Organizer Information
The Silent Book Contest – Gianni De Conno Award is organized by Carthusia Edizioni, a Milan-based publishing house founded in 1987 by Patrizia Zerbi, dedicated to designing and publishing educational and illustrated books for children and teenagers, with an editorial team entirely run by female staff. Over more than three decades, Carthusia has published more than 270 books and built a reputation for tackling complex, thought-provoking themes for young readers through strong editorial concepts and high-quality illustration.
The contest is organized together with the Silent Book Contest Secretary's Office, in collaboration with the Bologna Children's Book Fair, a significant children's book fair held annually in Bologna, Italy since 1963, which serves as the primary international meeting point for professionals in children's publishing, and the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino. Additional partners include the Comune di Mulazzo and l'Associazione Montereggio Paese dei Librai (a member of the International Organization of Book Towns Italia), with the patronage of IBBY Italia and the Centro per il Libro e la Lettura (Cepell), and the contribution of BPER Banca.
Title & Description
Silent Book Contest 2027 – Gianni De Conno Award
This is an international competition for new and unpublished illustrated books without words, open to any theme and not restricted to any particular age group or readership. The narration must be carried entirely through images, with narrative and stylistic coherence, and without any text that helps decode the story (with the exception of the title and any subtitle). From the projects submitted, an international jury will select 10 to 16 finalist projects, which will be exhibited at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2027 in April 2027. The winning project will then be chosen among the finalists and announced at the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino in 2027, where the finalists' exhibition will also be shown. The winning book will be published by Carthusia Edizioni by June 2027. Since 2020, the contest also includes a Junior Prize, in which a selected number of primary school classes from Italy and abroad vote among the finalists between September and November 2027; the highest-scoring finalist becomes the Silent Book Contest Junior winner by December 2027, with publication by Carthusia Edizioni planned for early 2028.
Categories
- Illustration
- Visual Arts
- Graphic
- Drawing
- Competition (note: not a taxonomy Category term, omitted from this list — see Types tag instead)
- Culture
- Art
Eligibility
- Open to authors, illustrators, and artists of any nationality, place of origin, or residence
- Applicants must be at least 18 years old by 15 January 2027
- Each author may submit between one and a maximum of three unpublished projects
- Projects must be original, unpublished, and not already published in Italy or any other country
- Illustrations must not be generated, even partially, by artificial intelligence software
- Storyboards or non-final illustrations are not accepted; the project must be a final, completed work, not a work in progress
- Photographic images, non-illustrated content, pop-up books, cartoons, comic strips (even wordless), and coloring books are not accepted
- Projects with single words or partial texts that help decode the story are not accepted
- Book projects cannot be simultaneously entered in, selected by, or won in other competitions or events
Program Benefits & Awards
- Cash prize of €2,500 for the winning project, as an advance on royalties
- Publication of the winning book project by Carthusia Edizioni of Milan by June 2027, with inclusion in the publisher's editorial catalogue
- A regular publishing contract with Carthusia Edizioni for the winning author
- Exhibition of all finalist projects at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2027 and at the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino
- Possibility for one or more non-winning finalists to be offered publication in Carthusia's "Silent Book" series (pre-emption right held by Carthusia until end of October 2028)
- Junior Prize: separate recognition voted on by primary school classes, with publication by Carthusia Edizioni in early 2028 for the Junior winner
Application Fee
Registration fee of €60 (sixty) per project submitted, payable only online via credit card, prepaid card, or PayPal. The fee is non-refundable and must be paid by 15 January 2027. Registration is confirmed only after payment is completed.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 15 January 2027
- Finalists' exhibition: Bologna Children's Book Fair 2027, April 2027
- Junior Prize voting period: September–November 2027
- Junior Prize winner announced: by December 2027
- Winning book publication: by June 2027
- Junior Prize winning book publication: early 2028
Location
Italy
Additional Details
- The international jury consists of 9 members recognized for prestige and professionalism in publishing, illustration, and literature; jury names are published on the official contest website
- The jury may select fewer than 10 or more than 16 finalists, and reserves the right not to declare a winner if no projects are considered worthy of publication
- Carthusia Edizioni may decline to publish the winning project if it is considered inappropriate; the same applies to the Junior Prize winner
- Prize division for collaborative works: if the winning project involves multiple illustrators, the prize is split equally among them; if an illustrator collaborated with a non-illustrating ideator, the prize is split 50/50 between the illustrator side and the ideator side (further divided if there are multiple people in either role)
- For student projects created as part of a course of study, the school or academy may be cited as a third party in the publishing contract; any prize-sharing arrangement between student and school is a private matter between those parties
- Finalists grant Carthusia Edizioni exclusive, free rights to exhibit their finalist project for one year from the close of registration
- Finalist authors may not sign any publishing contract or propose their work to another publisher before November 2028, due to Carthusia's pre-emption right (unless waived earlier per the terms above)
- All finalist projects, whether published by Carthusia or elsewhere, must remain in wordless book form — adding text would invalidate the competition's purpose
- Authors are solely responsible for ensuring their illustrations and project are original and unpublished worldwide, and must indemnify the organization, jury, and Carthusia Edizioni against copyright or plagiarism claims
- A PDF file may be replaced only once during the registration window