Lucca at 60: Taiwan's Island of Imagination brings five comics creators and a four-city follow-up tour

Lucca Comics & Games runs in Italy from 28 October to 1 November 2026, marking its 60th anniversary with the theme LEGACY. The Taiwan pavilion presents Taiwan Comics: Island of Imagination, with creators 藥島, 小峱峱, 李隆杰 and 狼七 travelling to Italy; Chang Sheng (常勝) attends through a separate invitation from publisher Toshokan. Their schedules are not identical. Displays, signings and talks at the festival are followed by a tour involving Chang Sheng and Nownow (小峱峱) in Rome, Bologna, Vicenza and Milan, extending reader contact beyond the five festival days.

A pavilion for translated titles and future publishing prospects

The Cultural Division of Taiwan's representative office in Italy has maintained the pavilion since 2022, making this its fifth consecutive year, and is working with Locus Publishing on this edition. At least ten reader interactions are planned, including signings and appearances coordinated with Italian publishers at their stands. These are planned sessions, not a claim that ten events have already happened. Nor does the five-creator roster mean everyone attends every session; check individual announcements when following a particular artist.

藥島's 器官拼圖 has a newly issued Italian edition, while an Italian edition of Nownow's 守娘 is scheduled for release during this festival. Those are different entry points: a newly published title in local channels, and a translation promoted alongside festival appearances. The pavilion's main visual uses imagery from 器官拼圖, contrasting a bright yellow background, large pink lettering and green linework. The accompanying official designs and book imagery are publicity materials, rather than photographs of a completed festival stand.

History, society, women and identity

The featured works also include 1661國姓來襲, 1624男人與島, 湧與浪：自由中國號 and 黎明前的回聲, alongside Chang Sheng's 閻鐵花 and BABY. The range presents Taiwanese comics through history, social experience and character-led storytelling, rather than one visual style alone. For readers unfamiliar with Taiwan's background, creator talks, sample pages and translated introductions can offer more routes into the stories than a cover image by itself.

The pavilion also displays works already translated into Italian and comics handbooks from Books from Taiwan, with English descriptions, creator information and reading samples. These materials serve both readers and publishers, giving story discovery and rights assessment different entry points. A display or negotiation does not mean a rights deal has closed. Titles without Italian editions should not all be described as already released in Italy; publication status must be checked work by work.

After five festival days, a four-city relay

The follow-up programme, Contemporary Taiwanese Comics: Women, Identity and Society, takes Chang Sheng and Nownow on a Toshokan-led tour. It focuses on female characters, identity and character creation through comic-bookshop talks, live drawing, community and campus exchanges, including discussions with students and staff at Milan's Mohole arts school. Rome, Bologna, Vicenza and Milan are later stops, not districts of the Lucca festival. The itinerary also does not imply that all five creators join the full tour.

Travellers planning an Italian visit should first separate Lucca's 28 October–1 November main dates from the publisher's later city events, then check individual sessions. Use the official Lucca festival portal to reach the 2026 site for admission, ticketing and programmes. Signing eligibility, queues and capacity depend on each organiser's notice. The interest lies in how a festival, translated editions and local bookshops connect, rather than assuming an international appearance means every title has already completed an overseas release.