Meet Libby Hathorn, author, and Sadami Konchi, illustrator, of a story imagined from the famous Basho tale
Libby Hathorn and Sadami Konchi, both AJS-NSW members, are the author and illustrator of a new book for children, with a story that develops from the Japanese literary work by Basho, Oku no Hosomichi (奥の細道), or The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
We are delighted to welcome them both to talk to us about how the book came together and their respective philosophies about creating literature and art for children. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.
The picture book “We Children and the Narrow Road to the Deep North,” is said to break new ground in Australian publishing by showcasing a famous Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). The story of three village children’s meeting with the poet stimulates the imagination, promotes understanding of Japanese culture, and showcases world poetry.
More about the book is at this link.
BIO, Libby Hathorn
Libby is an Australian award-winning author and poet of more than eighty books for children and young people.
Translated into several languages and adapted for stage and screen, her work has won honours in Australia, United States, Great Britain and Holland. Together with her daughter Lisa, Libby won the Children’s Book of the Year, Younger Readers 2021. 
She is the recipient of The Lady Cutler Award 2020 for distinguished services to Australian children’s literature. Other prizes include the Asher Literary Award (2017), The Alice Award (2014), and the Centenary Medal (2003) and she has been a judge and the National Ambassador for Reading (2012). Read more about Libby here.
BIO, Sadami Konchi
Sadami is a bilingual Japanese-Australian, an award winning fine artist, enthusiastic children's picture book illustrator, portraitist and conference sketcher based in Sydney. In her unique watercolour style she depicts ordinary people and animals, using sociological methods and research skills to capture insights from a text . She has a B.A. in linguistics and sociology, and studied picture book illustration at Sydney University. A 2022 May Gibbs Fellow and twice Doug Moran Portrait Prize semi-finalist, her publications include the picture books Moon and My Dog Socks and book covers for the texts Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice and Intercultural Communication. Sadami has a webpage here.
How to sign up
Sign up using the form. Your registration will be confirmed and the day before the event a Zoom link will be sent out to registered participants.
The event is suitable for all ages and it is free to attend.
