Aśka .

Summary

Aśka is creative dynamite. She’s an award-winning graphic novelist, an ex-quantum physicist, and a big fan of the little doovalacky above the ‘s’ in her name (which you pronounce ‘Ash-ka’).
A hugely engaging and popular presenter, Aśka is passionate about visual literacy. She has published more than ten books and graphic novels.

Biography

Aśka's greatest passion is visual literacy, which she is always exploring in her work and her hugely engaging and popular workshops and presentations. She is interested in writing with pictures and visual narrative structures, through picture books, comics, graphic novels and other visual texts.
She has published more than ten books and graphic novels. Her recent titles include the YA graphic novel Stars in Their Eyes, (with Jessica Walton), which is the CBCA Notable Book, shortlisted for the ALIA Graphic as well as the Comic Arts Awards of Australia, and bought by Scholastic US in 2022.
She is also a recipient of several government Arts grants, prizes, and the May Gibbs Fellowship.
Aśka has been a judge for the Make Your Own Storybook Competition five years running, is an organising committee member for the Perth Comic Arts Festival, contributes regularly to The School Magazine, volunteered as Illustrator Co-ordinator in the WA branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for four years, has singlehandedly run an animation festival, once won a grant for a solo art exhibition, and has been featured in an ABC TV documentary.

Relevant qualifications

Memberships:
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – Australia West (SCBWI)
Australian Society of Authors (ASA)
Children’s Book Council of Australia – WA (CBCA)
Perth Comic Arts Festival Organising Committee

Volunteering positions:
Make Your Own Story Book Competition Judge (2018 – present)
SCBWI – Australia West Illustrator Coordinator (2017 – 2021)
Perth Comic Arts Festival (PCAF) – organising committee member (2019-present)

Scitech science workshop and show presenter: 2015 - 2022

Recent experience

(2019) AWESOME festival – illustration workshop facilitator
(2019) Shajah Children’s Book Festival – illustration workshop facilitator
(2019) Shenton College week long Residency – speaker
(2019) HASS Week Conference – speaker
(2019) Make Your Own Story Book Competition Award Ceremony – keynote speaker
(2018) Kimberly Book Week Tour

In addition, each year, I visit between 10 to 20 Perth schools and libraries as a speaker and workshop facilitator, for both primary and secondary audiences.