A translator’s stroll at the Salone Internazionale del Libro Torino

Last week I went to the Turin International Book Fair. It was the perfect blend of a work outing mixed with pleasure.

I’m an avid reader, my greatest wish is to just have more time to lose myself in stories.

I love books, bookstores, libraries etc. but for the past over twenty years I’ve read mostly ebooks, since before amazon and kindle even showed up on the scene. My first ebook was a Sony eReader that I don’t believe even exists anymore, in fact, my GP never tires of reminding me that I was the first person he ever saw with an ebook (granted I live in a small town, not especially known for it’s innovative outlook).

So it was especially pleasant to have a chance to stroll, surrounded by books, idly leafing through pages and enjoying the covers that caught my attention, because even the saying goes don’t judge a book by it’s cover that’s actually how I pick at least 70% of my books. We really shouldn’t underestimate the power of great graphics alongside, of course, great writing.

The work part, which was my excuse for being there in the first place, was that I wanted to connect with smaller, niche publishers because I would like to branch out into literary translation and I feel like it’s better to start out with smaller publisher where the personal touch is easier to find.

I discovered some interesting publishers, some super niche ones, which I didn’t think was possible, and had some fun conversations.

I also noticed a huge increase in the fantasy genre, both for the big publishers and the smaller ones, a lot of fantasy and a lot of romance. My perception was that in the past, these two genres weren’t quite as popular (but I’m going off of impressions here, not research).

Another fun thing I saw was that many children’s books by Italian authors are now getting translated (mostly into English) and published with both languages on the page. I’ve been out of touch with children’s books for a few years, as my children are now teens, but certainly when they were small, children’s books in English were hard to find in Italy, and I had never seen bilingual ones before. Talking to one of the publishers I found out that it’s a big request right now, both from parents and from teachers. This certainly makes me happy and it seems like a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to any of the talks and conferences that I would have liked to see, next year I’ll definitely give myself more time to do everything.

I did however meet up with a few colleagues that I knew virtually and had never met IRL so that was fun and exciting, and I connected with several publishers that hopefully will become future clients.

Overall a great experience, even though, to be honest big fairs and in general crowded places really drain me, but I did go home with a few new books and a smile on my face so positive all around.