I've always liked to make up stories. Ideas pop up when I least expect them. They are like little pots simmering with their rattling lids. It’s a bit challenging to find the time to take care of all these ideas as I still remember them. Characters and other little rascals want to be put on paper at once, written down and drawn. Get shape and color, movement and feelings."
Emma Virke was born in 1974 in Stockholm. She works primarily with drawing, collage and mixed media. Often she combines pencil drawings with painting and various materials in digital collages. She is a storyteller, often in picture book format, where image, text and design come together as a whole.
Emma was educated at the University of Kalmar, at Arizona State University and Pernby’s Painting School. She debuted in 2009 as a children's book illustrator with Mops (Pugs) written by Eva Lindström. Then came her own Brev till månen (Letter to the Moon) and the books about Memmo and Mysen. She has received several awards and scholarships, including the silver medal in the competition Kolla!, organized by the Swedish Illustrators organization and a working grant from the Swedish Authors' Fund. Emma was among the 31 illustrators who represented Sweden at the Children's Book Fair in Bologna in 2013.
Photo © Snezana Vucetic Bohm
