Sandhya Parappukkaran

Author

Sandhya Parappukkaran is a picture book author who loves to share stories and her culture. She’ll bring a bundle of saris to unravel and wear. She talks about writing own voices stories, plays games to unlock creativity and move your story forward, and shares craft activities based on her books.

Where were you born?

I was born in Germany and came to Melbourne at the age of 3. I went to high school in Thrissur, Kerala in India and currently reside in Brisbane.

What other jobs have you had?

I have been a research assistant, a food microbiologist – one of the highlights of this job was seeing the wonderful colours and shapes bacteria make on different nutrient agar plates, and a food technologist working in the R&D lab at factory that makes premixes for the smallgoods industry. I’ve worked as a support worker and a kids art program facilitator. I’ve also been a volunteer tutor at my local community English class for adult ESL students and I am the blog coordinator and part of the coordination team for my writing group, Write Links.

What themes are recurring in your work?

My picture book stories have themes of embracing your cultural heritage, celebrating differences and being proud of who you are.

What have been the highlights of your career?

The accolades received for my first picture book, The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name have been a lovely highlight. These include the 2022 CBCA New Illustrator Award, finalist in the 2022 Queensland Literary Awards, shortlisted in the 2022 West Australian Young Readers Book Award, longlisted in the 2022 ABDA awards and highly commended in the 2022 NSW Premiers Literary Award.

Where have your works been published?

Australia, New Zealand & UK. Coming soon in North America & Korea.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about sharing culture to enhance and enrich our understanding about one another. I love picture books as an art form and narrative medium that all ages can enjoy. And advocate for libraries as safe spaces for community engagement and immersion in art and literature. I’m enthusiastic about having discussions on identity and what that means.

Haven’t I seen you before?

I have appeared at the 10^th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary of Art festival at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. You might have seen me at kidlit events in and around to Brisbane. Also, if you follow me on Instagram, I share quite a lot of my writing and book related journey on my page.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

English is my second language. We speak Malayalam and English at home. I love encouraging everyone to learn their first language or learn another language. Bilingual picture books and wordless picture books are another passion of mine.