Sheila Alvarado (Perú, 1979). Artist and writer by vocation, LGBTI activist at heart. Her illustrations range from illustrated stories that reflect her inner world to illustrations based on research on biodiversity, Peruvian identity, women's empowerment and LGTBI topics. She has written and illustrated eight books and her work has been exhibited both domestically and internationally. She has been awarded for her work in the fields of illustration, art, photography and children's storytelling.
She was nominated for the Eisner Awards in 2016, for the graphic novel City of Clowns, a graphic novel in co-authorship with the writer Daniel Alarcón. In 2017, she won the LGBTIQ Fund to Support Cultural Activism for Diversity sponsored by the European Commission and Hivos, and published The Waltz of Kites, an illustrated poetry book with which he won the 5th Biennial of Children's Poetry of the ICPNA.
In 2019, she won Peru's National Prize for Children's and Youth Literature and was the recipient of a creative funding from the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
In recent years, she has represented Peru as a writer in Luxembourg, as an illustrator in Bolivia and Chile, and as a visual artist in the United States.
A Sip of Tea
Regarding the motif that led her to write this book the author says: "In my house there has always been a tea pot. My family is of Chinese descent, of which only two inherited costumes remain: the food and the tea.
My grandmother used to teach my cousins and I how to serve tea. And I've always liked the belief of drinking tea as a ceremony, a moment that is always different, always unique."
In "A Sip of Tea" Sheila Alvarado has traced a story of strong symbolic and emotional content, a story to treasure in memory.
A cup of tea is a very small world: it seems that the only characters are the dark flavoured liquid waving inside and the hands holding the delicate porcelain. However, this world also includes a conversation, a morning, afternoon and evening. And it is also the setting for a beautiful love story.
Having Tea is the story of two people who sail over a cup of tea without being able to touch each other. The enchantment that keeps them castaways, forces them to spend their lives floating on sugar cubes while surviving to that enforced distance. Will they ever be reunited again?
The Sorceress
In The Sorceress we can see how easy it is to have your dreams stolen if you do not carefully protect them.
White Whale
Is it possible to change people into animals or is it possible to love animals as human equals? An ilustrated story about loss, waiting and hope.
