Armando Montes de Santiago

He has been a member of the organizing committee of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) for 20 years. For several years, he led the International Sales department. He currently serves as General Coordinator of Exhibitors and Professionals and leads key projects for the fair, including the Comic + Graphic Novel Hall and Libros al Gusto.

Other activities involving the participant:

Inauguration
Inauguration
Opening Talk

Isol Misenta

Isol Misenta (Buenos Aires, 1972) is a specialist in storytelling through the dialogue between images and words—she both draws and writes her stories. She studied Fine Arts and earned a degree in Arts at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where she currently lives. She has published 27 books, which have been translated into seventeen languages.

As a complete author, she writes and illustrates her own books for both children and adults (though she prefers not to draw sharp distinctions between categories). She has also illustrated texts by Paul Auster, Jorge Luján, Graciela Montes, Julio Cortázar, and Federico García Lorca, among others.

Her book Petit, el monstruo (Petit, the Monster) inspired the animated series Petit, a coproduction between Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain, now spanning three seasons and recipient of multiple international awards.

Isol’s work has received wide international recognition, with numerous distinctions including awards from the Argentine Association of Children’s and Young Adult Literature (ALIJA) and the Banco del Libro de Caracas. She received the Golden Apple Award in 2003 and was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, granted by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), in 2006 and 2008. In 2013, she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), one of the most prestigious honors in world literature.

Some of her books include La Costura, El Menino, Secreto de familia, Nocturno, Tener un patito es útil, Imposible, El globo, and Secreto de familia.

In addition to her work as an author and illustrator, Isol is also a singer and has taken part in various musical projects (Entre Ríos, Isol/Zypce, SIMA), recording five albums. She performs her own songs and collaborates with other artists as well.

Other activities involving the participant:

Transmedia Environments: Stories Beyond the Book

Miguel Bustos

My name is Miguel Bustos, and I am an illustrator based in Barcelona. With over ten years of experience, I have had the opportunity to work as a freelance illustrator across a variety of fields, including books, advertising, posters, and packaging. I have an academic background in graphic design, which allows me to feel comfortable taking responsibility for the graphic aspects of a project, provided they complement the illustrations.

In addition to illustration, I have combined my professional practice with teaching for several years at EINA, Centre Universitari d’Art i Disseny, where I have led classes in illustration, drawing, screen printing, and printmaking techniques. I also conduct workshops outside the academic context, often with children, one of which (Rostres) was awarded a Junceda Award in 2024.

Other activities involving the participant:

From the page to the event

Luciano Lozano

Born in 1969. A self-taught artist, he has been working as an illustrator since 2007, after completing a Postgraduate Degree in Creative Illustration at the Eina School in Barcelona.

Selected in 2025 for The BRAW Amazing Bookshelf at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair with Santiago Saw Things Differently, originally published in the United States by Candlewick Press, and finalist for The Cook Prize, which honors outstanding books in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Also ed for The Original Art 2023 exhibition by the New York Society of Illustrators.

In 2024, he published Un niño en la playa (A Boy on the Beach), as both author and illustrator, with Akiara Books in Spain and Portugal. The book was awarded by Banco del Libro as one of the best fiction titles and recommended by the Cuatrogatos Foundation in 2025.

In the same year, 2024, he received the Fundación Cuatrogatos Award for La vaca que confundió a su pájaro con un sombrero (The Cow Who Mistook Her Bird for a Hat), published in Spain by Tres Tigres Tristes, for which he is also both author and illustrator.

In 2021, he published Tancho with Akiara Books in Spain and Portugal, as author and illustrator. The book was a finalist for the Cuatrogatos Foundation Award and nominated for the Premio Andersen in Italy for Best Book for Ages 0–6, where it was published by L’Ippocampo Ragazzi. It was also released in France by Les Éditions des Éléphants, where it won Le Prix des Incorruptibles in 2023.

In 2017, he published his first picture book as both author and illustrator, Bea baila (Bea Dances), with Tres Tigres Tristes. The book has been published not only in Spain but also in Italy, France, Russia, the USA, Turkey, Korea, Portugal, and Brazil.

In 2012, he won the Junceda Award, granted by the Catalan Association of Illustrators, for Operation Alphabet, published by Thames & Hudson in several countries, recognized as the best book published abroad.

He regularly collaborates with numerous publishing houses, including Walker Books, Abrams, Bayard, Kodansha, Tres Tigres Tristes, and Flamboyant.

He currently lives in Barcelona.

Vitor Martins

(Brazil, 1991)

Writer and translator. He is the author of the book Here the Whole Time (2017), whose rights have been sold to several countries, such as the United States, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Conspiração Filmes will soon publish an audiovisual adaptation of this book in cinema. He also wrote Um milhão de finais felizes (2018) and Se home 8 falasse (2021), finalist of the 2022 Jabuti Prize. 
He believes that diversity in young adult literature is a powerful weapon, and his main goal as a writer is to tell stories about people who have never been able to see themselves reflected in a book. His most recent book, Mais ou menos 9 horas (2024), addresses the metaphorical and literal journey of a protagonist forced to deal with grief, the past and his own feelings.

Other activities involving the participant:

Destinação Brazil

Rocío Bonilla

Invitado de Honor

Rocio Bonilla is a children’s book author and illustrator based in Barcelona. She holds a degree in Fine Arts and has worked in various fields such as photography, mural painting, education, and advertising—an area that kept her away from drawing for twelve years.

In 2011, she discovered editorial illustration by chance, and in 2014, she began writing her own stories, publishing Cara de pájaro, her first picture book as both author and illustrator. A year later, she released ¿De qué color es un beso? (What Color Is a Kiss?), the work that launched her onto the international publishing scene.

To date, she has published more than seventy illustrated books, some as a solo creator—such as La montaña de libros más alta del mundo (The Highest Mountain of Books in the World), ¡Hermanos! (Siblings!), Gracias. Historia de un vecindario (Thanks: The Story of a Neighborhood), and La pandilla de los 11 (The Gang of Eleven)—and others in collaboration with authors including Susanna Isern (El gran libro de los superpoderes / The Great Book of Superpowers), Elisenda Roca (Una gran familia / One Big Family), Eulàlia Canal (Los fantasmas no llaman a la puerta / Ghosts Don’t Knock on Doors), and Meritxell Martí (El consultorio de la señora Ánser / Mrs. Goose’s Advice Clinic).

Her picture books have received numerous national and international awards, including the Premio Crítica Serra d’Or, the Premio Libro Kirico, the Prix du Livre Vivant, and finalist distinctions in the Little Hakka Awards and the Young Readers Golden Medal (California).

She was ed in 2018 by the Fundación Cuatrogatos, and her work was featured at the Bratislava Biennial of Illustration (2019) and at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2021), where it was included among the one hundred best books for early childhood.

Minimoni is her most beloved and recognizable character. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages worldwide. Her latest literary adventure takes her into children’s fiction with the series Lucas Kent & Greta Rouge, which she also illustrates.

Other activities involving the participant:

The album in Barcelona

Sol Ruiz

She studied Fine Arts at the Alonso Cano University in Granada, where she specialized in illustration and painting, and later in pictorial restoration.

She worked for several years as an exhibition curator and heritage restorer, and she currently combines her illustration work with teaching at the visual arts academy ArtePintura.

In the field of illustration, she has carried out numerous projects in advertising and, in 2019, began her career in publishing. In 2021, she released her first picture book as both author and illustrator, Mucho, published by Narval, which has also been released in Korea and was ed by OEPLI among the best picture books of that year.

Myrian Bahntje

She was born and lives in Bahía Blanca, where she studied Visual Arts Teaching and worked as an art educator for many years. Today, she is a freelance illustrator who collaborates with various national and international publishers, creating works aimed at children and young audiences.

She is the President of the Association of Illustrators of Argentina (ADA), an organization through which she coordinates and takes part in exhibitions, fairs, and other activities related to illustration.

Other activities involving the participant:

Are generative artificial intelligences tools or competition for creative individuals?

Enrique Torralba

Enrique Torralba is an illustrator, designer, and multidisciplinary artist. As a professional illustrator, he has illustrated fifty books, some of which have been published in Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Latin America. As a designer, he has participated in several notable projects and has represented Mexico abroad on multiple occasions.

Xavi Ramiro

Invitado de Honor

Xavi Ramiro is a freelance illustrator with more than twenty-five years of experience in the fields of publishing and applied visual creation. He has illustrated numerous books and educational materials published in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

His style combines digital techniques with a strong narrative character and a fresh, versatile visual language that adapts equally well to children’s books, nonfiction publications, and works for adult audiences. He has also developed cultural projects such as the exhibition Música ilustrada (“Illustrated Music”), which brings together illustration, literature, and music. His work has been recognized with several awards, including two Junceda Prizes.

He currently combines his professional practice with teaching, serving as Director of the Master’s in Illustration at Shifta by Elisava. He is also President of the Professional Association of Illustrators of Catalonia (APIC), from where he actively promotes and defends illustration as both an artistic and professional discipline.

Elisabeth Pérez Fernández

Eli was born in Barakaldo in 1988 and lives in Orozko, at the foot of the Gorbea Natural Park. She is an illustrator and editor of Bonito Editorial, a publishing house she founded in 2013. There, she has published works by other artists such as Pablo Amargo, Kveta Pacovska, Roger Olmos, Mariana A Miseravel, among others, as well as books authored by herself. She has also illustrated for other publishers, including Media Vaca, Erein, Igela, and Veleta Roja. In addition to books, she works on cultural management and educational projects in museums, while keeping alive her workshop El Lirón Gris and her small gallery-bookshop Segunda. She manages the international area of Euskal Irudigileak and has been directing Irudika for nine years. Eli enjoys drawing and painting natural and industrial landscapes in shades of blue.

Other activities involving the participant:

Diversity of Prints

Isol Misenta

Isol Misenta (Buenos Aires, 1972) is a specialist in storytelling through the dialogue between images and words—she both draws and writes her stories. She studied Fine Arts and earned a degree in Arts at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where she currently lives. She has published 27 books, which have been translated into seventeen languages.

As a complete author, she writes and illustrates her own books for both children and adults (though she prefers not to draw sharp distinctions between categories). She has also illustrated texts by Paul Auster, Jorge Luján, Graciela Montes, Julio Cortázar, and Federico García Lorca, among others.

Her book Petit, el monstruo (Petit, the Monster) inspired the animated series Petit, a coproduction between Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain, now spanning three seasons and recipient of multiple international awards.

Isol’s work has received wide international recognition, with numerous distinctions including awards from the Argentine Association of Children’s and Young Adult Literature (ALIJA) and the Banco del Libro de Caracas. She received the Golden Apple Award in 2003 and was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, granted by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), in 2006 and 2008. In 2013, she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), one of the most prestigious honors in world literature.

Some of her books include La Costura, El Menino, Secreto de familia, Nocturno, Tener un patito es útil, Imposible, El globo, and Secreto de familia.

In addition to her work as an author and illustrator, Isol is also a singer and has taken part in various musical projects (Entre Ríos, Isol/Zypce, SIMA), recording five albums. She performs her own songs and collaborates with other artists as well.

Other activities involving the participant:

Inauguration

Rita Basulto

Rita Basulto (1973) Director of animated films, art, and photography

Winner of five Ariel Awards and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, she is one of the most recognized voices in contemporary Mexican animation. Her most recent short film, Humo (Smoke), was included in the shortlist for the 96th Academy Awards and nominated for the Annie Awards for Best Animated Short.

She graduated in Visual Arts and Audiovisual Media from the University of Guadalajara, and holds a Diploma in Audiovisual Media from CAAV.

Basulto is the director of Lluvia en los ojos (Rain in the Eyes), Eclosión (Hatching), and Humo, and co-director of El octavo día (La creación) (The Eighth Day [The Creation]) and Zimbo. She has also contributed to art direction, photography, and design in short films such as Jaulas, Aeronautas, Taller de corazones, Tío, and Little Nightmares, as well as in the feature film Desierto adentro.

She participated in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as second unit lighting designer and as part of the puppet department, and has done character design work for Mackinnon & Saunders and Warner Bros. Animation.

Rita Basulto is co-founder of OUTIK Animation and Humanimalia Studio, the latter specializing in stop-motion puppet design. Her films have been ed and awarded at numerous national and international festivals.

She is currently a member of Mexico’s National System of Art Creators (SNCA) and is developing the animated feature film project Solos, while also serving as a mentor for the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA).

Catalina Bu

Catalina Bustos Mendoza (Catalina Bu) was born in Concepción, Chile, in 1989. Her work moves between drawing, painting, and graphic storytelling, using a free, expressive, and deliberately imperfect language to explore the boundaries between intimacy and everyday life.
She is the author of Nadie como tú (Fulgencio Pimentel, Spain), En blanco (Almadía, Mexico), and Diario de un solo (Catalonia, Chile), translated into French (La Cafetière Éditions) and Portuguese (Alta Books).
Her work has been shown in cities such as Madrid, Bologna, Shanghai, Ulsan, and New York, and in institutions including the Museo Tamayo (Gran Salón México) and the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, where she presented her recent solo exhibition Tiempo en Pantalla.
As an illustrator, she has collaborated with the United Nations, Amnesty International, and the Instituto Cervantes, as well as with brands such as Netflix, Vans, Google, Moleskine, H&M, and Sony Music.
She currently lives in Madrid, where she works independently across personal, editorial, and exhibition projects.
‘In my recent work, I’m interested in portraying domestic intimacy through shifting emotional states — tiredness, curiosity, emptiness, contemplation, stress, inspiration, and boredom.
My practice extends beyond drawing into painting, ceramics, and animation, exploring how these emotions overlap and coexist without resolution. In this way, I build an emotional archive that reflects how we inhabit contemporary.

In her recent work, she is interested in portraying domestic intimacy through shifting emotional states — tiredness, curiosity, emptiness, contemplation, stress, inspiration, and boredom.
Her practice extends beyond drawing into painting, ceramics, and animation, exploring how these emotions overlap and coexist without resolution. In this way, she builds an emotional archive that reflects how we inhabit contemporary life.

Jorge Mendoza

Oink es un dúo creativo multidisciplinario creado en 2014, integrado por los ilustradores: David Nieto “Yosh” y Jorge Mendoza “Px”. Su labor se centra en los libros ilustrados, cómics y novelas gráficas, pero también en el desarrollo y ejecución de talleres para niñas y niños. También en la creación narraciones ilustradas para distintos medios, donde utilizan elementos escénicos del teatro de papel y otras técnicas.

Ca_teter

(Montevideo, 1977) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts. He has held solo exhibitions such as Notes from Venice at Galería Garance & Marion (Italy, 2025) and Always Together at Galería Mutty (Italy, 2024). He took part in the Irudika Residency Program (2024), held across Maison des Auteurs (Angoulême, France), Casa del Autor (Zapopan, Mexico), and BilbaoArte (Basque Country, Spain), as well as in the Convivencias Project at Moinho Edições (Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2018). He has been recognized with the Uruguayan Illustration Award in 2018 and 2023, and was an international guest at the First Illustration Salon of Medellín (Colombia, 2022), where he gave workshops and talks. His work has been ed for the White Ravens Catalogue of the Munich International Youth Library (2021 and 2024), the BRAW Catalogue of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2022 and 2024), and Iberoamérica Ilustra (Mexico) on six occasions between 2019 and 2025. In the academic field, he teaches in the Diploma in Illustration, Arts and Crafts program at Tragaluz – Confenalco (Colombia), and in the Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts program at the Catholic University of Uruguay.

Negrescolor

Invitado de Honor

Born in Barcelona in 1978. He studied at Escola Massana. He works as an illustrator and participates in various socially engaged projects. His work has received major recognitions, including the Junceda Award, the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition, the Golden Pinwheel (China), the White Ravens List, and the Bologna Ragazzi Award.

Other activities involving the participant:

The album in Barcelona
Artistic creation and at-risk childhoods

Mujer Gallina

Sol and Gallina are authors, illustrators, and artists. They focus on books and graphic activism. Sol has received major awards and recognitions at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Nami Concours in South Korea, the Guadalajara Book Fair, and the White Ravens at the Internationale Jugendbibliothek. Their books have been translated into more than six languages. This collaborative duo lives in Berlin, working on a collective, anti-authoritarian, and self-managed project.

Valerio Vidali

Valerio Vidali is an award-winning Italian illustrator and picture book author. His work has been published internationally and recognized with honors  such as the New York Times best Illustrated Book, The Ilustrarte Grand Prix, and awards from the American Society of Illustrators and the Bologna Children's Book Fair. He currently lives and works in Porto, Portugal.

Maru Aguzzi

She studied Graphic Design in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and specialized in publishing, a job that she has been doing for almost 30 years now. Has lived in Mexico since 2003 and works as a Cultural Promoter. Is the Founder and Director of Gran Salon Mexico, a contemporary illustration fair that takes place annually in Mexico City since 2014 and, in parallel throughout the year, she runs Gran Salon Agency, where she focuses on working with illustrators in different types of projects.

Other activities involving the participant:

Illustrated Books

Miguel Bustos

My name is Miguel Bustos, and I am an illustrator based in Barcelona. With over ten years of experience, I have had the opportunity to work as a freelance illustrator across a variety of fields, including books, advertising, posters, and packaging. I have an academic background in graphic design, which allows me to feel comfortable taking responsibility for the graphic aspects of a project, provided they complement the illustrations.

In addition to illustration, I have combined my professional practice with teaching for several years at EINA, Centre Universitari d’Art i Disseny, where I have led classes in illustration, drawing, screen printing, and printmaking techniques. I also conduct workshops outside the academic context, often with children, one of which (Rostres) was awarded a Junceda Award in 2024.

Other activities involving the participant:

Inauguration

Albert Soriguera

Albert Soriguera is a designer and co-founder of Bakoom Studio, where he develops identities and visual systems for cultural institutions and brands. He is also co-founder of the Latent Festival, a platform dedicated to emerging talent in design and creativity, and combines his professional practice with teaching at ESDi, where he explores visual processes, critical thinking, and new models of communication. His work has been recognized with ADG Laus and European Design Awards.

Xavier Lienas

Xavier Lienas (Terrassa, 1984) is a graphic designer and creative director with more than fifteen years of experience. Throughout his career, he has worked on creating visual narratives for brands, institutions, and cultural projects.

In 2014, he co-founded BAKOOM Studio, where he develops identities, campaigns, and communication projects for clients such as Gran Teatre del Liceu, Ajuntament de Barcelona, and Institut Ramon Llull, among others. His work has been recognized with ADG Laus Gold Awards and European Design Awards, consolidating a career that combines concept, emotion, and visual strategy. He is also co-founder of the Latent Festival, an event dedicated to emerging talent in design and creativity, and combines his professional practice with teaching at the ESDi Higher School of Design, where he lectures on design and creative project direction.

Dania Guzmán

With nearly 20 years of professional experience, I am a graphic designer specializing in creating visual identities for cultural events. My career has developed mainly at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, where I have designed the visual identity for several guest of honor countries and coordinated the graphic design for the FIL Niños project.

Armando Fonseca

(Mexico City, 1989)

He studied Philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Since 2014, he has worked as an illustrator for magazines and books and has led drawing and illustration workshops.

His work has been recognized by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the Banco del Libro in Venezuela, the White Ravens Catalogue, the Bratislava Biennial of Illustration, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. His images have been featured in illustration exhibitions in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Korea, and Japan.