Northern Highlights - Emma Reynolds

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS

EMMA REYNOLDS

Why did you become a writer & illustrator?

I've always loved writing and drawing and making up stories, since I was a kid! I used to make little books about these creatures I'd made up, and staple them together. Then I went on to study art in school and at university, and I fell in love with making picture books! After that I spent six years in the animation industry before signing with my agent in August 2018. I've been making picture books as an author-illustrator ever since. It is my dream job and I am so happy I get to tell my own stories now.

My first illustrated book, 'Rescuing Mrs. Birdley' written by Aaron Reynolds, is out in July. It's about a girl called Miranda Montgomery who is obsessed with the Nature Joe Animal Show where Nature Joe helps lost animals get back to their natural habitat. So when Miranda sees her teacher, Mrs. Birdley, outside of school in the supermarket... she knows exactly what she needs to do!

Out July 9th, 2020. Written by Aaron Reynolds. Published by Simon & Schuster.

I'm currently working on my author-illustrator debut called 'Amara and the Bats'. Amara loves bats more than anything, but when the family move house she is very upset to find that bats don't live there because so many trees have been chopped down. Amara gathers together her new friends to try and find a way to save the bats! 'Amara and the Bats' comes out June 2021.

  

2. Tell us about where you live.

I live in Manchester city centre, in the Northern Quarter! It's great being able to walk to cafes and museums and libraries, new and old, on my doorstep, and also to be able to take a train to a park or the Peak District in under an hour. (When we're not in a pandemic, that is!)

3. Where do you write/illustrate? 

I like drawing in cafes - the pressure of not wanting to outstay my welcome encourages me to get ideas down and not overthink things! I usually work in my shared studio or at home the rest of the time.

4. What for you is the 'Spirit of the North’?

I'm a Northern adoptee - I grew up in Devon in the middle of nowhere, and when I came to Manchester thirteen years ago, to look at the uni, it just felt right being here. There was a sense of excitement in the air, and everyone is so friendly. For me the spirit of the north is 'hardworking community'.

5. Has this spirit influenced your work?

I think it has, yes. I am very proud to live in Manchester, and to be part of activism here.

6. Who for you are the great northern illustrators?

I love seeing Hammo's work all over Manchester, and I love the amazing work Jaheed Hussain is doing with his project 'Fuse', a directory of minority creatives in the North. (https://twitter.com/jaheedhussain_,  https://twitter.com/fusedirectory)

7. If you could be transported to anywhere in the North right now, where would it be? 

Crosby Beach, north of Liverpool. It is so beautiful there.

8. What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North?

I would like to see us doing community outreach events for minority creatives to get into children's books publishing. And I would like to see diverse local hirings for Northern people in publishing up North :)

You can find Emma on Twitter and Instagram @EmmaIllustrate