About the Speakers
Conference Chair
Vivian French
Vivian’s first books for children were published in 1990, and she has since written over 250 books. She is an editorial/picture book consultant, reviewer and anthologist, and regularly works with illustration students at ECA on projects involving students and children in schools. She has been Writer in Residence at many festivals, including Edinburgh, Swansea and Cheltenham, and has travelled from Orkney to Oklahoma sharing ideas for books with children and adults.
Vivian is amongst the most borrowed authors in UK libraries – her books were borrowed well over half a million times last year.
vivianfrench.com
Opening Speaker
Jonathan Gibbs
Jonathan will open the conference. He is Head of Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and a renowned illustrator in his own right.
centralillustration.com/artists/Jonathan-Gibbs/
The Designer’s View
Ali Furby
Ali Furby is Deputy Art Director at Orchard Books. She has over ten year’s experience in the publishing industry, armed with the understanding of licensing, fiction, non-fiction, novelty and picture books. She creatively manages one of the biggest brands in publishing, Rainbow Magic, and is the lead creative on Secret Kingdom, a new and exciting series for girls, publishing this year. Ali’s team at Orchard Books produced this helpful little video, full of good advice for budding illustrators. Ali manages to produce an extensive range of children’s books, including picture books, fiction, non-fiction and brand extension, with titles reaching forty or more a year.
orchardbooks.co.uk
The Editorial View
Louise Power
Louise Power is a freelance art consultant primarily working with Walker Books, one of the world’s leading international children’s book publishers. Louise gives talks at art colleges and illustration events and conferences around the UK. Her talks are mainly about how to illustrate and write picture books, character development and what publishers look for in portfolios. She has had many years’ experience developing new illustrators’ ideas, giving advice and introducing illustrators to publishers. Louise is also art consultant for Children’s Book Illustration, an organization selling original children’s book illustrations both on line and through special exhibitions.
walker.co.uk
The Illustrator’s View
Ross Collins
Ross Collins has won the Scottish Children’s Book Award – twice, the Macmillan Children’s Book Prize and been shortlisted for the Greenaway. This year he will have illustrated 100 books and written 10. He also works in animation character development and other graphic projects. Ross regularly scares the willies out of children at book festivals and school visits!
“There isn’t an illustrator in Britain who uses a more intelligent visual storytelling language” TES.
rosscollins.net
The Agents & Booksellers
Lindsey Fraser, Lucy Juckes, Julie Gamble and Rosamund de la Hey
Agents Lucy and Lindsey will discuss the market for picture books, Julie Gamble from Blackwell’s and Rosamund de la Hey from The Mainstreet Trading Company.
Lindsey Fraser
Lindsey co-founded the literary agency, Fraser Ross Associates, in 2002. Previously, she and her co-founder, Kathryn Ross ran Scottish Book Trust for over 10 years. Lindsey has been on the judging panel for a number of children’s book prizes and has addressed conferences on literature throughout the UK, and abroad. She is a reviewer of children’s books, she has edited short story anthologies and written author biographies for children and teenagers.
fraserross.co.uk
Lucy Juckes
Lucy is a literary agent for children’s writers and illustrators at Jenny Brown Associates. She has worked in the publishing industry for over 25 years and is Chair of Scottish Book Trust. She is Treasurer of the Association of Scottish Literary Agents and has links with other literary agents. Her client list includes illustrators whose talent and career she has nurtured and developed.
jennybrownassociates.com
Julie Gamble
Julie runs the children’s section of Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh. She has loved illustrated books for as long as she can remember and has been a bookseller for 10 years. Her all time favourites include Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day and John Burningham’s Borka. Julie will also be bringing a selection of books to the conference to give delegates the opportunity to browse and buy.
blackwells.co.uk
Rosamund de la Hey
Rosamund is from The Mainstreet Trading Company, winner of The Telegraph Best Small Shops Award 2012 (Best Bookshop). Rosamund was formerly children’s marketing director at Bloomsbury Publishing where she was closely involved with the launch of the Harry Potter phenomenon. In 2003 she relocated to Scotland and in 2008 opened her own bookshop described by Maggie Farrel as ‘ … so perfect you might have dreamt it.” Thanks to Rosamund’s extensive knowledge of the market, one of its specialities is the emphasis on children’s books.
mainstreetbooks.co.uk
