DRAW ME A SMILE

Fabrice Boulanger was born in Belgium. After studying cinema, where he learned to handle image and text, he turned to higher studies in illustration and comic books. He decided to dedicate all his time to illustrating and writing children’s books. Children’s literature allows him to unleash his imagination and express his talent as an illustrator with great freedom.

Cara Carmina is a Mexican illustrator residing in Montreal since 2009. Following her first publication in 2016, her work has gained special recognition in the Quebec children’s book world.

Julien Castanié is a young father and Montreal-based illustrator. Graduated in 2008 with a master’s degree in visual didactics (knowledge transmission through images), he has illustrated around forty books, several of which have been translated internationally. His work has been recognized multiple times (Finalist for the 2019 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Finalist for the 2019 Roberval Youth Award, Finalist for the 2019 Quebec Bookstore Award) and exhibited numerous times.

Geneviève Després graduated in Industrial Design from the Université de Montréal in 1992, and later pursued her first passion, illustration, realizing several projects in various fields. During her three-year stay in France and Italy with her family, she decided to focus on children’s illustration. Since returning to Quebec in 2007, she has illustrated over forty albums now translated into a dozen languages. A finalist for the Quebec Bookstore Award, ANEL-AQPF, Quebec-Wallonia Brussels Award, Governor General’s Award of Canada, and Elisabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Pictures Book Award (IBBY), she has just published her first album as author and illustrator!

Matthew Forsythe is the author and illustrator of the award-winning books, Pokko and the drum and Mina. He was also lead designer on Adventure Time at CARTOON NETWORK, character designer on THE MIDNIGHT GOSPEL (Netflix) and production designer of the OSCAR-NOMINATED short film ROBIN ROBIN (Netflix/Aardman Animations). Find out more about about Matt at: www.comingupforair.net

Marie-Louise Gay has written and illustrated over 70 children’s books, including the Stella and Sam series (adapted for theatre and television) Voyages avec mes parents (written with David Homel), Un Million de Questions, Mustafa, Petits monstres, Les trois frères, Où es-tu Sydney? et La marelle. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. She has also written and designed puppets, costumes, and sets for three youth theatre productions. She gives workshops, readings, and lectures across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Twice a finalist for the international Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren awards, she has won numerous awards including the Governor General’s Award (1987 and 2000), the Mr. Christie Book Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, the Alvine-Bélisle Award, and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.

Born in 1958, Jacques Goldstyn is a former geologist. He has been collaborating with the magazine Les Débrouillards for 40 years. He writes and illustrates tales like L’Arbragan and Azadah. Occasionally, he creates political cartoons under the pseudonym Boris. And he continues to collect rocks.

Caroline Merola holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. As an illustrator for several publishing houses, she has created illustrations for school books, posters, and magazines in Canada and the United States. She has also published successful comic strips. Today, Caroline Merola devotes herself entirely to children’s books. She is both an author and illustrator of over 50 titles. She regularly meets children in schools and libraries to talk about her work. Her books have been translated into English, Czech, Spanish, Korean, and Arabic! A finalist for the Governor General’s Award in 2007 and 2008, she won the award in 2011 in the children’s illustration category.