Ukraine publisher Old Lion among the BOP winners

The Ukraine house Old Lion Publishing was European winner at the BOP⁠—Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year⁠—held at BCBF’s 60th anniversary celebration at the city centre Palazzo Re Enzo.

Old Lion was founded in 2001 and is based in Lviv. It normally publishes over 200 titles a year but since the invasion of its country by Russia last year it has produced a remarkable 100 titles.  

The winner for North America was Canada’s La Courte Échelle, launched in 1978 by the author Bertrand Gauthier as the first publisher in Québec to specialise exclusively in children’s literature. Wonder House Books took the prize for the continent of Asia. An imprint of India’s largest book distributor, Prakash Books India, it was set up in 2017.

Meanwhile, Chile’s Editorial Amanuta, which has been publishing picture books for children and young people since 2002, came out on top in the Central and South America and Caribbean category.  

For Oceania, the winner was indigenous Australian publisher Magabala Books. A non-profit organisation owned and managed by indigenous Australians, it celebrates and nurtures talent and the diversity of voices of islanders from the Torres Strait and aborigines from across the country. Editora Trinta Zero Nove, the first Mozambican independent publisher dedicated to publishing translated works, took the crown for Africa. Founded in 2018 by Sandra Tamele to publish a collection of translated short stories, it has since expanded its catalogue to give a voice to minority authors. 

The BOP awards are now in their 11th year. The winners are selected by publishers themselves, who vote for their peers that have stood out over the last year for their innovation, creativity and the quality of their editorial choices.