Extending the international connections and conversations fostered each spring by the Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair, the inaugural Zig Zag Festival, billed as \u201ca visual bridge between Italy and the U.S.,\u201d will take place in New York City on June 8\u201312, across various venues. The five-day series of events on illustration and comics will bring together Italian and American authors, artists, and members of the publishing world for a chance to promote cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration. The festival is curated by Hamelin Associazione Culturale in Bologna and Brooklyn-based author-illustrator and designer Steven Guarnaccia, in collaboration with the Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair\u2014along with partners including the Society of Illustrators, Rizzoli Bookstore, Salotto \u2013 Casa IED, Sullaluna Bookshop & Bistrot, and the School of Visual Arts.<\/p>\n
The project was announced at this year\u2019s Bologna Fair<\/a> during a panel with some of the key participants: Elena Pasoli, director of BCBF; Francesca Rizzi, founder of Sullaluna in Venice and New York City; Livia Senic-Matuglia, manager of Rizzoli Bookstore, which marked its 60th anniversary last year; Emilio Varr\u00e0, founder of Hamelin; Arabelle Liepold, executive director of the Society of Illustrators, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year; and author-illustrators Guarnaccia, Cecilia Ruiz, and Felicita Sala. According to Pasoli, the concept emerged from a casual conversation, \u201cas so many things in our sector do,\u201d and it developed through a network of \u201cestablished connections and friendships. The purpose is not only to connect but to create new opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Invoking prominent Italian\/American illustrators and designers such as Sergio Ruzzier, Emiliano Ponzi (founder of the Salotto cultural salon in Williamsburg), and Riccardo Vecchio (chair of SVA\u2019s MFA in illustration as visual essay), Guarnaccia quipped, \u201cAt a certain point, it was clear that Italians were taking over illustration in New York!\u201d With so many \u201cintersections,\u201d he said a festival of this nature \u201cseemed inevitable,\u201d while acknowledging that \u201cwithout Elena\u2019s optimism, none of this would\u2019ve happened.\u201d He went on to add that each of the project\u2019s participants \u201cdo what they do at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n Claudio Pagliara, director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, said in a statement, \u201cZig Zag is not just a thread that, unraveling through the streets and avenues of New York, unites the five locations involved in the initiative. It is also an image of the way ideas move: along paths that are never straight-forward, always open to discussion, exchange, and new synthesis.\u201d<\/p>\n Rizzi, who opened a West Village location of her Venetian bookstore and bistrot<\/a> with son Fulgi Tonello in September 2024, said of her partnership with the festival, \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be part of this project because it matches our goal: to build bridges and create community. We think it\u2019s very political.\u201d<\/p>\n Liepold of SoI agreed, saying, \u201cNowadays, it\u2019s more important than ever that we build that bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the full slate of roundtables and exhibits, the festival will feature a female-driven B2B component organized independently by BCBF, entitled Bridging Markets: Women in Children\u2019s Publishing from Italy and North America. Pasoli told PW, \u201cIn conjunction with the Zig Zag Festival, we are bringing eight outstanding Italian publishers to New York and, in collaboration with Debbie Bibo, the American agent based in Milan, we are organizing a full day of speed meetings with a dozen North American publishers. The event will take place on June 9 at the Society of Illustrators.\u201d She noted, \u201cThis is the first time we have organized an initiative like this in New York, and we are able to make it happen thanks to the support of the Italian Trade Agency as part of our Bologna Grand Tour program.\u201d<\/p>\n The participating publishers from Italy include Il Castoro & Tunu\u00e9, Corraini Edizioni, FATATRAC, Minibombo, Orecchio Acerbo Editore, Quinto Quarto Edizioni, Terre di Mezzo Editore, and Topipittori. Representing North America are Archipelago\u2019s Elsewhere Editions, Astra Books for Young Readers, Christy Ottaviano Books (an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), Chronicle Books, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Enchanted Lion Books, FSG Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Macmillan Children\u2019s Publishing Group), Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Phaidon Kids, Tundra Book Group (Canada), and Union Square Kids. <\/p>\n