About Megan Forward

I am an author, illustrator and artist and I work out of my studio in Manly, QLD. I have exhibited my work in galleries around Brisbane, as well as completed numerous commissioned artworks.  I was awarded first prize in 2002 by the Queensland University of Technology in the category of Children’s and Young Adult Literature for Illustrated Picture Book, as well as first and second place at the CYA Conference in 2012 and 2013 in the Illustrated Picture Book category. In 1995 I completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, and have a graduate diploma in Education specialising in Visual Art and English.

In March 2016 my picture book that I wrote and illustrated called A Patch from Scratch was published through Penguin Random House. Recently shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Awards, it is the story of a family who live in the suburbs, but would like to live a more sustainable lifestyle. They set about raising chickens, designing and building garden beds, and planting their own fruit and vegies. They recycle their garden and kitchen waste into compost and chook food, save seeds, research organic garden methods, and involve their local community. The story culminates in a neighbourhood feast from the harvest in their garden. The back pages include a simple diagram showing the sustainable cycle in their garden, recipes  for children based on the feast page, and links to how to build your own patch from scratch. It has just been shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Crichton Award for First Time Illustrators 2017.

My new book All I Want for Christmas is Rain (New Frontier Publishing) which I have illustrated, is written by Cori Brooke. it is the story of a young girl living on a cattle property in the country, who is yearning for rain to fall on her family’s property to relieve the drought. Finding out that Santa is coming to visit a township nearby, she sets out on a train journey. Will He be able to bring the help her family desperately needs? It has just been shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Younger Readers 2017.

Megan’s Blog