Margaux Romano, Bologna Children’s Book Fair-SM International Illustration Prize for her “audacity and personality”

The illustrator Margaux Romano (Lodi, Italy, 2001) has been awarded the 16th Bologna Children’s Book Fair-SM Foundation International Illustration Prize. The ruling was announced at an event held at the Illustrators’ Café at the Bologna International Children’s and Young People’s Book Fair.

The jury has decided to unanimously award the prize to Romano for showing “a distinctive, professional, bold voice with a strong personality“. His work reveals a use of contrast, both in lines and color and in the size of the elements throughout the double page.

According to experts, “it manages to merge abstract and figurative language with a great ability to organize space, balancing full and empty areas, light and shadow, even through visual disproportion“.

Furthermore, they emphasize that in their work “a philosophical background of alienation or loneliness is sensed, human feelings that a child can recognize and with which you can identify.” “At the core of their proposal is a solid design culture and a very consistent artistic base,” they conclude.

The prize, endowed with 15,000 eurosalso entails the creation of an illustrated children’s album that will be published by SM and presented at the Bologna Children’s and Youth Book Fair 2027.

Born in Lodi (Italy) in 2001, she currently lives in Bologna, where she moved to study Comics and Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts, training that has allowed her to expand her knowledge in the field of illustration.

Currently, he is studying a master’s degree in Illustration at Ars in Fabula, which he will finish soon before entering the professional field. In recent years he has developed various personal projects that have given him the opportunity to participate in initiatives such as the Mostra Illustratori of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2024) y the Beijing International Book Fair (2024 y 2025).