The publishing world gathered in the historic Italian city of Bologna this past week for the biggest event on the global children’s book calendar — the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF).
In four days at the Bologna fairgrounds in the city’s northeast, publishers, agents, authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, distributors, printers and many others came from the four corners of the Earth — to promote our authors and illustrators, do business and discuss ways forward in the face of digital and economic challenges.
This 62nd edition of the fair brought 1,577 exhibitors from 95 countries, and a total of 33,318 trade visitors — an increase of 5% from 2024.
New Zealand was there thanks to the collective stand organised by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ), under its contract for international literature promotion with Creative New Zealand.
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| Stand set-up last Sunday: Trace Moroney and Katherine Shanks (above), me with Chris Shaw (below) |
Chris Shaw, general manager of Book Systems in New Zealand, was there in person, and together we got our books to our stand last Sunday and helped with the set-up, overseen by the unflappable Katherine Shanks of PANZ.
Oratia was fortunate to have our Rome-based foreign rights manager Maria Leonardi helping me, alongside esteemed colleagues Eboni Waitere and Pania Tahau-Hodges of Huia Publishers and Trace Moroney of EQ Publications.
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| Cheers to the Oratia's Italian team: Milan-based Anna Spadolini (our European agent, left) and Rome-based foreign rights manager Maria Leonardi |
Allen & Unwin, Auckram Publishing, Cultural Hub, Illustrated Publishing, Mila’s Books, One Tree House and Scholastic also had their books on display, with Lynette Evans of Scholastic and Rachel Lawson of Gecko Press the fair as well.
Book fair routine is to arrange meetings in half-hour slots at either party’s stand, which calls for a level of fitness and patience to thread through the crowds between the four large pavilions.
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| A sample of opening day meetings with author/translator Lawrence Schimel (Spain), Alejandra Ramos Henao and team (Enlace Editorial, Colombia), Anjola Ayodeji (Ouida Books, Nigeria), Goksun Bayraktar (Black Cat Agency, Turkey) |
For me that meant almost 40 formal meetings with partners from 26 countries, leading on later each day to various receptions, cocktails and dinners with many others. A lot of talking and a lot of books!
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| Dreaming up more New Bums with our publishing partners from Dover Publications, New York; from left Patty Sullivan, Theresa Trinder and Betina Cochran |
There’s no overnight success in this game: those results comes after years of fair attendance and networking. New entrants need all the help they can get, which is why PANZ mentorship remains key to New Zealand’s export promotion.
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| Celebrating Five Oceans forthcoming Tamil-Māori-English edition of the classic Thirukkural with Sankara Saravanan (right) and Dr P. Shankar of the Chennai International Book Fair |
Overall, it’s fair to say that the decline in global reading levels, effects on literacy and authorship of digital media and AI, and the rise of trade protectionism are all weighing on sentiment among book publishers and their partners.
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| Always a pleasure to meet up with our sub-agent Shin Su of Bookman, Taiwan |
But if anything, that recognition is redoubling the commitment of the children’s book world to re-engage young readers, and stay true to the exchange of books and ideas that fuels cultural expression and international understanding.
BCBF provides a vibrant platform for that trade, with its central malls hosting ample illustrators’ exhibitions and a plethora of panel sessions.
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| Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney in discussion at The Illustrator's Café |
Across the fair were illustrators’ and translators’ zones holding non-stop workshops and presentations, a bustling agents’ centre, and the BolognaBookPlus zone where adult publishers also get to share in the rights activity. Amazingly, there are well over 500 separate events during the fair’s four days.
Particularly busy were the stands of 2025 guest of honour Estonia, and Chile and the Philippines (both upcoming countries of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair).
Having this honour status turbo-charges business and cultural opportunities; we’ll be following up on productive discussions with the Philippines in particular.
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| At left Eli Camacho, illustrator and publisher of Manila-based Adarna House, with Mitch Balladares from the National Book Development Board Philippines |
The attention shown to Mila’s Books, after it took out the BOP Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publisher Oceania, demonstrates the value of a physical presence here (only those who exhibit are eligible). That win continues a string of successes for New Zealand publishers in the awards (Huia won last year, while Oratia scooped the prize in 2021).
Hearty congrats to Dahlia Malaeulu of Mila’s Books, who’s also the author of Oratia's book Moana Oceania: Sāmoa.
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| Great supporters of Mila Books and our Moana Oceania series: David and Sarah DeLuca of Bess Press, Hawai'i |
To all the Oratia authors and illustrators, we couldn't be here without you and hope that exposing your work to the world will make a difference.
Sincere thanks to the PANZ council and team – Katherine on site and Courtney Sina-Meredith and Gemma Finlay back in Auckland – for their hard work to keep Aotearoa in the international game.
And a big grazie mille to the fair's brilliant director Elena Pasoli, her fab team (special mentions to Deanna Belluti and Irene Rinaldi), and BolognaBookPlus organisers Jacks Thomas and Sheerin Aswat, for making this such a productive and stimulating few days.
Viva Bologna!
