Momoko Abe, Kelsey Buzzell, Beatrice Cerocchi, Alice Courtley, Sandra De La Prada, Grace Easton, Manu Montoya, Richard Jones, L - Illustrator

Momoko Abe was born in Japan and has been drawing ever since she can remember. Aged 20, pursuing her passion for visual storytelling, she came to the UK to study filmmaking, and still works in the TV and film industry alongside her illustration work. Momoko is an AOI World Illustration Award Shortlist artist. She lives in London.

Kelsey Buzzell is a freelance illustrator living in Oregon, USA. Kelsey finds regular inspiration from the forests, rocky beaches and high desert and all the creatures that live in the Pacific Northwest. She especially loves vintage shopping, outdoor adventures with her family, and a good mystery novel.

Beatrice Cerocchi was born in Rome in 1989 where she lives and works. She started to get interested in illustration when she went to her first Bologna children's book fair in 2004. During high school she attended two illustration courses at Ars in Fabula, in Macerata, Italy. She kept studying and after a master's degree in Architecture at Roma Tre University she went to Milan to take a postgraduate course at MiMaster, where she obtained a master's in editorial illustration. Her works have been featured in several magazines and picture books. She was selected at Bologna, Shanghai and Beijing Children's Book Fair. In 2021 she took part in the exhibition Italian Excellence - The New Generation of Italian Children's Illustrators organized by Bologna Children's Book Fair.

Alice Courtley is an illustrator based in the UK. She creates playful images with a blend of people, animals and backgrounds inspired by real life. Her work has been recognised for prizes such as the Batsford Prize and featured in exhibitions such as the AOI's 'Inspired to Innovate' in London. Alice's debut picture book, Lost in the City, will be published by Hachette Children's Group in 2022.

Sandra De La Prada was born in Barcelona, where she grew up and still currently lives. She comes from a family where drawing is a prominent hobby: her father drew, her aunt, her cousin, her grandmother, even her great-grandfather, so she spent many hours of her childhood drawing. It was something natural and enjoyable for the family. She grew up to study Fine Arts, although also enjoyed other artistic subjects such as Photography and Cinema. Sandra started working as an illustrator about eight years ago, when she finally made up her mind to go for it. She works under the supervision of her two cats, Chicho and Rudo, who advise her in moments of mental block. She loves listening to podcasts (all kind: pop culture, humour, news) whilst working, but when she needs great concentration, it only works with music or, even better, silence. Sandra dreams of working in a studio overlooking her garden, hopefully someday.

Grace Easton studied Illustration at Central Saint Martins, Brighton University and Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is an author and illustrator now based in South London. Grace's debut picture book Cannonball Coralie and the Lion published with Lincoln Children's Book in 2018.

Manu Montoya was born in Medellin, Colombia, in 1990. She studied Graphic Design and Advertising in her hometown and Art Direction in Barcelona, where she actually lives. She grew up both in the city and the country and spent most of her childhood drawing, playing with plants, animals, and exploring the woods. Manu has worked for advertising agencies such as DDB and McCann Worldgroup and as an illustrator for SM editorial, Cruilla, Penguin Random House, Usborne, Little Brown and others.

Richard Jones was born in Coventry, in the West Midlands and grew up in Leamington Spa, UK. After three years of painting, film making and art history at college he moved down to Devon, UK to study Illustration. After graduating, he worked in a busy city library for almost 15 years. He now writes and illustrates full time.

Lisa Koesterke is a freelance illustrator and designer with a love for bold, bright colour palettes, fun patterns and quirky characters. With German roots, Lisa grew up in sunny Australia and is currently living by the Italian seaside where she dreams up new illustrations from her small studio.

Gwen Millward is an artist and writer who lives in Bristol with her son. She has been creating children's books since she graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002 and she loves illustrating the natural world (especially insects).

Sally Mullaney is an illustrator and people-watcher based in London. She studied at Manchester School of Art and Plymouth University, and now finds joy in drawing unsuspecting commuters or neighbours' cats with playful shapes, textures and an energetic line.

Laurie Stansfield grew up in the beautiful city of Oxford before moving west to study illustration at the University of the West of England. She has worked as a freelance illustrator since graduating, and occasionally lectures back at UWE Bristol where she studied. Laurie creates her art digitally using loose line, lots of texture and a limited but punchy colour palette. She is inspired by nature and finds she has her best ideas when she's outside in the fresh air. She lives with her husband in Bristol, and works out of an inspiring studio space which she shares with a handful of up-beat creatives.