Dear Friends,
We will announce the shortlist for the 2026 Prix de l’Édition Jeunesse Africaine on 15th April onstage at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair—grazie mille! to Director Elena Pasoli and our friends at BCBF! We will make the announcement in the session titled "African KidLit: From Scarcity to Innovation," at 10:30am.
Led by our mentor Agnès Debiage, the session will explore how African publishers are building sustainable literary ecosystems while leveraging international platforms such as BCBF to grow rights opportunities, partnerships, and readers.
We launched the prize in 2025. The prize's inaugural awards at Nairobi International Book Fair marked a milestone in recognising authorial and editorial excellence, building bridges between Francophone and Anglophone publishing in Africa. The prize elevates visibility of African stories, supports publishers to reach new markets, and nurtures a culture of reading for enjoyment everywhere.
The 2026 edition reflects the prize's growing reach and influence, with 25 publishers from 12 French-speaking African countries submitting titles across four categories: Premières lectures, Histoires/Romans jeunesse, Romans ados, and BD Comics. We convened a pan-African jury of 20 professionals from 13 countries, including authors, illustrators, booksellers, and teachers, to evaluate submissions, ensuring a rigorous and high-calibre selection for the shortlist announcement in Bologna.
We will announce the final winners of the 2026 Prize on 7th May in Nairobi at the Africa Forward Fest with Alliance Française—bringing this celebration back to the continent and the communities at the heart of these stories. We welcome all friends of the book—readers, writers, illustrators, publishers, teachers, and more to join us at BCBF Bologna, at Africa Forward Fest in Nairobi, or online.
Warmest regards,
Will