A Bologna Book Fair special: 6 Good Shippers were finalists in the Illustrators Exhibition!

Hi there, Helen here.

This is a special episode of the podcast because we had six of our Good Shippers - that’s people who’ve done our courses - selected as finalists in the Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition!

Which is pretty amazing news. It’s really difficult to be a finalist because the competition is so high. Last year there were 4,374 people who entered, and only 324 were selected to be finalists. So for six of them to be Good Shippers is SO exciting.

Now that the fair’s finished, I thought it would be lovely to catch up with them and hear how it all went. In this episode, you’ll hear from Emma Simpson, Lisa Loffredo, Amber Au, Sam Jones and Kate Leiper.

A special mention to Charlotte Durrance, who was also a finalist but couldn’t make it to the recording. 

Congratulations to all of you!

V Rough timestamps in case you like that sort of thing:

[00:00] Helen introduces the six Good Shippers who made it to Bologna 🎉
[00:02] Emma Simpson
[00:11] Lisa Loffredo
[00:18] Amber Au
[00:25] Sam Jones
[00:37] Kate Leiper 

Other links mentioned

Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag course

The Picture Book course

DPictus Showcase

Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition info on how to take part 
– Entries usually open in July and close in November

Tiffany Leeson
– Creative Director at Farshore Books

Ken Max Wilson
– Writer, illustrator and publisher

Picture Hooks
– Helping illustrators access the world of children’s publishing (based in Edinburgh, open to all emerging illustrators)

🎉 If you’d like to apply for the Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition, the doors are usually open from July until November. 

Get your work ready and go for it!

We're cheering you on.

Taraa!
 x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Transcript

Oct 2 – Bologna

[00:00:00]
Hi there, Helen here. This is a special episode of the podcast because we had six of our Good Shippers — that’s people who’ve done courses with us — selected to be finalists in the Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition. Amazing news! It’s really difficult to be a finalist in this because competition is so high.

Last year there were 4,374 people who entered, and only 324 were selected to be finalists. So for six of them to be Good Shippers is so exciting! I thought it’d be a great idea to have a chat with them now that the book fair’s finished and see how it all went.

I’m chatting with Emma Simpson, Lisa Loffredo, Amber Au, Sam Jones, and Kate Leiper. There was another Good Shipper selected too — Charlotte Durrance — she just wasn’t available to chat when I was recording. Congratulations, all of you!

Emma Simpson

Hello, Emma. Congratulations for being a finalist for the Bologna Exhibition!
 Emma: Thank you, I’m excited!

You’ve been shortlisted and listed for all sorts of things lately. I was thinking, on your Instagram feed you’ve constantly been celebrating wins.
 Emma: Yes! The Picture Hooks Showcase was really great — unexpected but fantastic.

Did they take your work to Bologna for that?
 Emma: They did, yes — that was Clara and the Birds. It was really great because it got in front of lots of other publishers’ eyes.

You got your book deal off the back of that, right?
 Emma: I think so. I had a lovely flurry of publishers contacting me afterwards, which was unusual — it’s normally the other way around, trying to reach out to people. It was a lovely phase, chatting with different publishers and finding the right fit. But it’s such a slow process — and hard not being able to say yes to everything!

It’s a nice problem to have.
 Emma: Yes, it is — though it can be overwhelming. That’s actually why I wanted to get an agent — to help organise and schedule projects. It wasn’t so much about finding work, but about managing it and communicating between people.

You signed with Morton Lomax, right?
Emma: Yes, that’s right — and it’s going really well!

You’ve been to the Bologna Book Fair before?
 Emma: Yes, once, a few years ago. It was a last-minute decision — I missed all the pre-organised things but my husband encouraged me to go. I could get the train from Munich, so it was easy enough. It was super, but overwhelming. I didn’t know many people, but I managed to get a last-minute slot for a portfolio review. That was fantastic — I almost ran away waiting for it because I was panicking, but it ended up being the first time anyone had really looked at my work. It was such a breakthrough moment for me.

You’ve done two of our courses, Fly Your Freak Flag and The Picture Book Course, right?
Emma: Yes, both in 2021 — and I absolutely loved them. They gave me the courage to start sharing my work, start an Instagram account, and even enter competitions like Picture Hooks and Picture This. Before that, I hadn’t shown my work to anyone.

Your Instagram really stands out — your work always feeds my eyes.
 Emma: Oh, thank you!

You won one of our one-on-one mentoring sessions with Tiffany Leeson from Farshore Books, didn’t you?
Emma: Yes — that was brilliant.

We talked about how your work has such a lovely, clean, graphic quality — and Tiffany asked about your experience working with children with special needs.
 Emma: Yes! I used to work in a school for children with autism, and later in Munich with children with mild learning difficulties. I think that experience influences the quietness and empathy in my work — maybe that side-by-side playfulness.

Tiffany said publishers love knowing that kind of background, didn’t she?
 Emma: She did — she told me to put it on my website! I did eventually, though I need to update it again.

What are you working on now?
 Emma: I’m at the final artwork stage of the first of a two-book deal with Little Tiger Press. It’s been amazing — I’ve learned so much from the team there. The second book will follow, and I have another project in the pipeline that’s nearly signed.

Congratulations, Emma — we’re so proud of you!
 Emma: Thank you! I’m so grateful to you all at The Good Ship — your courses really changed my life.

Lisa Loffredo

Hi Helen!
 Hello Lisa! Congratulations — we were so excited to see your work exhibited in the actual Bologna Book Fair exhibition.

Lisa: Thank you! It was unbelievable. I’d been to Bologna the year before, and that experience already made me realise there’s a place for me in this industry if I keep going. I never imagined my work would be on the wall the following year!

So your work’s touring now?
 Lisa: Yes, it’s in Japan at the moment, and will go on to Korea and China next.

You did our Picture Book Course in 2022, right?
 Lisa: Yes, I loved the sense of community — being part of a creative network. At the time, I was still working full-time as a project manager in the translation industry, and illustration was my dream on the side. The course gave me structure and helped me loosen up. My work had been very tight — I felt it had to look ‘professional’ — but the course helped me find freedom.

Your Bologna project The Midnight Elephant — how did that start?
Lisa: It began with an Instagram challenge to design a book cover. An Italian writer, Loren, saw my illustration and said, “I have a story — want to try it together?” We made a storyboard, sent it out to publishers, got a mix of feedback — some great, some crushing! One very negative response knocked me back for a while. But then two weeks before Bologna announced the finalists, we found a publisher — and then I learned I’d been selected too. Incredible timing!

And your book La Fonte just came out?
Lisa: Yes, in May — it’s my second book!

That’s amazing, Lisa. Congratulations again.
 Lisa: Thank you so much!

Amber Au

Hello Amber!
 Amber: Hi Helen!

You did three of our courses — Picture Book, Fly Your Freak Flag, and Business.
Amber: Yes — I did Picture Book first, then Fly Your Freak Flag (which I probably should’ve done first!). I loved Freak Flag the most — it gave me confidence.

You made The Blue Tomato during that time, didn’t you?
Amber: Yes — I’d started it before, but finished it during the course.

You’ve been a finalist at Bologna twice now!
 Amber: Yes, last year and this year. Competitions keep me motivated — they give me deadlines!

You’ve also won several awards — World Illustration Awards shortlist, Picture This, Depictus Showcase…
Amber: Yes — it’s been a whirlwind! Bologna was overwhelming but amazing. I met publishers from all over the world and got such varied feedback. Some said the colours were too dull, others said too bright — it taught me to take feedback with perspective.

And you’ve now signed a three-book deal with Little Tiger!
Amber: Yes! The first will be The Blue Tomato, out next spring. There’ll be two more after that, plus some commercial projects with my agent — including an illustrated manual for a restaurant chain in the US.

Food seems to be a big theme in your work.
 Amber: Yes! I’m inspired by food — the colours, shapes, textures. I also had an eating disorder before, and my therapist told me to keep a food diary. I found writing boring, so I started drawing my meals — that’s how I got into illustration!

That’s so powerful. Thank you for sharing that.
 Amber: It’s shaped who I am now — I’ve embraced it as part of my story.

Congratulations, Amber — we’re all cheering for you!

Sam Jones

Hi Sam!
 Sam: Hi Helen!

You’ve done Fly Your Freak Flag and The Picture Book Course, right?
Sam: Yes — I did Freak Flag second and jumped on the Picture Book Course as soon as it opened!

You’ve had such an exciting few years — Bologna finalist, World Illustration Awards longlists, mentoring wins…
Sam: Yes, it’s wild. I was working in a wholefood shop, painting the windows for fun, and hadn’t really painted in years. Art Club got me started again.

You’ve got such a distinctive textured style — is it digital?
 Sam: It’s a mix! My Bologna piece was almost entirely digital, but I always start with sketchbook work. I use Procreate and layer in home-printed textures — sometimes even from Tetra Pak prints!

That’s genius. You were a Bologna finalist — how was that?
 Sam: Amazing — but funny story: there are lots of Sam Joneses in the world! When they published the finalist list, I wasn’t sure if it was me. I didn’t get the confirmation email for two weeks. Eventually, it was! I nearly didn’t go because of cost, but my sister convinced me — we did 48 hours in Bologna.

What was it like?
 Sam: Huge and overwhelming! But I met other Good Shippers like Charlotte Durrance and Afi Bainbridge-Newhouse, and it was wonderful. My first portfolio review was a bit mismatched — with a preschool publisher! But then I had another with Ken Max Wilson, and he was brilliant — so generous. Later, I found out I was also a finalist for the Bologna Portfolio Award — incredible.

You also won a mentorship through the AOI, right?
 Sam: Yes, with Rochelle Pungor — she’s now my agent! The mentorship gave me the push to apply to agents. I never would’ve done it otherwise.

And you’re part of a group called Pencils on Toast?
Sam: Yes! We met through The Good Ship and chat constantly on WhatsApp. It’s the best — we push each other, share contracts, editors’ names, all that practical stuff.

That’s so brilliant, Sam. You’ve come so far!
 Sam: Thank you, Helen — couldn’t have done it without The Good Ship.

Kate Leiper

Hello Kate!
 Kate: Hi Helen!

We were thrilled you made the finalist list for Bologna — and British illustrators are still quite rare in the exhibition!
 Kate: Thank you! Yes, I entered pieces from my Dragon book and made it to the longlist.

Did you go to Bologna?
 Kate: I did — my first time! It was amazing but overwhelming. I stayed for three full days and realised afterwards that was too much. Next time, I’ll build in breaks!

Good idea. What stood out to you most?
 Kate: Seeing the range of international styles — it helped me realise where my own work might fit. I also went to an inspiring talk about a book called Martin the Skeleton, about death and grandparents — and how hard it was to sell the rights internationally. It was fascinating to hear how stories change between cultures.

Such a good insight. Thanks for sharing, Kate.

If you’d like to enter your work for the 2026 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition, submissions usually open in July and close in early November — so get ready!

People mentioned:

• Tiffany Leeson – Creative Director, Farshore Books
• Ken Max Wilson – Writer, illustrator & publisher
• Picture Hooks – Supporting illustrators into children’s publishing

Special mention:
Charlotte Durrance, also a Bologna finalist and Good Shipper, who couldn’t join this chat.

Amber Au’s work was also featured in the Depictus Showcase.

Find out more or apply: Bologna Illustrators Exhibition info here.