My BCBF: Elaina Ryan, chief executive, Children’s Books Ireland

Coming to the fair is always so exciting and energising, but there is a lot of uncertainty this year about how different things will be compared to pre-pandemic.  

This is my eighth Bologna, first as managing editor at Little Island and now as c.e.o. of Children’s Books Ireland, proudly representing our sector. The first time I came, I travelled with my then-boss, Ireland’s inaugural Laureate na nÓg [children’s laureate] Siobhán Parkinson. I recall spending long days walking the halls, open-mouthed, taking 30-plus meetings and then navigating the streets in search of “the grappa place” (Olindo Faccioli) and Trattoria Anna Maria, which has the best sage butter pasta.  

CBI normally runs the Ireland stand at the fair, thanks to Culture Ireland. We provide support for publishers, we talk about children’s books from Ireland to folks who drop in, and we organise the Tuesday night party, which is usually attended by the Irish Ambassador to Italy. Due to the coronavirus uncertainty earlier this year, many of our usual gang won’t be attending the conference, so we will also be representing our colleagues and friends. 

Many of the great chats in Bologna happen in the bars after the parties, but Bloomsbury’s launch of Cat Doyle’s The Storm Keeper’s Island was an especially memorable party. I remember standing in the alley outside Ruggine, laden with freebie promotional scented candles, talking to Katherine Rundell about how wonderful Cat’s writing is. The Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls party was another highlight, and the Dutch Publishers’ Association party is legendary. 

There are too many other great memories to fit here. Every second year we have an International Laureates’ Summit, connecting the Laureate na nÓg with reading advocates from all over the world. It’s powerful to get them together—seeing the faces of nine laureates as Eoin Colfer mimicked throwing the baby Jesus across a stage at a school nativity was quite something... 

The restaurant we go back to every single year is Incrocio Montegrappa, which was recommended by a friend who famously ordered a litre of rosé on a solo trip—a misunderstanding he passed off as deliberate and lived to regret. The staff are always so welcoming and warm, and it’s there we choose to have what we call “family dinner”: a gathering of all the Irish publishers, authors, illustrators who attend the fair, before heading to the Swine Bar later on.  

A successful fair is all about logistics, and our team had it down to a fine art. In the morning we would be well prepared with all the usuals: coffee as soon as the cafés open, sandwiches packed to avoid the lunchtime queues, loads of water and a WhatsApp group to share information as we got it about the best bathrooms, buses and who was going for gelato when. And bring your business cards to the bar, where the best chats happen.