Yu An Xie is an illustrator and picture book maker based in Taiwan. She graduated from the Children's Book Illustration MA at Cambridge School of Art in 2024 where she was awarded Runner-up for the Batsford Prize and Highly Commended for the Macmillan Prize for Illustration. She is one of the finalist artists in Bologna Illustrators Exhibition 2025.
Apart from drawing, She also has backgrounds in fashion design and mural painting. These experiences gave her good control over various traditional techniques. She loves mixing media to create images filled with details and hand-made textures. Colored pencil, soft pastel, watercolor, gouache, and acrylic are most commonly used in her works.
Her inspiration usually comes from love, culture, travel experiences, and her curiosity about the world. Her passion for sketching body movements and expressions helps her create strong and humorous characters in picture books.
When not at work, she enjoys sketching in cafes and roaming around antique shops, flea markets, and vintage bookshops.
For book illustration projects, please reach out to Yu An's agent Lori Steel at SteelWorks Literary https://steelworksliterary.com/ . For other projects or events not related to publishing, please email : ann.ann.illus@gmail.com
/ AWARDS /
2025, Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Picture Book and Graphic Book Newcomer Award - Winner
2025, dPICTUS The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase - Longlisted
2024, The Batsford Prize：Illustration category - Runner up
2024, The Batsford Prize ：Children’s illustration category - Shortlisted
2023, iJUNGLE Award：Illustration category - Merit Award
2023, The Macmillan Prize for Illustration - Highly commended