Quentin Blake  and his three fellow-Children’s Laureates unveil Holograms at Unicorn Theatre

Four holographic portraits of the last four Children’s Laureates were unveiled at the Unicorn Theatre in London at 12.30pm on Tuesday 5th June 2007.  All four Children’s Laureates came together for the first time ever to see their portraits.

Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson have all posed for the Unicorn Theatre’s photographic Artist-in-Residence, Lisa Barnard.  Lisa collaborated on this project with holographer Rob Munday who has previously created a holographic portrait of The Queen.

These three-dimensional head shots show  the four authors reading from the books they most enjoyed writing.  The holograms are permanently exhibited at the Unicorn Theatre portraits, emphasising the essential connection between the visual and performing arts and literature.

Unicorn hold regular Meet the Author events in which children’s writers hold conversations with young audiences.

Following the unveiling, The Guardian’s children’s books editor, Julia Eccleshare, chaired a discussion with the Laureates about their own legacy and the advice they have for the future of the Laureateship.
www.unicorntheatre.com

Quentin Blake at The Guardian Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye

Saturday 2 June 2007 at 2.30, Barclays Wealth Pavilion
Quentin drew and talked about his best known books and some of his recent work. For information go to www.hayfestival.com/wales

Quentin Blake, parrots and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts

until 29 April 2007

Quentin Blake is well known as a parrot fan and supporter. He recently opened a new exhibition The Parrot in Art:From Dürer to Elizabeth Butterworth  at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham. The exhibition explored the parrot’s role in art and featured loans from collections such as the National Gallery, Tate Britain, the Royal Collection and a work by Quentin himself Cockatoos at Christmas.

Quentin Blake with Barber Institute Director, Richard Verdi and fellow parrot artist  Elizabeth Butterworth

Edward Moss Photography

New building in Quentin’s old school named after him

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School was Quentin’s secondary school (he was taught  English there by a man called JH Walsh who he says really inspired him). It’s now recognising its famous ex-student by naming its new art block after him. Quentin was there on 29 March 2007 to declare the building open.