Anna Castagnoli

She was born in Versailles (France) to Italian parents. She graduated in Aesthetical Philosophy, with a dissertation on the perception of images. She is passionate about literature, history of art and child psychoanalysis, and when she was 30 years old she found a universe that encompassed all her interests: the illustrated book. In 2004, after attending summer courses in Sàrmede, she embarked on a brilliant career as an illustrator, writer and critic of children’s books. Today her books are published in many different countries. In Italy, they are published by Bohem Press, Logos and Topipittori; her stories have been illustrated by great contemporary illustrators such as Susanne Janssen, Gabriel Pacheco, Isabelle Arsenault and Carll Cneut. Since 2008 she has been curating a blog on studies and research about illustration, lefiguredeilibri.com, which soon became a point of reference for professionals in the field and many young illustrators. As a literary critic, she collaborates with institutions, associations and international periodicals. In 2014 she was one of the judges at the prestigious Illustrators’ Exhibition at the Bologna Book Fair, and in 2017 she published a complete guide to the illustrator’s profession, “Il manuale dell’illustratore” (Editrice Bibliografica). She currently lives in Barcelona.