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Korean and Australian Picture Book Creators Celebrate Sydney Writers Festival.

FEM advocates for the best in youth literature

Key Facts:

Sharing Korean and Australian literature and story at Sydney Writers Festival, Arts Council Korea, Korean Cultural Centre Australia and Creative Australia.

Korean and Australian Picture Book Creators Celebrate Sydney Writers Festival.

Exhibition of artwork by Korean artists in Korean Cultural Centre Australia at  255 Elizabeth Street, Sydney 2000. Open until 2^nd June.

 

Presented in partnership with Arts Council Korea (ARKO), Sydney Writers' Festival, and Creative Australia.

Hosted by Dr Sunmin Yoon, Director of the Korean Cultural Centre, Australian–Korean comedian Harry Jun, brought together five acclaimed children’s authors—Hynmin Park, Hyewon Kyung, Su

yeon Lee, Susanne Gervay OAM, and Antonia Pesenti—from Korea and Australia to talk about their inspiration for creating books on nature, animals, identity and the environment. Through their work, the authors explore how children’s literature can encourage curiosity, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the world we share.

Visit the exhibition of the internationally recognised and awarded Korean  work at the Korean Cultural Centre.

 

Dr Sunmin Yoon Director of the KCCAU welcomes Susanne Gervay.

Hyunmin Park is a Seoul-based illustrator and picture book author whose work expands sensory perception through both books and exhibitions. Engaging with materiality, visual language, and spatial experience, he creates immersive environments that invite audiences to reconsider how images are seen, felt, and interpreted.

He has received international recognition, including the Grand Prize (Fiction) at the Korea Picture Book Award and the Opera Prima Special Mention at the Bologna Ragazzi Award. His work such as So Much Snow and City Flight have been featured at major platforms such as the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

Through a combination of diverse exhibitions and ongoing publications, Park continues to engage with audiences, exploring new ways of communication across visual and narrative forms.

Suyeon Lee studied Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts in the UK. She creates books that explore deep human emotions and offer comfort and healing. She is the author and illustrator of When It Rains, the Grass Grows and Breakfast on the Moon.

Two Friends on My Shoulder was selected for the 2023 White Ravens, and I Sell Furniture Somehow was featured in the 2025 AFCC Illustrator Gallery. She received the 2025 Northern Festival of Illustration Prize for The Big House.

 

 

Hyewon Kyung is a South Korean picture book author and illustrator. Her representative works include Elevator, Dinosaur X-Ray, Bigger Than You, I’m a Lioness, and My Big, Secret Friend. Kyung has worked as an illustrator since 2004, mainly providing illustrations for children's books. Since many of her picture books are dinosaur-themed, she is also known as a "dinosaur author" to children in Korea.

She has always been drawn to the beauty of Korean art, a passion that shines through her illustrations for many classic Korean folk tales. Even today, she prefers the texture of traditional Hanji paper and pigments. Her representative works, I Am a Lioness and The Elevator, were created using a meticulous Hanji collage technique, blending tradition with contemporary storytelling.

Susanne Gervay OAM has been awarded the Lifetime Social Justice Literature Award for her books by the International Literacy Association, nominated for the Astrid Ingrid Memorial Award 2026 and awarded an Order of Australia for children’s literature. Professor of English, D. R . Pattanaik Banaras Hindu University Varanasi India’s writes that ‘Elephants Have Wings demonstrates with great power that we can teach our children profound truths and timeless values.’ Her picture books include Elephants Have Wings, The Boy with the Big Blue Glasses, Gracie and Josh, Ships in the Field, Who’s the Gang on our Street, Guess How I Was Born. Picture books can inspire young people in their understanding of their world. sgervay.com

Antonia Pesenti is an architect, illustrator and visual storyteller. She combines directing the multidisciplinary design practice studio fable with creating, designing and making books - exploring all formats from experimental zines through to award-winning picture books. Her books include the much loved Hello Cocky capturing Australia’s iconic Sulphur-crested cockatoo. www.antoniapeseti.com

 

 

 

Contact details:

Kate Jung [email protected]

+61 425 270 110

Susanne [email protected];

0413 050 9922