This book cover was illustrated by Jill Latter and sold to
North South Books at Bologna in 2009.
Bologna Book Fair is really the main event of the year in Children’s Book Publishing calendar, it is usually just before Easter in
Bologna in Italy. Unlike
The Frankfurt Book Fair, it is only children’s books and on a completely different scale from Frankfurt which is massive, dwarfs the
NEC.
Bologna Fair is in a specially built exhibition zone outside the main city area. All on ground level, the halls are set around courtyards, some bleak and some more attractive. The weather often seems to govern how everyone feels about the Fair, and alters the atmosphere completely. It can rain like a car wash for days or be like perfect spring weather, when people sit drinking their espresso coffee in the sunshine and art students loll about with their portfolios chatting to their friends.
There are two huge halls just full of Italian publishers and the rest of the halls are split between the UK the largest visiting country, the USA , Europe and the rest of the world. Then there are stands from India, the Far East and China, it can give you a fascinating insight into the book world outside the UK.
Publishers great and small are represented, the major companies, like
Random House have vast stands with meetings at small tables set up all over it, to small packagers and publishers with almost a booth to display and sell their projects. Meetings are organised well before the Fair, half hour slots are booked between different publishers, agents, illustrators and people trying to sell new ideas.
Graphics and illustrations are displayed on huge panels on the stands. It’s great for the artists to see their books and characters enlarged and on panels 2 metres high. Talking about illustration and illustrators, every year one of the main events is the International Illustration Conference and Exhibition. Check out the
Bologna Book Fair web site it has all the information you need.
Illustrators from all over the world submit their work for the competition around November the previous year, a panel of judges chooses and the exhibits are divided between fiction, picture books and non-fiction. I always make a point of attending and I have met several illustrators there and I now represent Christina and Henning who I met through the exhibition.
They also hold a congress through out the Fair for the illustrators, with work-shops and sessions with speakers from around the world. Every day there are events aimed at the young illustrators helping them to get their careers off the ground, with advice and practical help. Each year one country is chosen to hold a special exhibition of their students and young artist’s work to the show off the cream of their talent, it can be terrific.
On the outside wall of the exhibition area is a meeting point and notice board/alcove area and within an hour of the Fair opening it is covered with illustrators work and cards. By day three, it is an unbelievable sight with illustrations pinned and stuck to every imaginable surface. It looks great and passing publishers stop and search for new talent from this extraordinary display.
Masses of illustrators come to the Fair, obviously the number of Italians is huge, but illustrators come from all over Europe, as far away as Japan and further flung countries. All with their portfolios, slung over shoulders, dragged around on wheels and all sorts, hoping to make that vital meeting that will change their lives. Comfortable footwear is essential!
It is very hard, almost impossible for them to get to see publishers, firstly because the publishers are tied up in meetings all day and the rights people who are usually the ones at the Fair don’t have the right experience to interview illustrators. Some publishers do a have sessions when artists can visit their stands and show their work. You can tell by the monster queue round the stand of portfolio carrying hopefuls, when the open viewing is on. The illustrators also drop of samples of their work at publisher’s stands and these are taken back to the home cities and passed to the relevant art directors.
But the one country, which seems to have the fewest visiting artists is the UK. I have never worked out why, they don’t bother to enter the competition or come over to Italy for the Fair. Why colleges don’t arrange trips for groups of students I don’t know. But I really think it would open their eyes to the world. We have great illustrators and the colleges turn out really talented young artists every year so why isn’t their work at the Bologna Exhibition????
Every year I think the same thing, lots of dull but well executed work from the Far East and South America and hardly one illustrator from the UK, why? All the entry forms are easy to down load, ok you have to send the work to Italy but if a group of students, or illustrators did it together I am sure the UK would get more work exhibited.
So it’s five days of none-stop business meetings, talking, presenting, drinking far too much strong black coffee, eating expensive rather dry ham and cheese rolls, (quite a few people only go for two or three days and pack it in,) otherwise it can get very expensive. On the downside all the hotels up their room rates for the Fair and some insist that you stay a minimum of three nights.
But the old town of Bologna is beautiful and very lively, masses of bars and restaurants, in the centre, creative graffiti covers walls all round the university area. And it’s probably the only foreign town where you may bump into ex-colleagues and friends in bars in the evening. The are some seriously good ice cream parlours and if you manage to get into town during the day the shops are great, the home of wild foot wear and great food stalls and markets. The prices can be a bit eye watering but the parmesan is well worth bringing home, wonderful stuff.
Just get out there, enjoy it all and worry about the cost later, it will be worth it!
Frances McKay
(0044) 7703 344334
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