Transbook at the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair 2017
Montreuil Children’s Book Fair is a key event for all professionals and enthusiasts of children’s literature. Through several events Transbook pursues its actions leading to the development of innovative projects in children’s literature.
From Paper To Screen conference :
The theme of the 4th edition of the From Paper To Screen conference was "Interactive writing for children : success stories". Through the example of five successful digital projects, it explored the state of digital storytelling. International authors and producers presented their work and shared their experiences.
What strikes at first glance is the great diversity of the medias used in each project : a cross platform web serie, "Tout Garni" (La Pastèque), a VR experiment "Little Earth" by Chris Haughton, an augmented reality app "Mur" from Step in Books studio, "A distant journey" a scrolling graphic novel and an interactive app "Retrato Hablado" from the Mexican studio "Ocho Gallos". It illustrates quite well the last progresses of the digital literature. Moreover not only the form of the contents have changed, the projects’ thematics are also more relevant nowadays. Authors are no longer looking to make faithful adaptations of books. The common point to all these projects is the work made to provide a complementary experience to readers.
Springboard meetings :
These meetings are organized to facilitate the professional development of young art students and illustrators. This year again, it has been a great success as 728 meetings took place between 250 young artists and 70 art directors from 59 publishing houses.
One of the ambitions of the Transbook project is also to allow easy mobility for European authors. This year through a partnership with the Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) via the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE) in the framework of the Mobility grants, Erna Toepfer and Vanessa Miranda, two Spanish students from the Arte Diez School of Madrid and Massana design school of Barcelona, participated to the event.
International and inter-professional forum for children’s media (MÏCE) :
These meetings gather French and international publishers but also digital experts. This is an unique opportunity to explore new markets, sell rights to adapt a project, enlarge its professional network, to remain open to new work approaches and discover new young talents.
In 2017, 533 meetings have been set up during two days (+6,6% compared to 2016) with 196 persons attending from more than 130 companies, 35 production studios, 54 French publishers, 33 international publishers and 6 digital agencies.
One of the main evolution this year was the presence of several international publishers :
- Japan with Poplar, Sekai Bunka Sha et Chobunsha
- China with Thinkingdom
- Lithuania with Alma Littera, Dominicus Lituanus, Jusu Flintas, Terra Publica, Tikra Knyga, Tyto Alba and Verslas Ar Menas
- Romania with Art Publishing, Curtea Veche Publishing, Humanitas, Litera Publishing House, Nemira, Polirom, RAO Publishing House and Vremea
- Valencia area in Spain with Andana Editorial, Balandra, Bromera, Edicions 96, Editorial Vincle, Fandogamia, Litera Libros Publisher, Sembra Llibres,
- Catalunia with Ekaré, Flamboyant, Juventud, Libros del Zorro Rojo and Piscina un petit ocea,
- Poland with Format,
- Slovakia with Miroslava Vallova, LIT centrum director , one of the partners of the Transbook project, who was presenting a selection of Slovak authors.
- Russia with Odile Belkeddar, who was presenting a selection of books recently published.
Transbook Hive :
The new version of the Transbook Hive was inaugurated in 2017 at the Francfort International Book Fair. At Montreuil, It was the first time that it was presented to general public. Meetings with authors and illustrators from all over the world have truly delighted the visitors, little ones and grown ups. The digital kit is also something new, several digital creative tools and VR experiences were at visitors disposal. Curious, open minded, the public has really appreciated this opportunity to interact directly with authors during six days !
European Conference : Children’s Representations in Literature
After Germany in 2015 and United Kingdom in 2017, it’s at the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair that the European Conference on Children’s Representations in literature took place. This event was made possible by synergies developed between the different partners of Transbook project. It has the ambitions to help professionals in the field of children’s literature :
- To reach out populations that have difficulties to access cultural materials
- Try out new cultural mediation approaches designed for specific audiences (troubled young people, people with disabilities...)
- Raising awareness about cultural mediations to better adapt them to people desires
The conference has been organized through a parternship with Afreloce (the french association for children’s book and cultural materials research) on monday 4th December. Open to everyone but more specifically to book and culture professionals, this conference is a good opportunity to explore one of the more important subject of children’s literature. Through several meetings, sociologists, academics and experts have discussed studies on children’s cultural habits evolutions.
