30 Seconds with

Who are you? 

I’m a person who lives, breathes and exhales books, predominantly children’s books (with a predilection for picture books). I research, write, edit, illustrate, layout, typeset, design, and sometimes sleep.

What’s your most recent work?

The upcoming Plume picture book series with Hardie Grant Explore (book one, World Explorer, will be released in three territories this October/November). It’s a travel series for poppets featuring an Antarctic penguin on a mission to bring colour and flavour and intrigue to a world of black and white. Also, Plume has the largest library in the Southern Hemisphere. What’s not to love?

What’s your best advice about writing?

Write. Just write. And when you’re finished, write some more. The most valuable thing you could ever do is hone your craft. Also … write your voice and never what you think publishers want. If you’d like to shave 10 years off your journey, get industry-involved, make genuine connections and give back. Lastly, stay curious, diversify and ever grow your work. Don’t cram yourself into a niche. Poke your head out.

If you could change one thing about the Australian writing sector, what would it be?

The children’s book industry needs to be more valued and recognised. We comprise around 34% of book sales in Australia, yet receive a mere fraction of the recognition, awards, funding, support, esteem. Juvenile literacy is life-changing. It’s freedom. And if that doesn’t make an impact, remember this: children’s books create adult readers.

How has ACT Writers (MARION) assisted you?

Connection. Friendship. Support. And just plain old good fun.

What are you currently reading? 

Ever poised between the pages of several books—The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman (Little, Brown), The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben (Black Inc), Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori, illustrated by Lucille Clerc (Laurence King) and Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky (Ten Speed Press).

Who is a living author or artist you’d like to champion and why?

I’m going to choose an illustrator as they are writers of visual narrative (arguably more vital than text). Åsa Gilland is a Swedish creator living in Jakarta. Her sense of colour and layout is impeccable and I adore her folksy, retro stylings, featuring characters of all ethnicities. The books she works on have depth and meaning—and how we need that, especially now.

If she could, Tania McCartney would live inside a book, and as an author, illustrator, designer and editor—she kind of already does. The founder of Kids’ Book Review and The Happy Book podcast, her greatest loves are travel, juvenile literacy and the picture book. Tania has around 60 books in print or production, and is published in over a dozen countries. Recent shortlistings and awards include the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and the Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards. Tania has lived in Paris, London and Beijing, and currently lives in Canberra with her family, a forest of artwork and a mountain of books.