Blog

WeeWrite Festival 2022

The best thing about being an illustrator is coming to events like this JUST FOR FUN! It was great to be invited back to the WeeWrite Glasgow Book Festival, this time to talk about my Maddy Yip series and hold cartoon drawing workshops.

Four local primary schools came to the grand Mitchell Library and learned how to draw characters, expressions and use their imaginations to invent their own fairground rides, and wow, what mega-enthusiasm from the kids in my drawing sessions! I was chuffed to see that even the most reluctant artists got into cartooning by the end.

Chinglish Heads

Isn’t this a great shot? I was grateful to be asked by BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, to visit some of the more disadvantaged schools in the UK, helping them bring the benefits of reading to those who need it the most.

In Leicester, less than 50% of pupils (including asylum seekers) across the city are ethnically white. There’s evidence that mixed schools boost positive attitudes between pupils of different ethnicities, meaning they’ll develop more empathy as adults. All year 7s got a copy of my book Chinglish, which I hope will help them get a better understanding too.

Maddy Yip’s Guide to Holidays – out 5th May

I’ve just received a box of Maddy Yip’s Guide to Holidays advance copies – exciting!

I was thrilled to be asked to write a second book and turn Maddy Yip into a series. In this story, Maddy goes off on a seaside break with her bezzie, dimwit little brother and bonkers grandad. Their main quest is to get on The Mega Beast, a brand new rollercoaster at the amusement park – but first they need to get hold of some vouchers. They embark on a manic search and eventually get on the ride. But it turns out that after all that, everyone (except grandad) finds the experience absolutely terrifying and is traumatised for days.

The Maddy Yip series is chock-full of comedy capers and hilarious drawings, with the ultimate aim of making children fall off their chairs laughing (which, according to a reliable source, has actually happened!)

Out on 5th May 2022

PRE-ORDER HERE

The sequel to Chinglish is coming!

So many of you have been asking if there’ll be a sequel to Chinglish and now I can say yep, you bet!

With a cast of new characters, part 2 of my memoir tracks Jo’s highlights and pitfalls, with its signature humour, over three years after leaving home. And the most extremely exciting news is that it will be a GRAPHIC NOVEL!

Drawing is what I’m best at (it doesn’t hurt my brain as much as writing😅), so it was only natural that I illustrated this story. It was also easier to express this part of my life through the directness of these stark black line images. I’m only at rough stage, but chomping at the bit to make a start and turn this into a book.

So I hope you’re as pleased with this news as I am and watch this space!

First launch for 2022

For HarperCollins Educational Books, I was asked to write and draw whatever I liked. So I came up with a story about a 90yr old’s secret shenanigans on her neighbour’s mobility scooter – oh, I do love my job.

Featuring a British-Chinese, mixed-race family, Great Granny Chan is a fun-filled, entertaining story which highlights cultural differences, communication problems and how different nationalities can get along despite the language barrier. It will also make readers think differently about their grandparents by showing that old doesn’t necessarily mean boring!

I’ve won another national award!

I decided 2021 was a good year after all when it ended with me winning another award. The Blossom Awards celebrates the success and contributions of British-Chinese people to our national life, so it was a bit of a shock being in this line-up considering the stellar talent in the room that night. On my table alone were a TV chef, chief constable, sustainable business owner, economist and fellow artist, and what a gorgeous bunch they were too.

I’m so proud to be able to represent and raise the profile of the community.

Tightly managed covid restrictions meant this event could happen, so huge thanks to the team at Blossom Awards for organising. Also, this would not have happened without my brilliant agent and publishers, so a big thank you to them as well.

Two exciting events in November

• NATIONAL TEEN BOOK CLUB

I’m delighted that Chinglish has been picked for November’s National Teen Book Club! This is a first of a kind programme, bringing together thousands of young people from hundreds of UK state schools and colleges, to a shared virtual book club. What a brilliant idea!

• KINDFEST 2021

So proud to have been part of the EmpathyLab crew at this year’s KindFest on World Kindness Day, 13th November. This is the world’s largest online festival of kindness, full of speakers and performers, all sharing their collective wisdom, energy and ideas about how kindness can create a more hopeful and resilient world.

Contributions included shorts stories from myself and Rashmi Sirdeshpande, discussion with EmpathyLab founder Sarah Mears and author Jion Sheibani, and walks from Joseph Elliott and Alastair Chisholm.

I’m on Wikipedia?

I was sorting out my website when this showed up on the first page of a Google search. I thought it must have been another Sue Cheung, so I clicked on it to find out. Imagine my shock and bewilderment when I realised it was actually me! As Wiki was an eternal mystery to me, I had to do another search to figure out who puts these pages up and who qualifies to be on them (notable people apparently – ME, notable!) It’s all a bit surreal, but I’ll take that. And thank you…whoever you are out there. Click here to view the page.

Staying at a Writers’ Retreat

For anyone looking for peaceful surroundings to get their next project done, I highly recommend Kiln Bank Writers’ & Artists’ Retreat, Lake District.

The 1820s cottage literally has nature on its doorstep, with a couple of excellent walks/running routes taking in secluded river woodland to mountainous panoramas.

In the evenings, I ate meals with hosts Adriana and Richard and relaxed in the cosy lounge, tinged with the aroma of clementine peel drying on top of the log burner.

One evening, Adriana took me out to look at the stars on a cloudless night. As there was no light pollution, we saw what seemed like the entire Milky Way – magical!

Staying at the retreat did wonders. Not only because I managed to finish the difficult task of outlining my next book, but the fresh surroundings gave me a well-needed reboot from the daily grind that can sometimes take over our lives and cloud our thinking.

The retreat will soon be expanding, so look out and get booking!

For more info visit: Pea Green Boat Books.

Upcoming festivals this September 2021

These will be my first ever book festivals in person. Last year I attended Hay and Edinburgh, but only online, so it wasn’t really the same. There’s no beating the atmosphere of events like these in person, with the hustle and bustle of exciting things to see and do, and meeting loads of new and interesting people. After being cooped up forever, I am more than raring to go now!

•BATH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL

‘Create Your Own Comic Guide to Life’ – Saturday 25 September, 2pm to 3.30pm, The Forum, St James’ Parade, BA1 1UG

•WIGTOWN BOOK FESTIVAL

• ‘The Diverse Book Awards Event’ with founder Abiola Bello – Wednesday 29 September, 7pm to 8pm

• ‘Maddy Yip’s Guide to Life Talk & Workshop’ – Thursday 30 September, 11am to 12noon