Bologna Book Fair 2016



This year I decided to visit the Bologna Children's Book Fair. It's been three years since I last went as a final year student back in 2013. It was a hugely different experience this time round, I had more industry experience, more work in my portfolio and an excellent Agent to go with.

I found walking around the halls a bit overwhelming. There are so many Publishers and different disciplines. It really made me consider where I fit in the picture. Where does my work fit now? Where could I take my work in the future? Where do I want my work to go in the future?

It was great to chat to everyone and especially nice to meet so many new people. I really appreciated the feedback and guidance on my work, especially book ideas. I took a couple of new book ideas with me.


I had a mad rush preparing promo material, but I'm glad I had something to leave behind. I thought the penguins looked quite funny on teenie-tiny postcards. Anyway, here's a snap of the 'Illustrators wall'. By the time I arrived at the fair on Monday afternoon the whole wall had been filled with Illustrator's posters, postcards and business cards. My work had to squeeze in here on the floor!


Visiting Bologna was also a thinly veiled excuse for a holiday. It was great to stay with my lovely Agent in the historical city centre, I mean check out the view from the balcony. Bellissimo!


I also managed a sneaky weekend by Lake Como. 

P.S. I also saw this original Ralph Steadman Alice in Wonderland artwork. Nice!



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Bologna Book Fair

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Hello Bloggers! Last week I went to my first ever book fair. For some reason I decided to jump in at the deep end and went to the ginormous Bologna Book Fair , no really, it was genuinely huge. Prepare yourself for a monster post... It was the 50th annual fair, I have my suspicions that it may have been even busier than usual. The fair took place over 4 days and 6 big warehouses. I felt as though I walked for miles, and I probably did. Maybe its all a ploy to keep Illustrators fit and healthy?  This year's guest country was Sweden and there was a small exhibition of Swedish Illustrators. I ended up buying the accompanying Illustrators index - one pricey book, but definitely worth it. The fair was a real eye opener into the larger world of children's books and illustration. It was also interesting to experience the commercial side of illustration. I went with my talented Illustrator buddies  Annaliesse , Martha and Kate , and we bumped into ...
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