Picture Book Matters
- About Us -
Picture Book Matters is a mentoring platform in Asia for aspiring & emerging picture book illustrators and authors.
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Our story began on a tropical day when Debasmita and Eva met up at their usual coffee joint on Orchard Road. They asked themselves why not start a platform for picture book creators like themselves, a platform that can help other writers and illustrators do what they do - write, illustrate picture books, and get published. They named their joint-venture Picture Book Matters because picture books matter to both of them, and because their workshops and courses will be dealing with matters of picture book creation.
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Since it's launch, Picture Book Matters has been conducting courses and workshops to help mentor aspiring and emerging picture book creators. Their inaugural workshop in June of 2019 was over subscribed. A subsequent one, this time more intimate, held at the end of 2019 and was also a full house. This inspired Smita and Eva to offer more courses and workshops for the new decade. They talked to their partners, the Singapore Book Council, and told them their plans. "We want to see more diverse picture books being created", they said. "We would like to nurture picture book creators in writing and illustrating their own stories and books," they continued. "And we would like to contribute to growing the kidlit and picture book eco-system here in Singapore and Asia", they both concluded.
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In following their story, you'll get to see what Smita and Eva get up to through pictures and posts.
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Eva Wong Nava lives between two worlds. She reads copiously and writes voraciously. She holds a degree in English Literature and Language from the University of Hull where Philip Larkin was once the University Librarian; a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (P.G.C.E.) from University College London where the Institute of Education resides, and a certificate in Art Writing from Sotheby’s Art Institute which she undertook to better understand what the craft entails. She holds a M.A. in Art History and has taught children and adults how they can use writing for communication and play. Eva has been a speaker at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content on writing about diversity and representing marginalised voices. She is the founder of CarpeArte Journal, an online space, where flash fiction meets art. Eva’s flash fiction has appeared in various places and her articles on art have been published in international art journals. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and her debut middle-grade book, Open: A Boy’s Wayang Adventure, was awarded the bronze medal at the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, 2018. Eva lives in London with her family and two scampering squirrels.
- Debasmita Dasgupta, Illustrator -
Debasmita Dasgupta is a Singapore-based, internationally published, Kirkus Best Prize nominated illustrator & graphic novelist. With over a decade-long career in the field of publishing, she enjoys drawing both fiction & non-fiction for children & young adults. She has illustrated over 20 picture books, comics & poems working with publishers in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore including Scholastic India and HarperCollins London. Widely known as an art-for-change advocate, Debasmita tells stories of changemakers from around the world partnering with global non-profits. Her art is exhibited across the globe & more than 40 international media outlets have featured it. Her debut graphic novel, NADYA, is critically acclaimed in many countries. She is currently working on her first long-form graphic novel with Penguin Random House.