Monika Filipina - Illustrator

When Monika Filipina Trzpil was a little girl, she wanted to be a cowboy, an archaeologist or an astronaut. She had many other dreams and wishes, but the two she remembers most were never to grow up, and to make children’s books.

As a daughter of two karate masters, Monika’s life was very active. From the youngest age, she excelled in sports and competed all over Europe. However, drawing was always the only thing she was really passionate about. So she packed her bags and moved to the UK to study art. In 2011 she completed a degree in Illustration at the University of Wolverhampton. Soon after that, Monika moved to Cambridge and completed her MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in 2014. She now works in a small studio space in her hometown of Torun, Poland. Read a Q&A with the author here.