Author-illustrators! Would you like to be a part of a wildly wonderful and beautifully-crafted anthology that encapsulates the complete joy of our land… and gives back to the community?
We’re looking to view Australia through a colourful lens of diversity – from our stunning landscapes to our iconic parts of nature, a unified community of culture and social connectedness. We want our country’s uniqueness to come alive in this fantastic compendium – that encapsulates YOU!
‘Show’ us the beauty of Australia from your heart.
What we aim to achieve:
- To produce a full colour, illustrated book showcasing a range of visual / aesthetic perspectives, artistic techniques and writing styles, including our social, cultural and environmental diversity.
- To showcase our own author-illustrators and enable their voices to be heard and talents to be seen and appreciated.
- To give back to the community through a percentage of profits and book copies being donated to a charity. We’ve chosen the Indigenous Literacy Foundation*.
‘Literacy provides a fundamental step of building context, comprehension and understanding, whether it is written, visual or auditory. For kids who miss that foundational step in their literacy journey, it has a lifelong impact.
In remote Communities across Australia there is often no infrastructure such as libraries or bookstores. Access to reading material is extremely limited and this impacts the achievements of Indigenous children.’ (Indigenous Literacy Foundation)
Our projected outcome:
The anthology will be produced in landscape orientation with hard cover, estimated 32 pages. Printed in Australia.
Any questions should be emailed to Romi at jwfkcompetition@gmail.com.
*About The Indigenous Literacy Foundation
Reading Opens Doors to future opportunities and choices.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is a national charity working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote Communities across Australia. They are Community-led, responding to requests from remote Communities for culturally relevant books, including early learning board books, resources, and programs to support Communities to create and publish their stories in languages of their choice.
Our Judges and Supporters
Jennifer Sharp, author and publisher at Daisy Lane Publishing – Anthology Judge, Editor and Publisher
Jennifer Sharp is on a mission to create the next movement for authors and evolve the publishing industry. She is not just a publisher; she is a Legacy Maker.
Jennifer is the founder and CEO of Soul Essence International Publishing and the Internationally Award Winning press Daisy Lane Publishing. Soul Essence is a 7-star publishing, marketing, and PR firm for thought leaders to ghost write and publish their books in as little as 90 days.
Her passion for helping thought leaders to share their message comes from her own background as an author, expert speaker and educator on educating children about the power of words from the Early Years of their education.
Daisy Lane Publishing can be found at the website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Jennifer Sharp is on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Mary Anastasiou, author and creative director at Larrikin House and Imagine Creative – Anthology Judge and Creative Design Director
A self-confessed chocoholic, pluviophile and lover of all things kid lit, Mary writes books that she hopes will engage, inspire and empower little people on their journey to becoming big people.
With 30 years of design experience, Mary now heads the creative team at indie publisher Larrikin House. Responsible for the creation of more than 60 Larrikin titles, Mary works exclusively with authors and illustrators to create books that (she hopes) will one day become classics.
Author of the much loved ‘I want to be…’ series, her latest title, ‘I want to be a Sports Star‘ was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Book of the Year awards in 2022.
And, with three new titles released in 2023 ‘Jimmy Bottoms’, ‘Julius Squeezer’ and ‘The Art of Making Friends’, Mary is set to continue making her own kid lit dreams come true.
Mary Anastasiou can be found at her website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Imagine Creative can be found at the website | Facebook | Instagram
Tannya Harricks, award-winning artist and illustrator – Anthology Judge, Consultant and Supporter
Tannya Harricks’s award-winning art practice draws on her experience in graphic design, illustration, life drawing and textile design. Her oil paintings, for which she has been awarded the Waverley and Hornsby Art Prizes, have been exhibited in Sydney, New Zealand and Florence. She has also been a finalist in many prominent Australian art awards including the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, Gallipoli Art Prize and the Gold Coast Art Prize.
Tannya illustrated The Heartbeat of The Land by Cathy Freeman & Coral Vass (Larrikin House) in 2022. Previously Tannya has illustrated Dingo by Claire Saxby, Kookaburra by Claire Saxby and Mallee Sky by Jodi Toering for the Walker Books list. Dingo was joint winner of the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature at the NSW Premier’s Literary Award (2019); won the Royal Zoological Society of NSW’s Whitley Award (2018); and was shortlisted in 2019 for the CBCA New Illustrator Award, and Best Picture Book in the Educational Publishing Awards.
Tannya Harricks can be found at her website | Twitter | Instagram
Romi Sharp, publicist, writer and educator – Anthology Founder and Consultant
Romi Sharp is a Melbourne-based qualified early childhood and primary teacher, freelance PR consultant and digital marketer, copywriter, children’s writer, educational writer and book trailer animator who works with children’s creators and publishers. She is passionate about using her skills in a variety of areas including motion and digital graphics, planning and implementing PR campaigns, liaising with clients and key industry people, and organising online and social media events.
Romi founded the now nationally recognised Australian resource for children’s authors and illustrators, Just Write For Kids in 2014. She began organising the Pitch It! Competition for writers in 2018, which is now a popular annual event. Romi’s passion in providing opportunities for creators continues to grow, with the Picture It! Anthology Competition being a first for author-illustrators through Just Write For Kids Australia.
Romi Sharp’s work can be found here, and through the Books On Tour PR & Marketing website, socials and newsletter.
#PictureIt! Anthology FAQs
Who is the Anthology for?
What is the Anthology about?
In this Anthology, a diverse and eclectic selection of children’s author-illustrators from around the country share their own heart about their favourite piece of Australia.
From our native and unique flora and fauna to our stunning landscapes, our cultural, traditional and social diversity and patterns that define Australia, this will be a visual literacy burst of colour and life that encapsulates all the best parts of our wonderful land.
Beautiful, heartfelt, and fun, these artists come together each with a unique voice and talent that will inspire readers to explore their own unique selves and the parts of their community that mean the most to them.
What are the aims of the Picture It! Anthology?
Just Write For Kids Australia has always held the value of children’s authors and illustrators highly and works to raise their profiles, enable them a voice and provide opportunities to grow, develop and flourish in the children’s literature industry.
In 2023, we have initiated this opportunity for author-illustrators to showcase their talents and to be published in a printed anthology. Events such as this allow creators to be a part of a community, an outlet to hone their craft, and an achievement to add to their resume as a developing and established artist in the industry.
Another main aim of the anthology is to raise funds and book copies for a significant charity in our community – The Indigenous Literacy Foundation works towards opening doors to opportunities amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote Communities across Australia.
After all, our mission is to get as many books into the hands of as many young readers as possible!
Why is the Picture It! Anthology set up with this model?
Just Write For Kids Australia has set up the Anthology as a competition with an entry fee for these reasons:
- To give a wide range of creators the opportunity to share their skill and show their commitment to the industry.
- To ensure that the project is viable – your time and skill are valuable, so we want to guarantee an end result.
- To be able to raise much-needed funds for our charity of choice – The Indigenous Literacy Foundation – with proceeds from sales and book copies being donated to this community.
What we are NOT doing:
- Asking contributors to work for free for no reward.
- Using contributors’ work for other purposes without their consent.
What we ARE doing:
- To raise the profiles of artists by providing opportunities to share their work with the community, fellow creators, publishers, children and families through various means, including online promotion, social and email marketing and publicity opportunities.
- To allow contributors the opportunity to be involved in a shared project in which they will feature in a published book, of which they can benefit from distributing with their own connections.
- To give back to the community with monetary rewards, a sense of unity, a fantastic piece of literature and our wonderful, giving Aussie spirit.
Just Write For Kids Australia acknowledges First Nations peoples and recognises their continuous connection to Country, community and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and honour the sharing of traditional stories passed down through generations.
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