glimpses from my selected project. You'll get a flavour of what I've been up to lately, even though it's out of context.
The Nambook Festival is a yearly children's book event in South Korea, about 70 km south of Seoul on an beautiful tranquil island with groves of giant redwood trees. Nambook is affiliated with IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young people), as well as being an official sponsor of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards.... presented to the winners each year at the Bologna Book Fair.
The list of winners is pretty impressive—an array of international talent that includes many illustrators who have also been selected for Bologna, Bratislava, 3x3, Ilustrarte, Sàrmede and other places where children's book illustrations are recognized and celebrated. The grand prix went to the wonderful Korean illustrator Sung-Hee Kim. A few of the other names that jumped out are: David Pintor, Eva Montanari, Sonja Danowska, Rashin Kheiriyeh and IrmaGruenholz. And so many others... I'm looking forward to discovering their work!
The illustration exhibit at Nami Island takes place from 25 April to 31 May. There will be a catalogue/annual of the art show as well. And if any of you are going to Bologna for the book fair (from 25 to 28 March, in two short weeks from now!), the Nambook Festival has a stand (A36 / H29). Stop by and say hi!
UPDATE: For those of you going to the Bologna Book Fair, the Nami Illustration Concours will give a brief presentation at the Author's Café on Wednesday 27 March at 16:30 — jury members and illustrators will be on hand for a show-and-tell session. Wish I could be there, too...
In this installment of my ludicrously unpunctual series of posts on Bologna, I want to share a few discoveries I made while there. Once you tear yourself away from your appointments, the exhibitions and other activities, your explorations will be amply rewarded!
Next up: from the book stand of EKEBI (the National Book Centre of Greece), I stumbled upon the work of Effie Lada:
She is one of the nominees for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award (aka the "IBBY"). Quite an honour — these are like the Nobel Prize for children's books!
For one reason or another (friends, rendez-vous, etc), I found myself spending a good bit of time in the German publishing area. And there I found quite a few artists whose work was unfamiliar to me, including —
ManuelaOlten, and her charming hippopotamus Nefertiti (seen here rummaging for her lost cup):
There was much much more — far too many to name! I will just mention in passing that the Spanish publishers had much that was intriguing— from (just to name a few): Edelvives, Zorro Rojo, OQO and Kalandraka....
Great work... and enough inspiration to be getting on with!
So anyways, I went to the Bologna Children's Book Fair last month. It was my first time—I don't know what took me so long! I came away goggle-eyed, my head bulging with new information, images and encounters (... and my valise bulging with books, catalogues, cards, all to be perused in leisure). Here is a little impression of my time there.
First, an overview of the fair itself: established in 1963, the Bologna Book Fair is the largest and longest-running event of its kind. The Salon du Livre at Montreuil was started 20 years later, and is focussed on only French language children's publications; as a result, it is much smaller. Bologna, on the other hand, is international in scope: 1300 exhibitors (compared to Montreuil's 350)—publishers, literary and illustration organizations, agents and others—come from 67 countries, and display their wares in 20,000 square metres of space. Unlike Montreuil, it is not open to the public but only to professionals. That means: no roaring kids on school trips, no books for sale, no story-telling workshops, no autographs. None. Of. That.
But what does that even mean— "1300 exhibitors in 20,000 square metres"?
Each of those green rectangles is like an airplane hangar — an airplane hangar containing a football field! You spend the entire day galloping from one end of the fair to the other (note to self: flat shoes!)—late to appointments, or lost, or trying to take in as much as you can in four short days. This brief video (by author Bart Moeyaert, via the Astrid Lindgren blog) gives an idea of the breathless pace of the fair:
Is Bologna a good place to do business, for an illustrator? Opinion is divided on this question. On the one hand, it is true that the main activity is between publishers, who are there to buy and sell rights to previously published books. They are focussed on trading, not necessarily there for creative people; at times the art directors are not even present. Or are too overwhelmed and inattentive to be any good to you.
On the other hand, appointments can always be made --best if arranged in advance, but last-minute rendez-vous are also possible. And certain publishers (especially the well-organized Germans!) set aside a few hours each day to look at portfolios, and a long queue of hopeful illustrators forms immediately! And lastly, two of myfriends actually got book projects while at Bologna (félicitations, les filles!) So there!!
Then there's always the Illustrator's Wall:
Here you can put up your postcard, business card, poster or other illustration promo pieces. (Note to self: a stapler or double-sided tape would have been good...). Does it help? Does tossing a coin in the Trevi fountain help? In any event it's fun to look at everyone else's imagery...
Of course, the main thing that will catch your eye is books—
(Here are some from the wonderful Spanish publisher, Zorro Rojo—I found wonderful books at their stand including these by Javier Zabala and Antonio Santos.)
—there are so many of them, you will be the proverbial kid in the proverbial candy shop! The anticipation and excitement will soon be superseded by a sense of adventure as you start to make discoveries. It's overwhelming at first—it takes a little time to be able to focus on one book at a time, in the beginning you just want to get the lay of the land and your attention span is greatly reduced. But you'll get the hang of it!
It can all be a bit tiring, of course. Luckily, there's the Illustrator's Café where you can sit and rest your barking dogs. It is a lounge of sorts, a meeting place — and also the venue for the many events (talks by illustrators/authors, panel discussions, live interviews, and especially awards ceremonies) that take place at the book fair. And of course it is adjacent to the various exhibition spaces: the solo shows, the Guest of Honour country's display, and the (main) Illustrator's Exhibition.
But more on all of that in another post. Suffice it to say that I have come back with a lot of inspiration and new insights and energy. I'll be back, Bologna!
