13-15 November 2024
Vilnius, Lithuania

CREATOR
ISLAND

Children's Literature
Industry Days

Children's
Literature
Industry
Days

13-15 November
2024

Attention all children’s authors and illustrators, agents and publishers, students and professionals! CREATOR ISLAND: Children’s Literature Industry Days return to Vilnius UNESCO City of Literature on 13-15 November 2024.

CREATOR ISLAND offers three days of lectures, training sessions and networking opportunities for those working or interested in the children’s book industry.

THIS YEAR’S FOCUS

CREATOR ISLAND’24 will focus on censorship in children's literature. We will delve into the different forms of censorship: author self-censorship, publisher restrictions, political censorship, all the circumstances that lead to these forms of constraints, and how they change with the times.

We are delighted to be organising the 2024 event with a strong partner, the Barcelona-based reading promotion organization TANTÀGORA.
Join us to meet talented authors, illustrators, publishers, children's book specialists from Catalonia, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Lithuania!

VENUES

Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library
Vilnius Literary House
Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts
Vilnius University

Programme

Wednesday,
November 13

UNIVERSITY
DAY

Public lectures by guest speakers (all events will be in English)

Venue: Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Vincas Krėvė auditorium (Universiteto Str. 5)
Time: 1 p.m.
Public lecture with children’s author Oriol Canosa (Catalonia)
A Lesser Life Dedicated to a Lesser Genre in a Lesser-Known Language

Free entry but registration required >>

Venue: Vilnius Academy of Arts, Building C1, Department of Doctoral Studies, Auditorium 102 (Malūnų str. 3)
Time: 4 p.m.
Public lecture with illustrator Olga Capdevila (Catalonia)
Illustrating Is Pole-Vaulting
Free entry but registration required >>

Thursday,
November 14

KNOW–HOW
DAY

Lectures, Q&A sessions, skill-sharing activities
(all lectures will be in English)
Venue: Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library (Trakų str. 10),
the Great Hall
Ticketed event >>

10 a.m. Mia Cassany (publisher at Mosquito Books, Catalonia)
All Ideas Can Become Books

11.15 a.m. Tomi Kontio (writer, Finland), Elina Warsta (illustrator, Finland)

Children of the Old World Crafting Stories for the Kids of Tomorrow

12.30 p.m. Grazia Gotti (Children’s literature expert, Italy)

A Bit of Truth Somewhere

Evening at Vilnius Literary House

Venue: Vilnius Literary House (Vilniaus literatų namai, 11 Šv. Jono Str.)
Free entry (event language – English)

6 p.m. Opening of exhibition Uncensored Censorship

6.30 p.m. A Hundred Ways to Say NO to Lithuanian Children's Books
Benas Bėrantas (literary agent at Book Smugglers Agency, Lithuania)

7.15 p.m. Illustrators’ Battle Undrawing (ėėė Lithuanian Association of Illustrators)

Friday,
November 15

INSPIRATION
DAY

Portfolio reviews with

Grazia Gotti (Bologna Book Fair, Italy), Mia Cassany (Mosquito Books, Catalonia), André Letria (Pato Lógico, Portugal), Alīse Nīgale (Liels un Mazs, Latvia), Lorenza Pozzi (Uovonero, Italy).

Venue: Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library (Trakų str. 10),
the Great Hall
Time: 11 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.
Free entry, registration required >>

CREATOR EVENING

(all talks will be in English)

Venue: Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library (Trakų str. 10),
the Great Hall
Ticketed event >>

4 p.m. Magali Homs (head of Tantàgora, Catalonia)
Reading Misadventures

4.40 p.m. André Letria (illustrator, publisher at Pato Lógico, Portugal)
To Tell or Not to Tell: Silence as a Space for Thought

5.10 p.m. Sip 'n' gossip

5.40 p.m. Oriol Canosa (writer, Catalonia)
Avoid Self-Censorship: Trust the Censors to Do Their Work

6.30 p.m. Lina Itagaki (illustrator, publisher at Misteris Pinkmanas, Lithuania)
The Never-Ending Dilemma Around Sensitive Content in Children's Books

7.30 p.m. Private closing party at Little Big Pub (17 Vingrių Str.)

Speakers

Oriol Canosa

Spain–Catalonia
Children's literature writer and bookseller,
co-owner of a bookshop Pebre Negre. Oriol has published more than 30 books and writes in some Catalan children's magazines. His books, written in Catalan, have been translated into a dozen languages.

Olga Capdevila

Spain–Catalonia
Illustrator, teacher, creative director.
An advocate for transversality, Olga works in many different fields, such as animation, advertising, window-dressing, press, muralism, self-publishing, etc.

André Letria

Portugal
Illustrator and publisher. In 2010, André founded an independent publishing house Pato Lógico after more than 20 years working as a freelance illustrator.

Grazia Gotti

Italy
Children's book specialist. Grazia travels the world and possesses an unerring eye for discovering the best books on the international scene. She has served on several competition juries, including those organised by the Bologna Book Fair. Co-founder of the bookshop Giannino Stoppani in Bologna, Italy.

Elina Warsta

Finland
Illustrator, graphic designer and artist. Elina has illustrated A Dog Called Cat, a book series created together with writer Tomi Kontio, with publishing rights sold to 10 languages.

Tomi Kontio

Finland
Writer and poet. Tomi has written 30 books, mainly poems and children’s literature. One of his favourite works is the book series A Dog Called Cat created together with illustrator Elina Warsta, with publishing rights sold to 10 languages.

Magali Homs i Ros

Spain–Catalonia
Head of the reading promotion organisation Tantàgora. Magali has been developing literary cultural projects for over 20 years, designing programmes for schools, families, and professional audiences.

Lina Itagaki

Lithuania
Illustrator, comics artist, head of the publishing house Misteris Pinkmanas. Lina’s illustrated graphic novel Siberian Haiku has been translated into 14 languages. Her latest book A Girl with a Gun explores complex historical themes with great sensitivity and depth.

Benas Bėrantas

Lithuania
Founder of the Book Smugglers Agency,
Benas is Lithuania’s only independent foreign rights agent, with a focus on literature for young readers. He is also the author of 9 picture books translated into 14 languages.

Mia Cassany

Spain–Catalonia
Founder and Director at Mosquito Books Barcelona. Mia studied Political Science and afterward started her career in the editorial and publishing world. 2015 she founded Mosquito Books Barcelona, a high quality picture books publishing house. Mia has written more than 30 books for different European publishing houses.

Lithuanian Association of Illustrators "ėėė"

Lithuania
Initiative by five young artists addressing the need for a supportive structure for the illustrator community in Lithuania. Its long-term goals are to unite illustrators, represent the local illustration scene, and educate the public about the profession while providing valuable resources for illustrators.

2023:

Organizers

Kotryna Zylė

Writer, Illustrator,
Founder of Creator Island

Justinas Vancevičius

Head of literature promotion program
"Vaikų žemė (Children's World)",
Founder of Creator Island

Greta Alice

Illustrator, Comics artist,
Coordinator of Creator Island

Lina Simutytė

Writer, Author of Creator Island
guests' interviews

Illustration: Kornelija Žalpytė
Design: Miglė Vasiliauskaitė
Translation: Audronė Kvietkutė

Andželika Rimkuvienė

Communications specialist,
Social media administrator of Creator Island

Rūta Lazauskaitė

Educator,
Coordinator of Creator Island

Event organised by

Centre for School Improvement
Reading promotion programme CHILDREN'S WORLD
Reading promotion organization TANTÀGORA

Financially supported by

Lithuanian Council for Culture
Vilnius Municipality
Institut Ramon Llull

CREATOR
ISLAND

Children's
Literature
Industry
Days

13-15 November
2024