From 13th until 16th of April, the Italian city of Bologna is hosting the annual Children’s Book Fair which is to be attended by publishers and industry specialists from Latvia, too. The participation of Latvia at the fair has been organised by the Latvian literature export platform “Latvian Literature”.
Industry specialists from Latvia are due to take part in a number of official events at the fair. On 14th April at 14:30, seminar “Why Boys Lag Behind in Reading (and What to Do About It)” is to take place; Latvia will be represented at the seminar by the industry information specialist of the National Library of Latvia Centre for Literature Emija Emilija Grigorjeva. On 15th April at 11:30, the seminar “The Reasons behind a Choice. Meeting with the Illustrators Exhibition Jury 2026” will be attended by the head of the publishing house “Liels un mazs” Alīse Nīgale, who this year has taken on the role of one of the selection jury members of the International Bologna Book Fair illustrator exhibition.
“Alīse Nīgale becoming one of the five members of the international jury along with industry professionals from South Korea, Finland, Slovakia and Italy is a testament to the high level of trust and is an important honour not only for her individually but also for Latvia on the whole,” explained the head of the platform “Latvian Literature” Inga Bodnarjuka-Mrazauskas.
Another great achievement is the inclusion of three works by Latvian authors in the symbolic bookshelf “The BRAW Amazing Bookshelf”. Each year, 150 of the best pieces are selected for the Bookshelf out of those submitted for the Bologna Book Fair award “BolognaRagazzi Award”. Approximately 4000 pieces representing 43 countries are submitted each year for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair award. This year’s Bookshelf includes the book “Spīdošās gaismas tracis” by the Latvian children’s book author and illustrator Dace Krēsliņa from the series “Aizvēstures pilsētas detektīvi” and the picture book “čuči čuči” (“Hush hush little bear”) by the artist Ūna Laukmane for the youngest readers — a story inspired by the Latvian lullaby “Aijā žūžū”. The creator of the third piece included in the Bookshelf “Le pouvoir, c’est moi!” (“Es esmu vara!”, “I am the power”) is the artist Elīna Brasliņa together with the Swiss writer and journalist Caroline Stevan. It is a children’s book about topics of political power, how easy it can go astray and how difficult it is to get it back on track.
At the press conference of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on 13th April at 14:00, the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen award will be announced. Latvian artist Gundega Muzikante is among the five candidates for the award in the illustration category. On 14th April at 12:45 “Illustrators Café” will be streaming a live broadcast from Stockholm to announce the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award with this year’s nominees including Latvian writers Inese Zandere and Luīze Pastore, as well as artists Gundega Muzikante and Aleksejs Naumovs. An illustrator exhibition will take place during the fair offering a chance to see the work by the artist Aleksandra Runde. The jury selected 75 works from 31 countries out of 317 pieces submitted for the exhibition.
On 14th April at 17:00, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Italy and printing house “Jelgavas tipogrāfija”, the now traditional reception or happy hour will take place at the Latvian stand (hall No. 30, stand E8-F7) to which any and all cooperation partners of the Latvian stand participants are cordially invited.
This year’s selected guest of honour at the fair is our northern neighbour Norway. Latvia is represented at the book fair by the publishing houses Liels un mazs, Aminori, Baltais Valis, Zvaigzne ABC, Jāņa Rozes apgāds, Pētergailis, Latvijas Mediji, Sapņu spalva, as well as the printing house “Jelgavas tipogrāfija” and Art Academy of Latvia. The visual solutions of the Latvian stand in Bologna were created in line with the Latvian literature export campaign #iamintrovert aesthetics by artist Reinis Pētersons, and the design author is Jānis Mercs.
Participation of Latvia at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of Latvia.
