XXXVIII Salone Internazionale del Libro of Turin - "The world saved by kids"

The Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino is a joint project between Associazione Torino, la Città del Libro, Fondazione Circolo dei lettori and Fondazione per la Cultura Torino.

Every year in May, the whole book industry gathers in Turin: Italian and international publishers and authors, booksellers, publishing service providers and readers from all over Italy.  The Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino was launched in 1988 and is the most important publishing event in Italy as well as being one of the largest in Europe.

This year, under the direction of Annalena Benini, it runs for five days, from 14 to 18 May 2026, dedicated to opening up new perspectives on reading and the world, to fuelling the imagination and conjuring up new words, with Italian and international authors, publishers, and readers of all ages.

The World Saved by Kids is the theme of the 38^th edition of the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino which has enjoyed the support of Intesa Sanpaolo as its Main Partner for the past twenty years.

The sections of the 2026 edition are: 

• Il mondo salvato dai ragazzini (The world saved by kids) curated by Gloria Napolitano, Veronica Frosi, Francesca Tassini, Lorenzo Riggio and Sebastian Tanzi
• Arte (Art) curated by Melania Mazzucco
• Cinema curated by Francesco Piccolo
• Crescere (Growing) curated by Matteo Lancini
• Editoria (Publishing) curated by Teresa Cremisi
• Informazione (Information) curated by Francesco Piccolo
• Leggerezza  (Lightness) curated by Luciana Littizzetto
• Romance curated by Erin Doom
• Romanzo (The Novel) curated by Alessandro Piperno

The Un libro tante scuole (One book many schools) and Portici di Carta (Paper Archways) projects fall within Intesa Sanpaolo’s partnership with the Salone del Libro. 

The project was conceived and produced in collaboration with the Polaroid Foundation, within the scope of Intesa Sanpaolo’s partnership with the Salone del Libro during last year’s edition. 

During the 2025 Salone, photographer and conceptual artist Carrie Mae Weems captured the faces of the most influential contemporary literary voices present at the Salone, taking pictures with a 50x60 Polaroid camera. 

This year, the portraits of the 20 famous writers she met will finally be exhibited, in front of the entrance to the Oval, creating a series of unique images, suspended between intimacy and monumentality, revealing a glimpse of the people behind the words.

La Biblioteca del Salone (vol.6) – Reading Nolita in Teheran

Un Libro Tante Scuole is the shared reading project promoted by the Salone del Libro di Torino thanks to the support of the Consulta delle Fondazioni di origine bancaria del Piemonte e della Liguria, with the aim of reaching many thousands of students (over 7,000 students in the final three years of secondary school across more than 19 regions throughout Italy) with a single great novel, to stimulate discussion on the understanding of oneself and our times through reading.  The book for the 6^th edition of the project is Reading Nolita in Teheran by Aznar Nafisi, with an introduction by Chiara Valerio and a note by the Salone’s editorial director, Annalena Benini.

A programme of four in-person lessons with renowned authors such as Barbara Stefanelli, Elena Stancanelli, Chiara Valerio and Annalena Benini, who will be talking to students at the various Gallerie d’Italia venues – the Intesa Sanpaolo museums in Milan, Naples, Turin and Vicenza.

The 19th edition of the world’s longest open-air bookshop is scheduled to take place in Piazza San Carlo, Turin, on 10 and 11 October.