Director at David Bennett Books, before going freelance and releasing his first books in 1994.
“I discovered I had some ideas for books while working in a publishing company,” Ken said. “Once I realised they were not going away and that I had the means and knowledge to at least present them to a publisher, I spent quite a lot of intense time making this happen. And in my case, it paid off.”
This process; looking at his own relationship to the world and then how to present this through ideas and work, is what he still does. “I spend a lot of time observing the relationships between children and their grownups. Sometimes this helps to develop an idea, other times it inspires an idea. My observation and development work are governed by my aim to reflect as universally as possible a child’s life back to them and their families. When I am designing posters and reports for corporations, my aims are the same – to make real people see themselves in these documents.”
Optimism
The latest manifestation of this is Astro Girl, which was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award. Ken also has two books due to be published by Alanna Max in August 2020. One is Lenny and Wilbur, the other is Where’s Lenny? “Lenny is a character that represents all children of this age group,” Ken said. “Life is so new and exciting, every day is an adventure, even if to the rest of us it might seem mundane. The books are really meant to explore the moments between young children and their friends and family in a way that can be discussed long after the books have been read. I had a chance to build in some good design and production values too, which makes these books so special. “Astro Girl comes from the same place as the Lenny books, that is, real lives reflected in as optimistic way as possible.” This focus on relationships makes it unnecessary to tackle diversity in an overt
8 PEN&INC.
way: “Even though I may have created characters that are brown or black, I try to not make that the main selling point so that all children can identify with the characters in some way. Of course, that requires an understanding of what makes people similar as well as different. These characters do what all characters of their ages do, which I hope eliminates the need to make something of their skin colour. All children can enjoy all the books we make.”
Ideas work
Asked if he ran into any problems related to the lack of diversity in the industry he said: “I didn’t have a problem with diversity when trying to get published. I worked on making the ideas I was presenting as strong as possible and then made sure that the conversations stuck to my work and not my background.”
Nowadays, alongside his role as Publisher at Alanna Max (Lulu’s First Day is Kate Greenaway Medal nominated), and as author and illustrator (Astro Girl also longlisted) Ken also mentors potential entrants to the industry on the Pathways programme. And he tells them about his focus on self-awareness as a compass for navigating obstructions. “The main messages are about the industry and how new entrants should be as sure of themselves and their abilities as possible. But there are other things to impart to people starting out; being confident enough to see through the doubts and misunderstandings of others, for instance; learning how to make strong clear presentations of their work to editors and art directors; getting used to learning from rejection letters (if they come) by asking for feedback. Also doing researching about the publishers they want to submit their creations to, making sure it’s the right publisher for them”
Publishing
Ken and Anna McQuinn met about three or four years ago to discuss how to work together after Anna said she was thinking of moving back to Ireland and wanted her company to keep living. He said: “Alanna Max was launched in 2017 with a broadened and refreshed remit to publish naturally inclusive books where all children would have a chance to see themselves in a book. We love our characters and treat each of them as superstars in their own right. There
Spring-Summer 2020
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
