{"id":4095,"date":"2016-07-05T10:57:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T16:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4095"},"modified":"2016-07-05T15:46:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T21:46:46","slug":"seven-questions-over-lunch-with-evan-turk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4095","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Lunch with Evan Turk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Long, long ago, like a pearl around a grain of sand, the fertile Kingdom of Morocco formed near the edge of the great, dry Sahara. It had fountains of cool, delicious water to quench the dangerous thirst of the desert,
and storytellers to bring the people together.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
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\nThis is supposed to be Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Evan Turk<\/a><\/strong> but it’s lunch instead, since I’m slow in getting started today. That’s okay, because Evan says he’s not a breakfast-eater anyway. He is, however, a fan of coffee, which we can have any time of day. Of course. <\/p>\n

Evan has illustrated what I think is one of the year’s most beautiful picture books, The Storyteller<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Atheneum, June 2016), which is the first book he’s both written and illustrated. (The book’s opening spread is pictured above.) It’s a story within a story within a story, and it’s a visual tour de force. In August, we’ll see his illustrations for the follow-up to Bethany Hegedus’<\/a><\/strong> and Arun Gandhi’s<\/a><\/strong> Grandfather Gandhi<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which was released in 2014 and was the book that first introduced readers to his artwork. In Be The Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, Bethany and Arun examine how wastefulness can lead to violence. <\/p>\n

Evan is here today to share lots of art from each book, as well as preliminary images of all sorts (boy howdy, does this guy do his research — and what beautiful research it is), and he talks a bit about what’s next for him. I thank him for visiting and, especially, for sharing so much art. <\/p>\n

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* * * * * * *<\/strong><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

Evan<\/font><\/strong>: Both! My first book as author\/illustrator, The Storyteller<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, was just published, and I\u2019ve always loved writing and illustrating my own stories.
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

Evan<\/font><\/strong>: <\/p>\n