Podcasts of the international pro day

On Friday 31 March 2023, at Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, a professional day entitled Publishing for young people in a time of uniformity and withdrawal: the joyful audacity of interculturality! brought together publishers from all over the world, librarians, artists and representatives of associations to discuss the following questions:

  • Why use illustrated books to foster awareness of cultural diversity among children, and how best to employ them in everyday learning environments?
  • In an increasingly global world, what are ways wherein to keep preferences, stories and illustration from succumbing to standardization?
  • What steps may be taken to drive groundbreaking collaborations between “small” creative publishing houses?

Throughout the day, musician Jak Belghit played his guitar to evoke the countries crossed by l’œil du monde. You can discover or listen again to the various presentations from the day online !

Opening

What is l’œil du Monde?

Kitty Crowther, festival godmother,
Eli Commins, Director of Lieu Unique,
Christine Morault, Publisher at éditions MeMo and Chair of l’œil du monde.
René Phalippou, deputy regional director of cultural affairs for Pays de la Loire

L’œil du monde in figures and practice!

Libraries are adopting publishing houses? A behind-the-scenes look at the project!

Lise Martin, Coordinator of l’œil du monde.
Christelle Capo-Chichi, Literary mediator.

Albums that open up to the world

What options exist for helping young readers embrace other cultures?
How does the intercultural dimension appear in the albums of l’œil du monde’s publishing houses? And what effect does it have on children here? Three exchanges between publishers from afar with librarians from here.

Eric Dusabimana, Bakame (Rwanda), and Hélène Grandhomme, head of the documentary collection, Tissé Métisse association,

Gita Wolf, Tara Books (India), and Frédérique Coquelet, head of the children’s section at Angers municipal libraries,

Lee Ho Baek, Jaimimage (South Korea), and Marion Chaigne, Head of the Heritage Department at the Bibliothèque municipale de Nantes,

Facilitator: Christelle Capo-Chichi, Instructor, trainer and literary mediator.

Katsumi Komagata, Les Trois Ourses and Smallworld

Spiritual heir to Bruno Munari, Leo Lionni and Tana Hoban, this is the story of how Katsumi Komagata first came into contact with the artistic nebula of non-profit The Three Bears, which pushes for and publishes artistic books for children. This first encounter naturally led him to join the ranks of Smallworld, an independent and multicultural publishing house collective, fostering a language that speaks to all without altering the singular character embedded in each continent represented.

Élisabeth Lortic, Librarian, Les Trois Ourses, Smallworld,

Facilitator: Cristina Correro, Professor of Spanish and Children’s Literature at the universities of Nantes, Barcelona and Glasgow.

Resisting standardization

Whether licensing, series or books, a spin-off existence is anything but fiction…
What does it take to stand out from the crowd and assert one’s originality in a globally-driven editorial world evermore conformist?

Kitty Crowther, illustrator, godmother of l’œil du monde
Deanna Belluti, Event and Exhibit Director of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Nathalie Donikian, Literary Editor of the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair.
Peggy Espinosa, Petra Ediciones (Mexico).
Arianna Squilloni, A buen paso (Spain).
Isabel Minhós Martins, Planeta Tangerina (Portugal).
Svein Størksen, Magikon (Norway).

Facilitator: Cristina Correro, Professor of Spanish and Children’s Literature at the universities of Nantes, Barcelona and Glasgow.

Coopérations nouvelles : se jouer des frontières

How to brainstorm effectively to give rise to new forms of alliances between independent publishing houses? Online or on the ground, Internet versus in-person, which strategy is most appropriate for enhancing collective visibility? Food for thought aimed at spurring new types of partnerships, both in Europe and further abroad.

Paolo Canton, Topipittori (Italy).
Tereza Horváthová, Baobab (Czech Republic).
Magdalena Kłos-Podsiadło, Wytwórnia (Poland),
Christine Morault, MeMo publishing (France),
Sam McCullen, dPICTUS platform (England).
Ilaria Tontardini, Hamelin Association (Italy),

Facilitator: Amandine Glévarec, journalist.