About Matt Shanks
Matt Shanks is an internationally-published and critically-acclaimed author/illustrator of over twenty picture books. Eric the Postie (2018) and Queen Celine (2019) were both awarded Notables by the CBCA for Picture Book of The Year. Rosie the Rhinoceros, written by Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes, and Herman Crab, written by one of Australia’s favourite comedians, Peter Helliar, is available now. Matt is a two-time fellow of the May Gibbs’ Children’s Literature Trust, an Australian Literary and Numeracy Foundation ambassador, co-editor of Words Like This, and works primarily in watercolour. He lives in Melbourne, Victoria, with his partner and cat.
Matt acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which he does his work and pays his respects to elders past and present. He acknowledges the sorrow of the stolen generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. He also recognises the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and through his work, aims to help as much as possible to empower and help them thrive.
Matt was born in Sydney, Australia and now resides in Melbourne. Sandwiched between the bush and beach, the inspiration for his short stories comes from a love of his unique country. His early fascination for the combination of words and pictures saw him complete a Bachelor of Design at the University of Sydney in 2003. It took him 10 years while working as a Creative Director at some of Melbourne’s best design agencies to realise that this ‘watercolour hobby’ of his needed to be shared with more than just his wife and cat.
Simplicity, humour and the art of the unseen are strong themes in Matt’s illustration work. With his strong understanding of the commercial aspects of the business from a career in design, he is a uniquely creative and pragmatic artist. He loves to work collaboratively and iteratively to achieve the best result for the audience.
He’s currently working on books for children with the wonderful people at Scholastic Australia, HarperCollins Australia, Walker Books Australia, Hardie Grant, and Allen and Unwin.
Matt is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and The Australian Society of Authors. For books, he is represented by the lovely Margaret Connolly.
Awards and Recognition
2023 – SCBWI Australian Picture Book Awards: Highly Commended
2022 – May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust – Creative Time Fellow
2020 – CBCA Notable Picture Book of the Year: Queen Celine
2019 – CBCA Notable Early Childhood Book of the Year: A Boat of Stars (Illustrator)
2018 – CBCA Notable Early Childhood Book of the Year: Eric the Postie
2018 – CBCA Notable Picture Book of the Year: Koala Bare (Illustrator)
2018 – May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust – Creative Time Fellow