The Book Fair is underway, in its 38th edition in 2026. It will be held from Thursday 14th to Monday 18th May, on an exhibition area of 147 thousand square meters at the Lingotto. More than 500 stands, 1,250 editorial brands, over 2,700 events scheduled over the 5 days of the festival.
Book Fair, 38th edition: themes and authors
The world saved by children: a book by Elsa Morante published in 1968 is the theme chosen by the director of the festival, Annalena Benini. A complex work, which actually contains many books, which escapes classification and evokes the possibility of being multiple, great and poetic. Which is the spirit of this year’s edition of the Salon. An adventure that aims to be intense and playful, in which we learn to move and meet among words and to find in literature, art, and in the present, the joy of knowing and inhabiting the world. An edition that takes a leap and opens up hope for tomorrow.
The opening is entrusted to Zadie Smith, one of the sharpest English writers and essayists on the contemporary scene. It is the first of a long series of Italian and international guests, among which the Nobel Prize winner László Krasznahorkai (Bompiani) stands out; Boualem Sansal (Neri Pozza); Peter Cameron (Adelphi); David Grossman, in Turin for the release of the Meridiano Mondadori dedicated to him; Emmanuel Carrère (Adelphi); Nathacha Appanah (Einaudi); Leila Guerriero (Sur); Mathias Énard with Melancholy of the Borders. North (E/W); Manuel Vilas (Guanda); Irvine Welsh (Guanda); Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan (The Ship of Theseus); Niccolò Ammaniti (Einaudi).
On the occasion of the 2026 edition, the Book Fair will welcome Umbria as a guest region and Greece as a guest country, present with a stand in the Oval pavilion, where they will curate dedicated programming during the days of the event.
The nine sections
The sections parallel to the general programming return, each dedicated to a relevant and central theme for the Show. The curation and moderation are entrusted to writers, intellectuals and artists, who have created a series of meetings for each topic. This year they become 9, with the new section ‘The world saved by kids’ curated by Veronica Frosi, Lorenzo Riggio, Francesca Tassini, Sebastian Tanzi and Gloria Napolitano. The other 8 sections are Art (curated by Melania G. Mazzucco); Cinema (Francesco Piccolo); Growing up (Matteo Lancini); Publishing (Teresa Crimisi); Information (Francesco Costa); Lightness (Luciana Littizzetto); Romance (Erin Doom); Novel (Alessandro Piperno).
The protagonist – as it has been for years – is also comics, not as a genre, but as a language. From journalistic investigations to biographies, from gender issues to sport, without forgetting fiction and pure entertainment. The program dedicated to the ninth art will be spread across the entire Lingotto area, and will have as its flagship the celebration of the first 40 years of Dylan Dog, the investigator of the nightmare: the celebrations will start right at the Salone and will continue throughout 2026). And speaking of round numbers, this year we also celebrate 30 years since the first appearance on Mickey Mouse of Papernovela, one of Disney’s most famous serial stories, written and illustrated by Silvia Ziche (Panini Comics).
