Innovation, Design And AI Take Centrestage At BolognaBookPlus 2026

BolognaBookPlus is the initiative launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) to expand the scope of Bologna Children’s Book Fair by reaching out to a wider audience in the field of general publishing.

The Designer Studio

The Designer Studio was a new programme dedicated to art direction, editorial design and non-children’s illustration, created to foster dialogue between visual design and the general trade publishing market. A project developed by BBPlus and curated by Mimaster Illustrazione, following the success of The Illustrators Survival Corner (the space dedicated to illustrators and designers for children’s and young adults), it expanded the cultural and professional offerings for the Fair’s audience, with a schedule of masterclasses, workshops and portfolio reviews led by a line-up of internationally renowned art directors, designers, and illustrators. In this first edition, the programme focussed on the role of the book cover as both a visual design product and a marketing tool, through masterclasses that explored its identity from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

Guest Director BolognaBookPlus, Jacks Thomas said, “With the introduction of the Designer Studio, a high-profile Illustration Ambassador, and major international exhibitions, BolognaBookPlus 2026 reaffirms its position as a global platform for the creative forces shaping the look and feel of books today.”

The awards…

The Bestseller Awards powered by NielsenIQ BookData and BolognaBookPlus launched The Bestseller Awards in Italy, bringing these data-driven awards to one of Europe’s most important publishing markets.

Andre Breedt, Managing Director at NielsenIQ BookData, commented, “Italy has a rich, diverse publishing landscape with authors and publishers achieving remarkable long-term success. Launching the Bestseller Awards in Italy allows us to recognise these achievements in a way that is objective, transparent and entirely driven by consumer demand.”

While Jacks adds, “Data has the power to tell a clear and compelling story about a market. The Bestseller Awards cut through the noise to show what readers in Italy are buying and enjoying. Bringing these awards to Italy adds an exciting new moment of recognition to the industry calendar. Brava!”

Author Ambassador…

Rafa? Kosik was the Author Ambassador 2026 at BolognaBookPlus, an acclaimed novelist, columnist and screenwriter. He is the author of more than 30 books that have sold over two million copies worldwide. As Author Ambassador, Kosik participated in the AI Summit and appeared across the BolognaBookPlus programme, engaging in discussions about creativity, storytelling and the evolving relationship between authors and emerging technologies.

The AI Summit…

The AI Summit featured an international line-up of publishing and AI leaders from across Europe, UK, US and India. Curated in partnership with Shimmr AI, the second edition, had panels which discussed themes on Agentic systems across the publishing workflow, data-driven decision-making, rights in the age of AI, Publishing responsibility in the age of AI and the growing role of intelligent creativity.

Nadim Sadek, Founder and CEO of Shimmr AI and author of Shimmer, Don’t Shake and Quiver, Don’t Quake, explored AI as the New Apex of Human Creativity. In his welcome and keynote told the audience that it is a forward-looking summit and Publishers will be creative intellectual property curators.

The Audio Forum 2026…

It focussed on publishers, producers, platforms, and technology providers navigating the next chapter of audio publishing.

Jacks commened, “Audio publishing opens up the pleasure and knowledge that books give to so many different people. It is wonderful to see the continued growth and success of this creative and ever-evolving format. Working with Beat Technology, with their expertise and global reach, it will, once again be a fantastic programme of speakers and content for the BolognaBookPlus audience.”

While, Nathan Hull, Beat Technology, said, “This forum offers a platform for intelligent debate around audio sub-topics that aren’t yet given air- time. The audio format is no longer left field or niche: it’s the financial or creative cornerstone in some markets and has the opportunity to be in newer ones. This year we have again an international mix of major voices in the field alongside newer markets and fresh faces, to give weight and balance as we deliberate the evolution of the spoken word and what it means to publishers.”

Talking Pictures…

The annual Talking Pictures initiative at BolognaBookPlus explored the visual book production of one country, with the mission of presenting the most interesting and experimental books at the boundaries between forms and genres. This year’s focus was Guest of Honour country Norway, whose entries were curated in partnership with Norwegian arts organisations Graffil and NORLA. The winner was Max Kolstad Henriksen, Last Meal, Oslo National Academyof the Arts, 2025.

Commenting on behalf of the jury, Steven Guarnaccia said, “We especially wanted to recognize those books that combined excellence in design with deep emotional resonance. Each of the books chosen was a personal expression: of empathy, of an appreciation of a shared cultural legacy, of beauty to ward off despair. The jury unanimously chose Last Meals as the first among many excellent books. We found it’s subject matter of death row prisoners’ last culinary requests sobering, and at the same time almost ennobling. The utterly stripped down graphic treatment with its echoes of the bible: black cover, gold type and physical heft, was utterly appropriate to the subject. A book that substituted generous white space for images was, despite this, the jury’s choice for best visual book of the show.”