Episode 71 - A Cast of Characters
Liz interviews Jess McGeachin
Jess McGeachin is an author and illustrator living in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia).
His debut picture book, Fly, was published in 2019 by Puffin and was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia and Queensland Literary Awards.
Jess has since published seven books locally and internationally, with more on the way. His first two non-fiction books, Deep and Kind, were published in 2022.
Jess draws quite literally from a day job at Melbourne Museum, where he’s lucky enough to help design exhibitions and occasionally get lost in the basement.
Find out more about Jess at:
Website: jessmcgeachin.com
Instagram: @jessmcgeachin
Jess's books include:
Kate interviews Phil Lesnie & Jordan Collins
Phil Lesnie is a Sydney-based illustrator of children's books. They are also a children's bookseller. It remains unclear if this is a conflict of interests. They often work in watercolour, and sometimes on an iPad; occasionally, without thinking, they will tap two fingers on a wet painting to undo it. Their picture book Feathers was short-listed for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, and their first three books were CBCA Notable Books in 2015, 2016 and 2018. But their first cat, Cassidy, is notable all of the time.
Find out more about Phil at:
Instagram: @phillesnie
Facebook: @monsterfriendshipsociety
Jordan Collins was born in Chicago in the United States, moved to Australia when they were eight, and currently lives in Sydney. Growing up, Jordan wanted to be many things: doctor, vet, artist, marine biologist - but stuck with 'author' because of their love of reading. Jordan is African-American-Greek-Australian, which means they have dark skin and curly hair. Where? began as a slam poem that Jordan wrote after a lifetime of being asked questions like, 'where are you from?' They first performed the poem at the Poet's Picnic when they were fourteen. Where? has now been transformed into Jordan's debut picture book.
Jordan's debut picture book is:
Phil's books include:
Nat interviews Tristan Bancks
Tristan Bancks tells stories for the page and screen. His books for kids and teens include Two Wolves, The Fall, Detention, the Tom Weekly series, and Nit Boy. Ginger Meggs, Tristan’s 100th anniversary book of short stories, is based on characters created by his great-great uncle, Jimmy Bancks, in 1921. His books have won and been shortlisted for many awards, including a Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, ABIA, YABBA, KOALA, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Queensland Literary Awards. His new release for July 2022 is Cop & Robber, a nailbiting crime story for age 10+.
Tristan is a writer-ambassador for literacy non-profit Room to Read. He is currently working with producers to develop a number of his books for the screen. He’s excited by the future of storytelling and inspiring others to create. You can find out more about Tristan’s books, play games, watch videos, join his Young Writer’s StorySchool and help him try to change the world here at tristanbancks.com
Find out more about Tristan at:
Website: tristanbancks.com
Instagram: @tristanbancksbooks
Twitter: @tristanbancks
Facebook: @tristanbancks
Tristan's books include:
Whatcha Readin?
Kate recommends...
All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr, published by Penguin Random House
penguin.com.au/books/all-four-quarters-of-the-moon-9781760899554
The Detective's Guide to New York City by Nicki Greenberg, published by Affirm Press
affirmpress.com.au/publishing/the-detectives-guide-to-new-york-city
Liz recommends...
Bush Magic written and illustrated by Kylie Howarth and published by Walker Books.
walkerbooks.com.au/book/9781760650827/
Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post written and illustrated by Bob Graham and published by Walker Books
walkerbooks.com.au/book/9781529503319/
Miss Understood written by Kathryn Apel, illustrated by Beau Wylie and published by Scholastic.
Nat recommends...
Solomon Macaroni and the Cousin Catastrophe by Ashleigh Barton, published by UQP
uqp.com.au/books/solomon-macaroni-and-the-cousin-catastrophe
Floof by Heidi McKinnon, published by Allen & Unwin
allenandunwin.com/Floof-Heidi-McKinnon-9781761180088
The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle, published by Allen & Unwin
allenandunwin.com//The-Greatest-Thing-Sarah-Winifred-Searle
On Our Radar
On Liz's radar is ... her new picture book in the works!
Liz has her next picture book due out in 2023 with the amazing team at Hardie Grant Children's Publishing and their Bright Light imprint!
If you share her passion for 'books about books', stay tuned for more details as the publication date draws near! Find Liz on Instagram @liz_ledden
Shout-out
This episode, Kate gives a shout-out to the Writers Unleashed festival, which is being held on Saturday 3rd of September in Sydney at Tradies Gymea. Kate will be presenting on Writing Non-Fiction for Kids and Creating Characters that Resonate.
Tickets are on sale now at writersunleashed.com.au/tickets
Competition Details
Thanks to Penguin Random House, we’re giving away an awesome prize pack including Cop and Robber by our guest Tristan Bancks, What We All Saw by Mike Lucas, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities by Deb Abela and We Run Tomorrow by Nat Amoore and Mike Barry.
Head to our WIN page and simply tell us who you would cast to play your favourite book character in a movie.
Enter your answer (or ask a parent to) by 5pm Tuesday 16th Aug 2021 to be in the running.
Thanks
To illustrators Ramona Davey and Marianne Khoo for all our wonderful One More Page images.
And to our sound editor Adam Orlowski for his wonderful audio genius - check out his other work at www.aosd.tk
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