In this edition of North By Southwest we visit Ilustratour, Spain’s foremost international book illustration festival. The festival was founded in the town of Valladollid in 2008 but now in its 8th edition, this year takes up residence in Madrid in the Casa del Lector at Matadero Madrid cultural centre on the banks of the mighty Manzanares river. Ilustratour combines workshops, book presentations and signings, talks, competitions, professional networking, exhibitions and, for younger readers, storytelling.
Amongst the invited speakers at this year’s Ilustratour were award-winning illustrators and authors William Grill and Anthony Browne. Wiilliam Grill’s recent book Shackleton’s Journey charts the epic Antarctic adventures of the explorer Ernest Shackleton over a hundred years ago. The book has won William Grill instant recognition by way of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Prize, the New York Times Best Picture Book of the Year and the Association of Illustrators’ Best Young Talent award. Anthony Browne is the author of 48 books, has won the coveted Kate Greenaway medal twice as well as the international Hans Christian Anderson Award. His work has been translated into 26 languages and been exhibited around the world. www.ilustratour.es’
