Sara Fanelli

Sara Fanelli was born in 1969 in Florence, where she studied for a Diploma di Maturita at the Liceo Classico Michelangelo before coming to England, where she studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School, Camberwell School of Art, and the Royal College of Art, London.
She has undertaken illustration work for various publications, including the New York Times, the Independent on Sunday and the New Scientist. Her clients include The Royal Mail, BBC Worldwide, and Tate.

During her second year at Camberwell School of Art, her book, Button (1994), won the 1992 Macmillan Prize for Children’s Picture Book Illustration. Her later books Wolf! (1997) and It’s Dreamtime (1999) were shortlisted for a National Art Library Illustration Award, and in 2004, her illustrated translation of Pinocchio won this award.

Recent projects include a new book for Tate Publishing entitled Sometimes I think, Sometimes I am (2007), with introductions by Marina Warner and Steven Heller. This is a book of images inspired by World Literature.

In 2006 she was elected an Honorary RDI (Royal Designer for Industry), the first woman illustrator to receive this honour.