Marta Bartolj

Agent: Allison Hellegers

 2022 Ezra Jack Keats Award Winner

Marta Bartolj was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, in 1979. After graduating from the Arthouse College of Visual Arts, Ljubljana, in 2011, she pursued her postgraduate master’s studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana. There, she furthered her exploration in watercolour and ink illustration.

Martha is ever questioning the way others view the meaning of life, and she examines her surroundings and the environment from a variety of angles. These are the main drivers in her art—and have been since childhood—as she has always been passionately inspired by the world and people around her.

The wordless book she made for her final project in 2016 won a student Award of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana. That book was published as Kje si? (Where Are You?) by Miš Publishing in 2018, and received a special Prize as an outstanding wordless picture book at the 2018 Kristina Brenkova Awards. In 2019 it was selected for The White Ravens label. The book is also included into the honor list on the 4th Silent Book Collection: From the world to Lampedusa and back. In Slovenia it was recognized as a quality children's and youth book with the Golden Pearl Label. In 2020 it qualified for the final competition of BIBF Ananas Illustration Awards in Beijing. Her work was part of the BIBF Ananas International Illustration Exhibition.

The rights for Kje si? were bought by the Swiss publisher Beaschlin, by Kalimat, a publisher from United Arab Emirates and by Chronicle in the US (being published as Every Little Kindness in Fall 2020).

In 2020, the book Bo res vse v redu? (Will Everything Be Alright?, writer Cvetka Sokolov, illustration Marta Bartolj, Miš Publishing) was selected for The White Ravens label, it also get recognitions like The Golden Pearl Label for quality children's and youth books in Slovenia.

Marta lives and works in a small village, surrounded by nature. She enjoys walks in the forest with her lovely cat, Čopek. She loves to put on her illustrator’s shoes. They are the ones she feels most comfortable in.

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