Selime Okuyan
Turkish born with Uzbek roots lives in New York with her husband, son and pooch, Lola. She earned a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, studied painting at the Art Students League, and a recent Highlights Foundation Storyteller Fellowship recipient. She’s received grants and fellowships from Artist in the Marketplace at the Bronx Museum, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Pamela Joseph Fellowship, Soho20, and a National Arts Club membership among others. She has worked as an illustrator, portrait painter and multi media artist using a variety of mediums and tools, repurposed objects, and recently Procreate and monotype printing. She recently joined the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators and the12x12 Community of Writers to deepen her focus on picture book and graphic novel projects based on Central Asian fairytales and folktales, as well as personal stories of parents and grandparents.