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Author, Illustrator, Artist
Latest News... I have just heard that I have been awarded the Dromkeen Medal, Highly Commended Award 2011, for Services to Children's Literature. This also belongs the many librarians I have had the pleasure to work with throughout Australia, and to Helen Chamberlin, Pam Horsey, Kevin Bergameester and Jeff Prentice. These people work tirelessly to bring literature to disadvantaged children in Australia and overseas through CLAN (Children's Literature Australia Network). I thank them now for their hard work, and for a bright future in our endeavours. The World of Tom Roberts, book two in the Ben and Gracie’s Art Adventure series, will be available through Lothian/Hachette in Feburary, 2012. A great Australian artist and an absolute joy interpreting his paintings for my picturebook ! A Day to Remember is my new book with Jackie French (Harper Collins). It is finally at the printers, and we should be getting proofs any day now. Jackie is one of my favourite authors, and it was an absolute pleasure working with her on the book. It is all a big secret for the moment...you'll find out soon! The Yea MARC Literature Festivals each year have been a huge success. Libby Ahern and I set them up after to 2009 bushfires, and now they are an annual event! Many thanks to Libby, Ross (at Flowerdale), the author/illustrators Corinne, Claire, Marjory, Diana and all the teachers and volunteers for their hospitality and a great festival. The Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature in September was fantastic! I have never had so much fun and also met up with so many old friends. All my sessions were booked out, so I want to thank all my fans for the great turnout! Also a huge thanks to Jenny, Shirley and all the other volunteers for a brilliantly run festival. I saw my first baby Green Tree Snake thanks to Shirley, and also my first sighting of a baby Figbird. Voices on the Coast, Youth Literature Festival in Qld. was also brilliant! Thanks to all those who came along, and especially the organisers. Great job! The Workshops at Fremantle Children's Literature Centre this year were also great fun! I want to thank everyone for the great turnout to my workshops, and also the exhibition of illustrations for My Mother's Eyes and Stranded. You will see Journey of the Sea Turtle exhibited there this term. I want to thank Leslie Reece and all the staff there. They work so hard bringing the joy of picture books to thousands of children every year, but quietly stay in the background while we, the presenters, take all the glory! We would be nothing without them. Angel of Kokoda has been awarded a CBCA Honor Book 2011 in the picture book section, and is also shortlisted in the 3rd C. J. Picture Books Awards International. Let's see what happens next.The exhibition at The Dromkeen Centre for Picture Book Art in Victoria was a huge success, so thanks to all involved for a great show. Journey of the Sea Turtle won the 2010 Whitley Award for Children’s Literature . My third Whitley Award, and no, my mum is not on the selection panel! My Mother’s Eyes - The Story of a Boy Soldier became an honor book in both the 2010 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Awards, and the 2010 CBCA Eve Pownall Awards. Woooohhh! Things are really rockin'...
In The Beginning... I was born in Brunswick, Victoria, just up the road from the Carlton Football ground. I loved drawing from a very early age. My brother Leigh and I spent most evenings drawing on huge sheets of paper on the kitchen table. I also loved comics, especially The Phantom and a long forgotten western hero called Kid Colt. The drawings in both were brilliant! I would copy them over and over, which is really how I learnt to draw. I had my first part-time job when I was 14, delivering bread and milk (I was allowed to take home as much bread as I could carry on my bike, and free bread and milk helped mum out a lot). After that, I worked as a petrol jockey on weekends (my brother and his mates would pull into the servo trying to get free petrol for his old FJ Holden!). But as fate would have it, my older brother Leigh was a good drummer and taught me how to play (just to stop me using mums pots and pans as a drumkit-very noisy). After school each day, I'd play along with songs by Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, The Beatles and the great Bob Dylan. I went on to spend most of my teenage years pretending to be a drummer in various rock bands, trying my hardest to sing like John Lennon. I started studying art in year ten and went on to study mural design and painting at C.I.T. (now Monash, Caulfield Campus). I skipped classes two days a week to work as a cleaner to pay my way (somehow I still managed to pass though). I remember a few of us in the painting group were invited to lunch by the late great Fred Williams (at his house/studio). It was just amazing to see the paintings and prints he was working on, to see how he worked and to have a chat. He was a really nice guy and a great influence on me as a young painter.
Off to Work ... After art school, I did National Service for two years, serving with Survey Corps and then Training Command (a slouch hat on my strange looking head wasn't a good look!). After the army, I did a Diploma of Education, but by now, the band was doing some good gigs, so my choice was to work for a living, or live the rock'n'roll dream. Not a hard choice. What a life! For one gig, we were flown to King Island and you could see the giant waves in Bass Straight not far below us. The pilot let our crazy guitarist take the controls for a while-what a buzz! In the mid seventies, I thought I should get a 'real' job, and landed a position as designer and illustrator for The Education Magazine and Pursuit Magazine ( still playing drums though, in the bands Centerfold and Piranha. You can never get drumming out of your blood once it's in there!). I also started writing songs for the band and still write today. In 1981 started freelance illustration for various other publishers including Penguin, Rigby, Brooks Waterloo and Reed Publishing in Australia, and Shortland in North America. My friend Ann James gave me my first picturebook to illustrate at the time, called Drenched. A great little story about a little boy caught in the rain after school. From that moment on I was hooked on picturebooks! At about the same time, I became involved with various wildlife conservation groups like the Australian Conservation Foundation and The Wildlife Protection Council of Victoria. I did a lot of illustration work for these groups and others, which led me into writing my own stories concerning conservation and protecting native species. It has now become a lifelong long passion. Prayer for the Animals (Lothian) was the first book, and I worked for the first time with the brilliant editor Helen Chamberlin, who has been my editor ever since. In 1982 I held my first solo exhibition of paintings and drawings,at the Artists Proof Gallery in Richmond. I love painting and still paint and exhibit every couple of years (see the painting link at the top of this page). I still get the same buzz as I did as a little kid at school, opening the paint pot and just getting stuck into it! My absolute passion though, is writing and illustrating children’s books. This also takes me all over Australia doing presentations and workshops in schools and at literature festivals (this fits in nicely with my eternal quest to find the best coffee shop in Australia!).
What A Year... 2010 has been a great year in many ways, including four awards for my picture books. Journey of the Sea Turtle won the 2010 Whitley Award for Children's Literature, My Mother's Eyes-The Story of a Boy Soldier won both the CBCA Book of the Year Awards (Notable Picture Book) and the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Notable Book, Eva Pownall Award. To top it off, Angel of Kokoda is in the short list for an international award, but I don't want to jinx it just yet. It's nice to get a pat on the back sometimes though, isn't it! My Mother's Eyes-The Story of a Boy Soldier has now sold over 9,000 copies, and Hachette are doing a second print run, which is great news! I have also been crowned Grand Dragon of Dromkeen for a year. A great tradition started by Graeme Base and the people at the Dromkeen Centre for Picture Book Art in Victoria. It's a great honour, and I shall serve my subjects well (they have no idea how much drawing they will be doing in the coming months!). I have also been doing some work for a charitable group called CLAN (Children's Literature Australia Network). Our aim is to publish books and to get them to disadvantaged children/schools when and wherever we can. It's a huge project and we are just getting started, but there are some wonderful people I'm working with, so wish us luck! I have also been working on two big picture book projects this year(see New and Recent Picturebooks below). The first one, The Little Wooden Horse, Children of the First Fleet, is a Windy Hollow Book. Part One is now finished and will be out in November. It was a big project (over 6,000 words) and needed a lot of research, eventually being cut into two books. The paintings were a huge challenge, and I still have to start work on part two. The second major project for the year is almost finished as well. It's called Gracie and Ben's Art Adventure, and tells the tale of one magical night in an art gallery! It's a Hachette Australia Book and will be out early in the new year. My current band, Chucka-Tanti is taking a break for a while, and my blues band The Dodgy Chairs (featuring guitarist Ken Spencer) will be recording over Christmas. You can click on www.myspace.com/chuckatanti for a sample (though my link to it is a bit dodgy). Also see the new Australian feature length movie Now and Then, for a brief peek at illustrations from my picture book with Tim O'Brien, The Penguin Shore.
Take a Moment... I know it's a busy life we all lead, but if possible, try to put some time aside to do a little for the environment. This in turn helps our wild creatures. Remember, the smallest things are the most important and together, we can change things. I want to thank all the schools and festivals that have kindly invited me along to do workshops and presentations this year. In particular, Victoria Vaughan and the teachers and students of Mount Eliza North Primary School, for their wonderful enthusiasm and support over the last few years. Good luck to all the budding writers and illustrators out there, and especially to all the people who read our books. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to write, illustrate and enjoy children's books.
New and Recent Picture Books Inside the World of Tom Roberts, book two in the Ben and Gracie's Art Adventure series, will be out in Feb, 2012 (Hachette Australia).
A Day to Remember, my new picturebook with author Jackie French, will be out in March, 2012 (Harper Collins).
Recent Picturebooks written and Illustrated by Mark
Other Picture Books Carpet of Dreams, author, Tessa Duder, Harper Collins 2007Fortuyn's Ghost, author, Mark Greenwood, Cygnet Books 2006 Young Murphy, A Boy’s Adventure, author: Gary Crew, Lothian/Hachette 2005
Rodeo Darcy, author, Alison Gregory, Cygnet Books 2005
I Saw Nothing – The Extinction of the Thylacine, author; Gary Crew Lothian 2003
I Said Nothing – The Extinction of the Paradise Parrot, author; Gary Crew, Lothian 2004
I Did Nothing – The Extinction of the Gastric Brooding Frog, auth., Gary Crew, Lothian 2005
Castaways of the Charles Eaton, author; Gary Crew, Lothian 2002
Yellow-eye, author; David Spillman, ERA Publications 2001
Valley of Bones, author; Gary Crew, Lothian 2000
Rupert Goes to School, author; John Parker, Shorthand, Denver, USA 1999
The Penguin Shore, author; Tim O’Brian, The Five Mile Press 1995
“Hello, Barney!”, author; Mary K. Pershall, Penguin Books 1988
Books with Colin Thiele
The Fiery Salamander, author, Colin Thiele, Lothian 2007 Mr. Dumby's Duck, author, Colin Thiele, Lothian 2006 See Children's Books link at the top of this page for more images from these and other titles, also publishing details.
Picture Book Workshops
The past twelve months have been a lot of fun doing workshops at very different places, from Ipswich Children's Lit. Festival, the CYA Conference and the The Somerset Lit. Festival in Queensland, to the Dromkeen Centre for Picture Book Art in Victoria. The Author in Residence at Mount Eliza North Primary School kept me busy, especially the mentorship program. There will also be workshops at Fremantle Children's Literature Centre in W.A., and I recently did workshops at Cube at Frankston Arts Centre, the Mornington Peninsula Writers' Festival and the Hastings Literary Festival, not to mention all the great schools I visited! A very busy, rewarding and enjoyable year, which seems to have flown by! In the 50-60 min. workshops we discuss my picture books and how different writers and illustrators approach their own picture books. There are creative writing and drawing exercises, then we work together exploring line, shape and texture to create illustrations. The students work along with me as we discuss and draw characters from my books, including endangered Species and their habitat. The focus is to encourage students to have confidence in developing their own style. Secondary school workshops feature the award winning picture book, Angel of Kokoda, and includes motivation, research techniques, including the use of maps, photos, journals, documents, the internet and copyright issues (but they still have to draw with me!)
Workshop Feeedback from Schools Marks workshops are most enjoyable, addressing environmental issues in a fascinating manner as well as encouraging the students to look more deeply at their local surroundings. Anne van den Blink, teacher, Parktone Primary School, Victoria The session with Mark was fantastic. His approach to the students and his presentation were excellent. He tapped into their interests to really engage them. Tony Patterson, teacher, Newman College, W.A. The children were really engaged with Marks wonderful picture book workshops. We can’t wait to see him again next term. Victoria Vaughan, teacher, Mount Eliza North Primary School, Victoria It was interesting, funny, cool and Mark is a talented and exciting author/illustrator. Great stories. Year 6/7 students, Booragoon Primary School Mark was a fascinating speaker who really kept the kids engaged. A very successful presentation and enriching day. Keep up the good work! Parents group, Newman College, W.A. Students, teachers and parents left Mark’s sessions with a thorough understanding of and respect for the processes involved in the making of a picture book. To complete the sessions, Mark’s step by step instructions resulted in all students creating some amazing work. Jenny Doust, Education Officer, Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre Phone Simon at 'Booked Out' on (03) 9824 0177 for workshop bookings.
10 Most Asked Questions by Students: 1. Who is your favourite author? Tim Pegler, close second is Leo Tolstoy. 2. What is your favourite picture book? Fiona The Pig, by Leigh Hobbs. 3. How much money do you earn? Not enough. 4. What is your favourite band? The Small Faces, The Beatles, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones and Greenday (plus many, many more, including John Lee Hooker and Bob Dylan). 5. What is your favourite song? Tin Soldier, by the Small Faces. 6. Do you have a pet? We have two dogs. Kouta, a Sydney Silky Terrier and Toby (I'm not sure what he is) and my sons dog Melvin is also staying with us at the moment, and they all actually get along okay. We have a pond with seven fish and the odd frog drops by now and then, and trees full of Rainbow Lorikeets, Eastern Rosellas and Honey-eaters! 7. What are your hobbies? My Hobbies are playing drums, singing in my band and writing songs. I love Ausi rules football and follow the mighty Saints. I also love walking on the beach and finding old pieces of driftwood and things. 8. How did you become an Illustrator? Very good luck! I had a folio of very strange surrealistic drawings and applied for an illustrator job on the student Magazines in Melbourne. Walla! I got the job. 9. What is the best thing about your job? Going for a walk on the beach or playing drums whenever I want to. 10. What's the worst thing about your job? Going for a walk on the beach or playing drums whenever I want to, which means I don't get much work done! (The List looks impressive, but that's because I've put it in big letters!)
Dromkeen Medal, Highly Commended Award, for Services to Children's Literature 2011
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Picture Book 2011 Angel of Kokoda Lothian/Hachette Australia
Environment Award for Children's Literature 2011 Stranded, Black Dog Books, Wilderness Society, Picture Book Section, Shortlist.
3rd CJ Picture Books Awards International - Shortlist 2010 Angel of Kokoda, Lothian/Hachette Australia
Whitley Award for Children’s Literature 2010 Journey of The Sea Turtle, Lothian/Hachette Australia
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Picture Book 2010 My Mother's Eyes, The Story of a Boy Soldier, Lothian/Hachette Australia
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Book, Eva Pownall Award 2010 My Mother's Eyes, The Story of a Boy Soldier, Lothian/Hachette Australia
Environment Award for Children's Literature 2008 The Last Tree, Lothia, Hachette Aust. Wilderness Society, Picture Book Section, Shortlist.
Whitley Award for Children's Literature 1008 The Last Tree, Lothian/Hachette Australia
CBCA Notable Australian Children’s Book 2006 Young Murphy-A Boy's Adventure, Author; Gary Crew, Lothian/Hachette Australia
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Shortlist 2005 Rodeo Darcy, Author; Alison Gregory, University of Western Australia Press
Whiteley Award for children’s literature, 2004 I Saw Nothing, The Extinction of the Thylacine, Author; Gary Crew. Lothian/Hachette Australia I Said Nothing, The Extinction of the Paradise Parrot, Author; Gary Crew. Lothian/Hachette Australia
Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature-Series 2004 The extinction series - I Saw Nothing, The Extinction of the Thylacine I Said Nothing, The Extinction of the Paradise Parrot, I Did Nothing, The Extinction of the Gastric Brooding Frog. Author; Gary Crew. Lothian/Hachette Australia,
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Australian Children’s Book 2004 I Saw Nothing, The Extinction of the Thylacine, author; Gary crew, Lothian/Hachette Children's Books
Wilderness Society Environment Award for children’s literature 2003 Yellow-eye, author; David Spillman, ERA Publishing
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Australian Children’s Book 2003 Yellow-eye, author; David Spillman, ERA.
CBCA Book of the Year Award: Notable Australian Children’s Book 1996 The Penguin Shore, author; Tim O’Brien, The Five Mile Press
Rotring National Art Award for Drawing 1990
Westernport Art Prize 1989 (painting)
Attellier National Art Award 1988 (painting)
Undine Award, Melbourne Town Hall Collection 1988 (painting)
Applied Chemicals Australia Art Award 1987 (painting)
This is me painting the mural on the YEA MARC Library truck last year. It was great fun, as mural commissions don't come along that often, so I really enjoy them when they do. Just have to watch those ladders!
Illustration
Published fiction
Published Educational
Sailing for Egypt Training in Egypt
Through the Mud and Rain
Over the Top Limited edition prints from My Mother's Eyes, The Story of a Boy Soldier are available by emailing marklwilson@optusnet.com.au The prints come in a set of four A3 prints, or
can be bought individually. Each print is signed by the
artist. Prints and original illustrations from Prayer for the Animals and I Said Nothing, The Extinction of the Paradise Parrot and many of Mark's other books are available by contacting; marklwilson@optusnet.com.au
Contact... Teachers notes: My Mothers Eyes-The Story of a Boy Soldier and Angel of Kokoda are available at mymotherseyes.com.au Email: marklwilson@optusnet.com.au for teachers notes for all other titles. Book Sales: All Lothian/Hachette books including Angel of Kokoda and My Mother’s Eyes, The Story of a Boy Soldier are available through Hachette Children’s Books, or directly through Alliance Distribution on (02) 4390 1300. Books listed are also available from booksellers or contact Mark for older titles. Workshop Bookings: Email Mark at marklwilson@optusnet.com.au or phone Simon at 'Booked Out' on (03) 9824 0177. | ||||||||||||||||