Meet the author

Joanna Lisowiec.

Illustrator · United Kingdom

Joanna Lisowiec: printmaker-turned-illustrator whose bold, folk-art style brings folklore-rich stories like Sophie Anderson's The Thief Who Sang Storms to luminous life.

Joanna Lisowiec is an illustrator, designer and printmaker originally from Poland who studied illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and now works in the UK. Trained in printmaking, she fell in love with the bold, rustic qualities of the linocut and has since developed digital techniques that mimic the look of linocut and engraving, giving her work a traditional, folk-art feel within a contemporary workflow. That rich, atmospheric style makes her a natural fit for folklore-steeped storytelling. She illustrated Sophie Anderson's The Thief Who Sang Storms, a lyrical, Slavic-inspired fantasy set on a divided island of humans and bird-like alkonosts, bringing its themes of belonging, prejudice and grief to life in luminous imagery. For readers and families who love immersive, folklore-rich worlds, her illustration is a large part of the appeal.