Tom Benjamin. Image: Bologna Book Plus
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
An Audio Focus in the Generalist Programming at Bologna
If you’re able to think about your international publishing trade show schedule five months from now, you’ll want to know that Bologna Book Plus at Bologna Children’s Book Fair will again have a programming set called its Audio Forum—a mini-conference within the trade fair, not unlike the afternoon of audio related programming that Frankfurter Buchmesse produced in October.
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, Bologna Book Plus, led by Jacks Thomas, is the generalist (non-children’s) sequence of industry events, running parallel to Elena Pasoli‘s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 31 to April 3).
There are more growing elements of the Bologna show, too, of course, including the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids and a set of content related to Donna Chai‘s China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, which has just closed its own 11th iteration on Sunday (November 17).
The 2025 edition of Bologna Book Plus’ focal event on audio is expected to have participation from:
- Pottermore Publishing
- Penguin Random House
- Hachette/Audiolib
- Arabookverse
- Bonnier UK
As in the case of last year’s outing, the audio program is partnered with Norway’s Beat Technology in the person of Nathan Hull and is announcing a roster of speakers to include Ann Scantlebury; Lance Fitzgerald; Laure Saget; Ahmed Rewihel; and Bonnier’s Jon Watt.
In a comment on the plans, Hull is quoted, saying, “‘The industry’s and public’s fervor for audio has continued unabated, so expect a schedule stacked with leading industry names, international publishing houses, and studios to highlight, debate, and celebrate audiobooks.”
The 2025 ‘Author Ambassador’: Tom Benjamin
Another annual feature of Bologna Book Plus is an “author ambassador,” and the upcoming program will feature the British transplant to Bologna, Tom Benjamin, whose police procedurals are based in the Emilia-Romagna. Benjamin is a journalist and Scotland Yard spokesman by background, who moved to Bologna with his Italian wife.
There are six of Benjamin’s detective books featuring Daniel Leicester, and a seventh in the series is said to be in the works. In commenting on being the Bologna Book Plus author ambassador, he says, “My series is as much about unravelling the mystery of Italy as those tackled by Daniel, which is partly why I think it has struck such a chord with readers.’
And Thomas, speaking about the Bologna Book Plus program in her guest director role, says, “The speakers, the talent, the issues, and the debate [of] BolognaBookPlus go some way to explain its continuing growth in both size and influence.”
Thomas also says she expects to bring illustrator Neil Packer to Bologna again in April, and that she anticipates a bar guide from Benjamin, drawing on his familiarity with his adopted hometown of Bologna.
More from Publishing Perspectives on audio in international publishing is here, more on Bologna Children’s Book Fair is here, more on Bologna Book Plus is here, more on Bologna Licensing is here, and more on international book fairs and trade shows is here.