Vessela Nikolova nasce a Pleven, in Bulgaria, nel 1975. Del suo paese conserva il sapore degli oggetti di legno e cuoio fatti a mano, e i libri illustrati degli anni 60-70-80, che ha ancora nella sua biblioteca.
Nel 1986 si trasferisce a Milano con la sua famiglia di origine.
Luca Di Sciullo, classe 1987, vive in un piccolo paese vicino alla splendida città di Urbino dove forma i suoi primi interessi artistici frequentando la Scuola del Libro e il biennio di specializzazione in Animazione e Illustrazione che influenzeranno la sua poetica. Deciso che la strada da percorrere è quella dell’illustrazione, si trasferisce a Bologna dove forgia il suo stile grafico. Frequenta l’Accademia di Belle arti, prende parte al fermento artistico bolognese con mostre e progetti di autoproduzione.
Daniela Iride Murgia is a visual artist with a degree in Oriental Art and a Master in Illustration. She stood out for prizes and awards such as: Selection at Illustrarte 2012, Portugal. Mention at the V Compostela International Prize for Picture Books, Spain. A la Orilla del Viento Award 2012, FCE, Mexico. Caniem Award, National Chamber of the Mexican Editorial Industry 2013. Selection at Illustrarte 2014. Finalist at Premio Andersen, Italy 2015. Premio Rodari 2017, Italy.
Sualzo (Antonio Vincenti 1969) è autore e illustratore per le maggiori case editrici italiane. Si è laureato in antropologia culturale con una tesi sulla storica rivista di satira "il Male". Con il suo primo graphic novel L'improvvisatore (Rizzoli-Lizard) ha vinto il premio per la migliore sceneggiatura del Festi'BD di Moulins 2009 ed è stato tra i cinque finalisti del Premio Micheluzzi 2010. Insieme a Silvia Vecchini è autore di Fiato sospeso (Tunué) che ha vinto il premio Boscarato e il premio Orbil Balloon nel 2013 come miglior fumetto per bambini e ragazzi.
Anna Masini was born in 1981, on a summer day. She lives and works in Milan as an illustrator. She designs, writes and draws picture books and covers, and illustrations for press and magazines. She also collaborates as a textile designer with different Italian ateliers. She mostly works with soft pencils, gouaches, ink and hand printing techniques, such as woodcut and silkscreen, although she’s never forgotten her first love: photography.
Andrea Serio was born in Carrara in 1973. He studied illustration at IED in Turin. He creates comics and illustrations for music, magazines and advertising. In 2012 his graphic novel Nausicaa, L'altra Odissea (texts by Bepi Vigna) was published in Italy and France, which inspired an animation movie presented at Venice's Festival del Cinema. His works were exhibited at Fiera del libro di Torino, Festival internazionale Babel di Atene, TorinoComics, Festival di musica e avanguardie artistiche Lugocontemporanea. With writer Michele Montanari he keeps Nerobalena blog.
Studio Fludd is a multidisciplinary group born in Venice in 2008. They work in art direction, graphic design, styling ed exhibition design. L’albero it’s their first book - illustrated by Caterina Gabelli and Sara Maragotto, who started their professional partnership at the Academy of fine Arts in Venice. Caterina Gabelli lives in Venice. She does art projects relating drawing to animation and photography. Sara Maragotto lives in Turin, where she works since 2006 as coordinator at IED illustration program.
Gioia Marchegiani was born in Rome in 1972. After studying illustration at Istituto Europeo di Design, in Rome, she moved to Bern, Switzerland, where she lived for ten years. Today she lives in Rome, in between the sea and the city, with her family, her cat Linus and two tortoises. She likes drawing en plan air, strolling and gardening, activities that she considers as meditation practices prior to art creation. Her books were published in Italy and abroad, where she received national and international awards.
Nadia Budde was born in 1967 in Berlin, where she lives and works as an illustrator. She studied Visual Communication Studies at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. In 2008 she was Visiting Professor at the Hochschule für Kunst und Design Burg Giebichenstein, and since 2005 she has been given various teaching assignments, lectures, workshops at home and abroad. From 2013 to 2015, she did artist residencies in Kyrgyzstan, India and Italy.
Niece of Sigmund Freud, Tom Seidmann-Freud (pseudonym of Marta Freud), is one of the greatest names of German children’s literature from the 20's. After studying fine arts, she choses a male pseudonym and starts creating a unique, surreal fictional world, made of clear lines and bright colours. She publishes her first book at 22 and in 1920 she marries the writer Jankew Seidmann in Berlin. She writes and illustrates several picture books where ideal dream and phantasmagoria play a key role.