Jennifer Horn is a Brisbane-based freelance illustrator and children’s writer. Her debut picture book "The Precious Plum" was released in October 2021 amongst some very musical live book launches. She illustrated the cover of Anthology Angels' children's fundraising anthology of 2021, Once Upon a Whoops!: Fractured Fairytales and Ridiculous Rhymes (2021) and her short stories have appeared in each of these annual publications since 2018. Her first Young Adult short story, Faulty Connection, was published in Rhiza Edge's dystopian and sci-fi anthology, Crossed Spaces earlier this year.
With a background in Architecture, Jen draws on her love of stories and adventure to create whimsical illustrations in a Quentin-Blake-inspired squiggle style. She enjoys reading books over local community station Reading Radio, and playing accordion in the eclectic ensemble Obscure Orchestra. She has also been part of Art Department teams on several Brisbane-based films, including Stan's Christmas on The Farm, Netflix's Romance on the Menu and Amazon Prime's The Umbrella.
WHAT CYA CONFERENCE DID FOR ME
When first seeking out my tribe of kidlit creators back in 2017, the event that so many people were recommending above all others was CYA. What a wonderful gathering of like-passioned creatives who were all so close to home! I often entered into the CYA Illustration competitions and learned, bit by bit through some wide-ranging feedback, what makes effective picture book illustration. At the 2020 CYA, I was awarded a Highly Commended for my middle grade illustrations, strengthening my resolve to illustrate my own manuscript.
With no progress through traditional slush piles or publisher assessments, I took some helpful mentor advice of looking into self-publishing and booked an IngramSpark Info Session with Debbie Lee at CYA 2021. This session provided me with how to navigate the IngramSpark platform (in particular the technical aspects), support pathways, costs and expectations, and encouragement to follow through. A few learning-intensive months later of juggling all the different hats of 'illustr-author-preneur', and my debut picture book "The Precious Plum" was out in the world! Thank you CYA for creating this creative tribe space for us to gather and hone our skills, and bringing us these opportunities to write our own narratives!
