Norway will be Guest of Honour at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2026. Please join us for the Opening Conference at the Norwegian Festival of Literature in May.
Bologna Children’s Book fair is one of the world’s leading book fairs of its kind. Each year a new country is invited to be Guest of Honour, and in 2026 it is Norway that will hold the prestigious title. The project will be organised by NORLA, and on the 24th May we invite the industry for an kickstart event open to all. Please register here if you would like to join us. We have also got a Facebook event you are welcome to check out.
Where: Festsalen, Kulturhuset Banken, Kirkegata 41
When: 24th of May, 09 AM -12 AM
Programme:
08.30 Arrival and registration
09.00 Reading by Simon Stranger
09.10 Welcome by Director of NORLA Margit Walsø
09.20 Opening by State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Equality, Odin Adelsten Aunan Bohmann.
09.30 Expectations, Excitement, and Export: How to be Guest of Honour in Bologna 2026
Panelists: Elena Pasoli, Exhibition Manager, Bologna Children’s Book Fair , Cristina Marasti, Iperborea Publishing House, Margit Walsø, Director of NORLA and Evy Tillman, Literary Agent, Oslo Literary Agency. The conversation is led by Arne Vestbø, Chair for NORLA and General Secretary at NFFO.
10.10 Break
10.40 Boklek by Bjørn F. Rørvik
11.05 Literature from Norway and Italy in a Global Context: Perspectives from Different Parts of the Book Industry
11.45 Round-up
12.00 The program is finished
After the program we invite you to join us for lunch at the café. Hope to see you there!
NB! Changes in the programme might occur.
Read more about all of NORLA’s activities at the Norwegian Festival of Literature here.
NORLA will be at The Nordic Common Stand at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. You’ll find us in Hall 3.1, stand B70.
The stand will also feature a new catalogue presenting a selection of new books from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland available in German translation.
Nordic Reception: Thursday, 8 October, 17:00–18:30 at The Nordic Stand.
In collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London, NORLA is hosting a special industry event highlighting contemporary Norwegian children’s and young adult literature on November 5.
The event will take place at the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence.
Norway is Guest of Honour at this year’s Les Boréales festival in Normandy, taking place from 12–22 November.
A strong line-up of Norwegian authors will take part in the festival: Ingeborg Arvola, Martin Baldysz, Brit Bildøen, Thomas Enger, Jørn Lier Horst, Oliver Lovrenski, Aslak Nore, Lars Ramslie and Maria Navarro Skaranger.
As part of the festival, NORLA will also organise a translators’ seminar in Caen on 17 November, with a special focus on Brit Bildøen’s Gult farevarsel (Yellow Warning, Vigilance orange). Bildøen and her French translator Marina Heide will take part in the seminar.
The Norwegian Embassy in Paris is a partner in Norway’s Guest of Honour programme.