Working in collaboration with Steven Guarnaccia of the Parsons School of Design in New York, and Hamelin Cultural Association of Bologna, Italy, the NYRF cited a total of 23 books, all published between January 1 and December 31, 2018, from an array of nearly 600 books submitted from around the globe. The 23 winners and honorable mentions represent publishers from eight countries: the United States, Norway, Sweden, France, Lithuania, Argentina, Portugal and Australia.
“The breadth of visual excellence among this year’s submissions was very impressive,” said Mr. Guarnaccia, who is associate professor in the Illustration program at the Parsons School of Design. “Given the range of titles from some of the world’s best known, as well as upstart, book publishers, the selection of the winners and honorable mentions was a thoroughly gratifying challenge.”
“Excellence in book design is subjective, yes, and brings forth passions as strong as any espresso,” said Ilaria Tontardini of the Hamelin Cultural Association. “Among those who care as passionately for design as I and the other jurors do, the selection process was difficult, steeped in intellectual engagement and utterly rewarding.”
The books will be displayed in a special gallery section of the Jacob Javits Center in New York City during BookExpo, which runs adjacent to and concurrently with the New York Rights Fair, May 29 – 31, 2019. The 33 authors, illustrators and photographers who plan to be in attendance will participate in design-focused programming during the fairs, among them the TALKING PICTURES: The Visual Book Now panel scheduled for Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 3:30 – 4:15 p.m. A reception for the TALKING PICTURES winners and honorable mentions, open to all fair-goers and exhibitors, is scheduled for May 30, 2019 from 4:15 – 5 p.m.
Juries tag-teamed their selection process over the weekend of February 8 – 9, 2019 at the offices of Publishers Weekly, one of the producers of the NYRF. Among the esteemed jurors present were Mr. Guarnaccia; Ms. Tontardini and Giordana Piccinini of the Hamelin Cultural Association; Caldecott-winning author Sophie Blackall; Mark Newgarden, well-known comic artist and comics teacher at the Parsons School of Design; Joel Smith, photography curator at the Morgan Library; and Alexandra Leaf, culinary historian, educator and cookbook author. Jurors from Publishers Weekly included Mark Rotello, senior editor, cookbooks specialist and cohost of the podcast PW Insider; children’s reviews editor Matia Burnett; Calvin Reid, senior news editor, editor of ‘The Fanatic’ comics and graphic novels newsletter and cohost of the weekly podcast More to Come: PW Comics Week.
“We were delighted to receive nearly six hundred books, from all corners of the world, and look forward to showcasing this program during the New York Rights Fair,” said Krista Rafanello, NYRF show manager. “TALKING PICTURES represents the essence of the fair, which is to create a meeting place for discussion about global content, to share great works and to support books traveling over borders to reach readers.”
WINNERS FOR 2018
Architecture & Graphic Design
Don’t Sleep: The Urgent Messages of Oliver Munday by Oliver Munday (Rizzoli International)
Art & Photography
Civilization by William A. Ewing and Holly Roussell (Thames & Hudson)
Children’s Picture Books
À Travers by Tom Haugomat (Éditions Thierry Magnier)
A Guerra by José Jorge Letria; illustrated by André Letria (Pato Lógico Edições)
Fabler och Andra Berättelser by Lev Tolstoj and Jockum Nordström (Rabén & Sjögren)
Comics & Graphic Novels
Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures by Yvan Alagbé (New York Review of Books)
Vies Parallèles by Olivier Schrauwen (Actes Sud)
Cookbooks
River Cafe London: Thirty Years of Recipes and the Story of a Much-Loved Restaurant by Ruth Rogers, Rose Gray, Sian Wyn Owen and Joseph Trivelli (Penguin Random House)
Waste Not by James Beard Foundation (Rizzoli International)
HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR 2018
Architecture & Graphic Design
Patrick Bouchain, l’architecture comme relation by Abdelkader Damani (Actes Sud)
Milton Glaser: Posters by Milton Glaser (Abrams)
Art & Photography
Flowers for Lisa by Abelardo Morell (Abrams)
Flora: Inside the Secret World of Plants by DK, with contributions by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (DK)
Children’s Picture Books
Panthera Tigris by Sylvain Alzial; illustrated by Hélène Rajcak (Éditions du Rouergue)
Jouer Dehors by Laurent Moreau (Hélium Éditions)
Dentro de una cebra by Micaela Chirif; illustrated by Renato Moriconi (Limonero)
Comics & Graphic Novels
KJØT by Mette Karlsvik; illustrated by Tord Torpe (Magikon Forlag)
The Goat-Getters by Eddie Campbell (Ohio State University Press)
All the Answers by Michael Kupperman (Simon & Schuster)
Cookbooks
From the Earth by Peter Gilmore; illustrations and photographs by Brett Stevens (Hardie Grant Publishing)
How the Future King of England Ate Peacock in Vilnius: The Shared Cultural, Political and Culinary History from Britain and Lithuania by Rimvydas Laužikas and Antanas Astrauskas (Lithuanian Culture Institute)
# # #
ABOUT NEW YORK RIGHTS FAIR
The New York Rights Fair, www.newyorkrightsfair.com, is a copyright trade and licensing show dedicated to publishing, selling and buying international rights and licensing of children’s and adult content. It is produced by Publishers Weekly, the international news platform of the book publishing industry, BolognaFiere S.p.A, the leading European exhibition organizer, and Combined Book Exhibit, a publishing marketing and promotion resource. The second annual NYRF takes place alongside BookExpo, May 29 – 31, 2019, at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. The fair offers educational programming, with 40+ speakers across three tracks—”The International Landscape,” “Page to Screen” and “Selected Genres: A Deep Dive”—covering rights sales negotiation and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. A special panel and open reception devoted to TALKING PICTURES: The Visual Book Now is to take place on Thursday, May 30, 2019. #NYRF19
ABOUT THE HAMELIN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION
Formed in Bologna in 1996, Hamelin, www.hamelin.net, is a cultural association which aims to promote culture and educational programming, working in particular with children and adolescents through literature, comics, illustration and cinema. Stories are at the center of all of Hamelin’s work. They are considered instruments of survival, growth and discovery of the world. The association was born out of the conviction that reading is a fundamental act that brings young people to a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. Hamelin organizes reading courses and comics workshops for schools, conferences and professional development for teachers, librarians and parents, as well as art exhibitions and educational programming. Hamelin also curates the national literature project ”Xanadu. Community of stubborn Readers” as well the journal ”Hamelin. Stories Imagies Pedagogy” and the BilBOlbul International Festival of Comics.
For more information, contact:
Christi Cassidy, Publicist, +1-917-217-4269
Krista Rafanello, Show Manager, +1-201-932-8323
