The German Academy for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, together with Börsenblatt and the Frankfurt Book Fair, awards the “Serafina – New Talent Award for Illustration,” a prize for emerging illustrators working in German-language children’s and young adult literature.
Of the five finalists, two of the projects are represented by the agency:
– EIN GROSSER AFFE by Vera Gereke (NordSüd)
With blocks of colour and delicate line drawings, formal rigour and attention to detail, she reduces the story to its essentials without losing its playful and humorous character. It is striking how harmoniously she manages to combine opposites.
Vera Gereke grew up in Berlin-Kreuzberg. She studied Communication Design at Muthesius University of Fine Arts in Kiel and subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Illustration at HAW Hamburg. Her work has received recognition from dPICTUS and has been exhibited, among other places, in Bologna.
– WALD OHNE BÄUME by Hanna Harms (Carlsen)
With short lines of text, a highly contrasting visual language and using just three colours, Hanna Harms clearly explains complex processes and the transformations that take place in forests: their formation, ecosystem functions, links to climate, biodiversity and society.
This non-fiction graphic novel explores what the forest of the future might look like and presents concrete ways of achieving it, such as reforestation. A fact-rich work, stripped down to the essentials while remaining highly poetic.
Hanna Harms is an illustrator, comic artist and author. She studied at the Münster School of Design and the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Illustration at HAW Hamburg. In her non-fiction comics, she combines poetry and science.
