Bologna Wraps Up 'Memorably Special' Fair

Guest of honor Sharjah made a case for the Middle East as an underserved and often overlooked creative hotbed and offered a range of exhibits, from illustrations, to Indigenous handicrafts, to numerous professional presentations from Emirati publishing personalities, These included several chaired by Bodour al Qasimi, daughter of the ruler of Sharjah and current president of the International Publishers Association, who reminded audiences that she initially founded her publishing house Kalimat because she could not find books for her own children that featured characters that looked like them. The couple, who had been married in Bologna more than a decade ago, were looking for titles to help them expand from picture books into young adult books and comics. “Bologna reflects a truly globalized and dynamic industry with small players co-existing with the large consortiums and where traditional format and cutting edge new media are intertwining in unexpected ways,” said Roca.