Come visit the Australians at a beautiful new stand!
As was the case with London Book Fair, Australian publishers planning to attend Bologna this year have been contending with cancelled flights and rising costs. Despite this, an enthusiastic cohort of local rights managers and literary agents are still headed to the fair, where a new-look Australian Collective Stand will be unveiled.
For Gildlings literary agent Naomi Perry, Bologna will be “the first fair outing for Gildlings and a debut showing for a number of incredibly talented author/illustrators on my list”, while David Reiter of Interactive Publications, who will be attending alongside author Josie Montano, is attending the fair for the second time. Both are recipients of Creative Australia funding and were lucky to be able to move flights to attend. “[I] would have been tremendously disappointed to not use it as intended,” said Perry of the Travel Fund grant.
Other publishers intending to be at Bologna in person include Miriam Rosenbloom and Guy Ivison of Scribble, and Fiona Horman of Five Mile Press, as well as Meg Whelan of Affirm Press and Evie Green of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, each representing publishers in the running for the 2026 Bologna Prize. Australian Publishers Association programs and partnerships manager Melissa Crino will also be attending and representing Australian publishers from a newly redesigned Australian stand.
In this issue of Think Australian, we profile Scribble, which contributed the beautiful artwork on which the new stand design is based, and Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, which is already feeling the positive effects of a Bologna Prize shortlisting.
We also round up the titles Australian publishers have nominated as their showcase picks for the fair in graphic novels, picture books, middle grade and YA, share the latest Australian acquisitions, catch you up on Australian award winners and bestsellers, and share the titles Australian authors themselves recommend. You’ll also find an update on the Australian market and the top-rated CYA reviews from Think Australian’s publisher Books+Publishing.
If you are attending, we wish you all the best for a successful time at Bologna – and encourage you to join the Australians for the Australia party, to be held on Tuesday 14 April from 5pm at Hall 25, Stand A87.
—The Books+Publishing team.
Think Australian is produced by Books+Publishing with support from the Australian Publishers Association and the Australian Government through Creative Australia.
Category: Think Australian editorial
