Elena Arevalo Melville is a latin american award winning author and illustrator born in Guatemala, who came to children’s and illustrated publishing rather the long way, across the Atlantic, via architecture, fine art and parenthood. She is mostly in Cambridge, but like the manglar (mangrove)in the banks of of her childhood, her roots and influences are spread everywhere.
Her internationally published work deals with themes of belonging, community, identity and resilience.
#wishesTogether
drawing/writing workshop
Ideal for Libraries, and Festivals.
Unlike the magical Umbrella of the picture book, Elena can’t make wishes come true.
The best she can do is make wishes come together, and perhaps as a collective, wishes together can give joy and hope to those who see them.
It is possible to incorporate outcomes into an installation piece that can linger and be added to after the event.
In our wishes together event we will:
Read the book Umbrella
Make a wish Discuss why this wish is important to us.
Write it, doodle it, draw it, paint it, sew it, glue it, spray it, collage it….use any technique you wish to convey tour wish onto a little pink card disk (10cm diameter).
Pink disks will be installed and made visible for others to see and extra materials left for others to add on to a wall of wishes..
“Elena’s event for us as part of Fabula Festival in 2023 was fantastic. So engaging for kids and grownups alike, with a really interactive and playful feel.
Elena has proven herself to be adaptable to a range of ages and their different needs, and we’d be delighted to have her back in the future.“
— Discover Children’s Story Centre
Workshops
I run creative workshops in the United Kingdom and abroad. Workshops are devised to respond to particular briefs, wether part of a festival, the launch of an exhibition or celebrating emerging communities and can be for a range of audiences, from your children to adults.
Some of my workshops are based my books, others on technique, and some are developed for the requirement of the organiser.. They can all be adapted for your group or event, wether on line or face to face. Just ask!
More detailed descriptions of some of my workshops here:
Photography Lukasz Michalak/Estudio Perplejo
Festivals
I can come to your book, comics, illustration or arts festival anywhere in the world!
I am fully bilingual English/Spanish. I have lived in England for the last 20 years and I am of Latin American heritage.
Happy to do talks, demonstrations, live drawing and workshops.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for coming to the Linton children’s Book Festival and giving such stimulating performances. The kids (and the parents) absolutely loved your sessions!…”
— Valerie Reader, Administrator of Linton Children's Book Festival 2014