Authors & Illustrators

Natalia Bzdak is a freelance illustrator and designer. She works for various magazines, cultural institutions and companies. Her constant goal is to bring content, ideas and concepts to the point in a visually loving way. In terms of visual language, she loves to play with ambiguity. To present things, like interpersonal relationships, in a narrative…

Ramón D. Veiga was born in El Ferrol in 1970. He holds a degree in Hispanic Philology from the University of La Coruña and has been working in the field of publishing since 1996, which he combines with his collaboration with various blogs.

Iván R. was born in Nigrán in 1980. After having worked as an illustrator for publishing houses, cinema, press, television and advertising for fifteen years, he discovered a new illustrative language on textile medium, which led him to teach illustration and design at a fashion school, a task he combines with his work in his…

Petra Steckelmann is a child of the seventies and was born in Hamburg. After stopovers in various professions, she now lives in her native city as a freelance writer of books for children and young people and finds the ideas for her books on long walks along the banks of the Elbe.  

Patrick Bonato, born in Rum in Tyrol in 1983, grew up drawing in Innsbruck, then studied graphic design at the Angewandte in Vienna. In addition to numerous travels, he spent time abroad in Lucerne (studying illustration), where he has lived and worked as a graphic designer and illustrator since graduating. www.patrickbonato.com

Alexandra Helmig, born in Düsseldorf in 1975, studied creative writing at the LMU Munich and acting in Hamburg. Today she works successfully as an actress for theatre, film and television, is active as a narrator and author and has already received many awards for her work.   

Stefanie Harjes was born in Bremen in 1967 and studied illustration and painting in Hamburg and Prague. She has been working as an illustrator and book artist in her Hamburg studio “Überm Wind” for 27 stormy years. She organises workshops, seminars and lectures for children, young people and adults worldwide and has been awarded numerous…

Maike Siebold works as a product poet (copywriter) in a communications agency. She took her first professional steps in the area of children’s and youth work. She has a pronounced weakness for dessert, a penchant for points and loves Swing. Her family includes three sons, two stepchildren, a fat cat and a great husband. www.maike-siebold.de…

Ulrike Baier was born in Erlangen in 1965. Drawing and painting were her favourite pastimes even as a child. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and still paints pictures for adults and especially for children. She has published several picture books, received awards for her illustrations from the Stiftung Buchkunst, among…

Anna Maria Praßler was born in Swabia, Bavaria in 1983. She writes screenplays and prose, was nominated for the German Film Award and read at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt. She lives in Berlin with her family.

It all started (a long time ago) with a very personal re-adaptation of The Bald Cantatrice and its performance in front of a bewildered but enthusiastic family audience. Many years later, her fascination for stories – illustrated stories in particular – led Hélène to work in children’s publishing, then in a school of applied arts,…

Yukiko Noritake was born in Aichi, Japan in 1989. She is a Japanese illustrator and artist based in Sartrouville, near Paris. She graduated from the illustration department of the École de Condé Paris in 2018, she published her first book Voyage au Pays des odeurs (Actes Sud junior) which was her final year project and…

Kathrin Schrocke was born in Augsburg in 1975. She studied German and psychology and then worked for several years as a press officer in the publishing industry and as a lecturer in adult education. She has been a freelance author since 2005. Her novels for young people on realistic and socially critical themes have been…

*1972, studied animation in Potsdam-Babelsberg and has already illustrated many children’s and youth books for many different publishers. Melanie Garanin lives near Berlin with her family and a bunch of animals. There have never been hawks in her henhouse. But crazy lovers have. Her autobiographical book “Nils” recently received a lot of attention. www.melaniegaranin.com

Robert Gwisdek aka Käptn Peng *1984 in Berlin, is a German actor, musician and book author. As a musician he is known under the stage name Käptn Peng and is the singer and lyricist of the alternative hip-hop band Käptn Peng & Die Tentakel von Delphi. His novel “Der unsichtbare Apfel” (The Invisible Apple) was…

Giselle Clarkson is an illustrator from Wellington, New Zealand. She once drew a picture of some biscuits that was shared online so many times that they put her on TV. As well as illustrating children’s books, Giselle is a regular contributor to the NZ School Journal. She writes a comic about children’s books for The…

Heiko Hentschel is a film illustrator, storyteller and full-time maniac. When he’s not working as a cartoonist on animated films or consuming the worst films of all time on continuous loop, he invents hair-raising adventure stories, scary-beautiful creatures and bittersweet happy endings. He lives in Hamburg with his partner. He is probably eating right now….

Ann Cathrin Raab, born in 1979, studied Illustration in Hamburg and has worked as a freelance illustrator since 2007.. She is a member of the Hamburg illustrators’ group “Die Krickelkrackels”. Her picture book Zeckengeflüster (Hinstorff, 2008) was nominated for the Oldenbourg Children’s Book Award, received the prize of the  Biennal of Illustrations Bratislava and honored…

Gavin Bishop ONZM, Tainui, Ngāti Awa, is a leading New Zealand illustrator. He has published over 70 books internationally and been translated into 12 languages. He has written for television and theatre, as well as a libretti for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. His awards include the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement 2020, the…