Southern Voices Goes to Italy: A Bookish Adventure!

Southern Voices Publishing Team

March 31, 2025

Ciao from Italy!

As the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2025 kicks off, we at Southern Voices Printing Press are taking you along for the ride—not just to the bustling halls of the fair, but through the winding streets of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, where our books have been soaking up the magic of Italian culture before their big moment in Bologna.

Traveling with our books has been an adventure in itself. Excited, one of our titles featuring the POV of a fetus yet unborn, has found itself resting against ancient posts at the Piazza della Spagna and admiring the Colosseum in Rome, and in another moment enjoying the sea breeze in Genoa’s old port. It’s a beautiful reminder that stories, like travelers, carry pieces of home with them wherever they go.

The Filipino Little Prince in the graphic novel (ANG MUNTING PRINSIPE KOMIKS) took the train from Stazione Santa Maria Novella in Florence to travel to Rome. He revisited his curiosity about people needing to travel back and forth from one place to the next, but, together with OKTO-PUNAS, and Ameling in the book about Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio, NASA ARAKAN ANG PUSO, was amazed by the waters of the FONTANA DI TREVI, also in Rome.

Together, they travelled back to Florence to witness the architectural wonder that is the Catedral di Santa Maria del Fiore, more popularly known as the Opera Duomo.

Now, our books have finally made it to their grand stage! We’re proud to be part of the National Book Development Board - Philippines’ official delegation alongside PBBY and IBBY PH, showcasing 120 incredible Filipino titles that reflect the richness of our culture, history, and storytelling tradition. If you’re at the fair, come visit us at the Philippine booth (Hall 29 B24-C23) and discover the vibrant worlds our authors and illustrators have created.

Let’s Bring Filipino Stories to the World!

If you’re a rights buyer, publisher, or literary agent, we’d love to connect with you! Let’s chat about how we can bring these stories to new audiences worldwide. You can visit us at our booth, scan through our online catalog at www.southernvoicespublishing.com/books and email us at southern.voices@gmail.com.

For a sneak peek at the amazing Filipino books featured this year, download the 2025 NBDB Rights Catalog here:

https://books.gov.ph/.../03/BCBF-2025-Rights-Catalog.pdf.

Follow our journey as we continue sharing Filipino stories across Italy—next stop: Bologna! We can’t wait to meet you at the fair!