Rita Carelli

(Brazil, 1984) 

She is a writer and illustrator, as well as an actress and filmmaker. In 2018, she created, in collaboration with the NGO Vídeo nas Aldeias, the collection Um Dia na Aldeia (Sesi). Her books Akukusia (Sesi) and Minha Família Enauenê (FTD) received the international White Ravens seal from the Munich Library and Highly Recommended by the National Children's and Youth Book Foundation (FNLIJ). The latter was a semifinalist of the Jabuti Prize, and voted best children's book by the Association of Writers of Children's and Youth Books in 2019. In 2021 she published the illustrated book Amor, o Coelho (Caixote) and the novel, Terrapreta, (Editora 34), winner of the São Paulo Prize for Literature in the first novel category, and of the Lessa Origins Prize, of the FNLIJ.
She is the director and screenwriter of the short films Hospedeira (2014) and of the documentaries made with the indigenous people enawenê nawê The Era of Lareokotô (2018) and Yaõkwa, image and memory (2020). The latter, made in collaboration with Vincent Carelli, was the winner of the É Tudo Verdade - International Documentary Festival in the Brazilian short film category and the Canal Brasil Acquisition Award in 2021 and the Grand Prize of Brazilian Cinema in 2022. 
She is one of the idealizers of the book Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo (2019) and signs the research and organization of A vida não é útil (2020) and Futuro Ancestral (2022), the three by the indigenous thinker Ailton Krenak (Companhia das Letras). In 2022 she published the children's book Menina Mandioca (Mini Pallas), in 2023 O Caminho para a Casa de Barro (Baião) in collaboration with the indigenous artist Xadalu, and in 2024 Kuján e os meninos sabidos, with Ailton Krenak.
She is currently working on her second book, O Mundo Fora da Pedra.

Other activities involving the participant:

São Paulo Prize for Literature
Destinação Brazil

Simon de Jocas

Simon de Jocas is an experienced educator and publisher with over 35 years of experience. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in education from McGill in 1987, he taught for a decade before holding leadership positions in publishing houses such as Beauchemin, Duval, and Nelson from 1997 to 2009. In 2009, he became the head of the Education division at De Marque. In 2013, he acquired Les 400 coups, a publishing house known for its editorial boldness. His vision for Les 400 coups emphasizes discoverability, accessibility, and diversity. Active in the publishing community, he has served and continues to serve on various committees of the Quebec National Association of Book Publishers (ANEL). His international engagement includes his appointment to Executive committee and the Freedom to Publish Committee of the International Publishers’ Association and his involvement on the board of Copibec. In 2020, he cofounded Publishers Without Border (PWB), which boast over five thousand members, providing a meeting and support space for publishing professionals worldwide. In summary, Simon de Jocas is an influential and respected figure in the Francophone publishing world who is dedicated to children, reading and editorial innovation.

Dolores Prades

Dolores Prades is the director of Instituto Emília. She holds a PhD in Economic History and is a specialist in children's and young adult literature from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is co-director of the Laboratório Emília de Formação. As a curator, she coordinated the seminars Conversas ao Pé da Página (2011–2015) and Arte Palavra e Leitura (2018–2020). She has served as a jury member, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award (2016), the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Awards (2016), the Chen Bochui Children’s Literature Award (2019), and the Astra Awards (2023, 2024). Since 2018, she has been a consultant for the Bologna Book Fair focusing on Latin America. She works in editorial consultancy and specializes in topics related to reading and reader development. She is also a translator, researcher, and writer in the field of books and reading.

David Unger

David Unger was born in Guatemala City in 1950, and in 2014 he was awarded the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Literature Prize of Guatemala, for his career as a novelist and translator. He has published five novels, including Vivir en el maldito trópico (Living in the Damned Tropic), El precio de la fuga (The Price of Escape), and Ni chicha, ni limonada (Neither Chicha nor Lemonade), all published under the imprint of the prestigious Guatemalan publishing house F&G Editores. Among others, he has translated Miguel Ángel Asturias, Rigoberta Menchú, Elena Garro, Silvia Molina, Denise Phé-Funchal, and Humberto Ak’abal. In addition to José Feeds the World, for children he has published La casita (CIDCLI, 2012), Topo Pecoso (Green Seeds, 2021), and Dormir con la luz encendida (F&G Editores, 2023). Likewise, since 1994 he has worked as a representative of the Guadalajara International Book Fair.

Issa Watanabe

Trabaja como ilustradora y docente de ilustración infantil.

Como autora, sus libros han sido traducidos a 18 idiomas y algunos cuentan hasta la fecha con más de 25 ediciones. Asimismo ha sido merecedora de algunos de los premios más importantes en de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, por sus 2 últimos álbumes silentes. Kintsugi y Migrantes (ed. Libros del Zorro Rojo); como El Bologna Regazzi Awards 2024; el Gran Prix Sorcières (Francia), Libreter (España), el Gran Premio del Jurado BIBF Ananas International Illustration Exhibition (Beijing), Zlata Hruska (Eslovenia), The White Ravens (Alemania), entre otros.

Su trabajo se ha expuesto internacionalmente en diferentes Museos y galerías, como Nueva York, Berlin, Roma,Taiwán, Tokio, Washington, Madrid, Boloña, Frankfurt, Viena, entre otras.