Interview with Shaun Tan

Until last month, a few would have recognised the name Shaun Tan. Now, he's an Oscar winner and $760,000 richer, after taking out the world's pre-eminent award for children's literature. The esteemed Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards recognises the 37-year old's entire body of work. It's unlikely Shaun Tan will secure a gong for this latest offering but, as he says, awards aren't a motivation. That's easy to say in a month when Oscars and financial wind-falls prevail, but spoken like a true artist it's recognition that resonates. "It's kind of quite overwhelming that such an esteemed jury has looked at my work and very closely against all these other nominees and thought that it was worthy of mention". Books reflect his upbringing as a mixed-race child. Shaun Tan is a story teller through and through, by word and pictures he crafts books aimed at young adults, reflecting on his own upbringing as a mixed-race child. "I felt a little bit like an outsider, I grew up in a suburban area of WA that was not very multicultural so I felt quite different in that way." The SBS program "Tales From A Suitcase" helped shape Shaun's own desire to share his experiences through his art. "I think there was something about the way it was presented in such an intimate and honest way that got me thinking", Tan said. "Belonging to a place doesn't necessarily mean fitting in. You can be different and still belong." The vivid pictures and pointed words captivated judges in the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, considered by many as the world's pre-eminent childrens literature awards. Shaun Tan is a masterly visual story teller pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books his pictorial worlds constitute a separate world where nothing is self evident and anything is possible Prize 'means more than the Oscar'. The 37-year-old says the prize means even more than last month's Oscar, but more than anything he hopes the recognition will help spread the message that motivates him more than any award: "The moral, if there is anything in this story, is to observe the things that make you unique as a person and maximise them." Tan is now considering film adaptations of his books.He will fly to Sweden to receive the$760,000 prize on May 31 and plans to donate a portion of the prize money to the Indigenous Literacy Project.