Prof Gary Crew: Critical Visual Literacy: The Creative Collaboration Between Author and Illustrator

Professor Gary Crew lives in Maleny, South East Queensland. He lectures in Creative Writing at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore. A graduate of the University of Queensland (Masters in Literature; specialising in Post-Colonial Studies), he taught English in Queensland High Schools for 18 years. He took his Doctorate in Creative Writing at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Gary has been internationally published since 1986 (The Inner Circle, Heinemann, London) and has won the Australian Children’s book of the Year 4 times: twice for his novels, twice for his illustrated books. Gary has also been awarded the American Children’s Book of Distinction, twice short listed for the Edgar Allen Poe Mystery Fiction Award in the USA, the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction, the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, the New South Wales Premier’s Award, the Victorian Premier’s Award, the Wilderness Award for Children’s Writing and the Royal Geographic Society Whitley Award.

His over 100 short stories, novels and illustrated books are published all over the world. Gary regularly addresses and conducts Literary and Creative Writing workshops for International audiences of both students and teachers. Gary’s reputation for innovation in the illustrated book and its impact on visual literacy is borne out by Shaun Tan’s comment: ‘the golden rule of our partnership as author and illustrator was to never explain each other’s words or pictures, to never illustrate what the words are telling you, and never describe what the pictures represent’. (Shaun Tan, 2015, Preface to the 25th year anniversary edition of Gary Crew’s Strange Objects)

Gary’s latest novel is Voicing the Dead (Ford St, 2015), which explores the impact of the wreck of the Charles Eaton off the Queensland coast in 1834. He continues to innovate in the design of illustrated books with The Visions of Ichabod X, illustrated by Paul O’Sullivan (Harbour, 2015).