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Short Bio: Seattle author-artist Vikram Madan makes fun art and creates award-winning books for kids, including the Geisel Honor winning OWL & PENGUIN series, the award-winning funny poetry collections A HATFUL OF DRAGONS, THE BUBBLE COLLECTOR, & LORD OF THE BUBBLES, the early reader series BOBO & PUP-PUP, and the graphic-novel-in-rhyme ZOONI TALES. His whimsical paintings and public art appear all over the Seattle area.
Longer Bio: Vikram Madan is the acclaimed author/illustrator of more than a dozen books for young readers, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor winning, and ALA Notable book, OWL & PENGUIN, the award-winning funny poetry collections A HATFUL OF DRAGONS, THE BUBBLE COLLECTOR, and LORD OF THE BUBBLES, the early reader graphic chapter series BOBO & PUP-PUP, and the graphic-novel-in-rhyme ZOONI TALES. His books have been honored by Kirkus Reviews, American Library Association, Junior Library Guild, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education, School Library Journal blogs, and have appeared on multiple state award and Best Books of the Years lists.
Vikram was born and raised in India, where he really wanted to be a cartoonist, but ended up an engineer. He spent many years working in the tech industry before finally founding the courage to follow his heart into living the creative life as a professional visual artist and author-illustrator. He currently lives, paints, draws, writes, exhibits, and creates public art in the Seattle area. Past honors include editorial cartooning awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Press Association, and even a movie-making award from the Seattle Times. He is regularly invited to present to students, artist groups, and children's book conferences. His poetry also appears in several anthologies. HONORS AND AWARDS: Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel Honor, Texas Bluebonnet Book Award (Finalist), South Dakota Prairie Bloom Award (Finalist), Moonbeam Silver and Bronze Book Awards for Children’s Poetry, Multiple Junior Library Guild GOLD STANDARD Selections, American Library Association Notable Book selection, Starred Reviews from Kirkus and Council for Children's Books, Best Book of the Year Lists (Kirkus, New York Public LIbrary, Bank Street College of Education, Denver Public Library, Evanston Public Library, School Library Journal Fuse8 Blog, ALA ALSC), Editorial Cartooning Awards (Society of Professional Journalists, Washington Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Association), painting awards.
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'Self-Portrait with Vandal' - Acrylic & Charcoal, 24"x18"
Back Story, with Too-Much-Information:
Vikram Madan was born and raised in India where, despite developing an early love for humor, poetry, art, and cartooning, he ended up becoming (surprise!) an engineer.
Despite a short stint drawing editorial cartoons for a daily newspaper (which work won him numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Washington Press Association and others, and led to inclusion in the prestigious 'Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year' annual collection) Vikram failed to become a professional cartoonist, and fell back on a more-practical passion - programming - to pay the bills, which led to a long career in tech where he eventually got lost in the swamps of middle-management.
Despite a stable career, Vikram found it impossible to ignore his callings and, convinced that there were books only he could write and art only he could make, he (after much agonizing) left his job, trusted the universe, and took the plunge into the unknown to follow his heart.
After some directionless bumbling, Vikram spent two years pursuing art studies at Seattle's Gage Academy of Art, after which he completed the ArtistTrust EDGE Professional Development Program for Visual Artists. He has been working as a full-time professional visual artist ever since, focused on whimsical studio paintings and public art projects that appear all over the Seattle area.
In 2013, Vikram self-published his first collection of humorous poetry titled 'The Bubble Collector: Poems & Drawings by Vikram Madan', which was repeatedly compared to the work of Shel Silverstein, won a 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Poetry, and was described by one reviewer as "The BEST Poetry book of 2013". Vikram's second poetry collection, also self-published, 'Lord of the Bubbles: And Other Funny Poems' was released in 2018 and won the 2019 Moonbeam Bronze Award for Children's Poetry.
The challenges of selling and distributing self-published poetry books convinced Vikram to pursue traditional publishing and Vikram eventually landed representation with Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio. Vikram's third poetry collection 'A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems' (Astra/WordSong, 2020) received much acclaim including receiving a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, being selected as a finalist for the Texas BlueBonnet Award and the South Dakota Prairie Bloom Award, being featured on seven Best Book of the Year lists (by Kirkus Reviews, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education and others), being selected as one of the only poetry books on the American Library Association's ALSC 2021 Summer Reading List, being turned into a theater performance by the University of North Carolina, and also being re-released in India by HarperCollins India.
In addition to poetry, Vikram's other children's books include the early-reader graphic chapter series titled BOBO & PUP-PUP (Penguin Random House 2021, illustrated by NYT-Bestselling illustrator Nicola Slater, starred review from the Council of Children's Books), the beginning reader graphic novel OWL & PENGUIN (Holiday House, 2022, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and ZOONI TALES (Holiday House 2023, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection). In 2023, OWL & PENGUIN won a GEISEL AWARD HONOR from the American Library Association, awarded to "the most distinguished American Books for beginning readers"), and was selected as an ALA Notable Book of the Year.
Vikram currently displays his contemporary whimsical art in local shows and galleries all around the Seattle area, and enjoys sharing his love for humor, poetry, drawing and books with kids of all ages via in-person and virtual school visits. He has also created several Art Books. He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). He is regularly invited to give talks to artist groups, to children's book authors and illustrators, and at kidlit industry conferences.
Oh, and somewhere in there Vikram's short puppet movie, 'The Three Little Space Pigs', was a winner in the Seattle Times 3-Minute Movie contest and was screened at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).
Follow Vikram's work on social media: @ArtByVikram
Click here for Press Articles, Interviews, and Videos.
Vikram Madan was born and raised in India where, despite developing an early love for humor, poetry, art, and cartooning, he ended up becoming (surprise!) an engineer.
Despite a short stint drawing editorial cartoons for a daily newspaper (which work won him numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Washington Press Association and others, and led to inclusion in the prestigious 'Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year' annual collection) Vikram failed to become a professional cartoonist, and fell back on a more-practical passion - programming - to pay the bills, which led to a long career in tech where he eventually got lost in the swamps of middle-management.
Despite a stable career, Vikram found it impossible to ignore his callings and, convinced that there were books only he could write and art only he could make, he (after much agonizing) left his job, trusted the universe, and took the plunge into the unknown to follow his heart.
After some directionless bumbling, Vikram spent two years pursuing art studies at Seattle's Gage Academy of Art, after which he completed the ArtistTrust EDGE Professional Development Program for Visual Artists. He has been working as a full-time professional visual artist ever since, focused on whimsical studio paintings and public art projects that appear all over the Seattle area.
In 2013, Vikram self-published his first collection of humorous poetry titled 'The Bubble Collector: Poems & Drawings by Vikram Madan', which was repeatedly compared to the work of Shel Silverstein, won a 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Poetry, and was described by one reviewer as "The BEST Poetry book of 2013". Vikram's second poetry collection, also self-published, 'Lord of the Bubbles: And Other Funny Poems' was released in 2018 and won the 2019 Moonbeam Bronze Award for Children's Poetry.
The challenges of selling and distributing self-published poetry books convinced Vikram to pursue traditional publishing and Vikram eventually landed representation with Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio. Vikram's third poetry collection 'A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems' (Astra/WordSong, 2020) received much acclaim including receiving a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, being selected as a finalist for the Texas BlueBonnet Award and the South Dakota Prairie Bloom Award, being featured on seven Best Book of the Year lists (by Kirkus Reviews, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education and others), being selected as one of the only poetry books on the American Library Association's ALSC 2021 Summer Reading List, being turned into a theater performance by the University of North Carolina, and also being re-released in India by HarperCollins India.
In addition to poetry, Vikram's other children's books include the early-reader graphic chapter series titled BOBO & PUP-PUP (Penguin Random House 2021, illustrated by NYT-Bestselling illustrator Nicola Slater, starred review from the Council of Children's Books), the beginning reader graphic novel OWL & PENGUIN (Holiday House, 2022, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and ZOONI TALES (Holiday House 2023, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection). In 2023, OWL & PENGUIN won a GEISEL AWARD HONOR from the American Library Association, awarded to "the most distinguished American Books for beginning readers"), and was selected as an ALA Notable Book of the Year.
Vikram currently displays his contemporary whimsical art in local shows and galleries all around the Seattle area, and enjoys sharing his love for humor, poetry, drawing and books with kids of all ages via in-person and virtual school visits. He has also created several Art Books. He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). He is regularly invited to give talks to artist groups, to children's book authors and illustrators, and at kidlit industry conferences.
Oh, and somewhere in there Vikram's short puppet movie, 'The Three Little Space Pigs', was a winner in the Seattle Times 3-Minute Movie contest and was screened at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).
Follow Vikram's work on social media: @ArtByVikram
Click here for Press Articles, Interviews, and Videos.
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Photo Credit: Jahnvi Madan
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Photo by Samantha Pak, Redmond Reporter
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"I Paint, Therefore I Am" - Self Portrait of the Artist as a never-finished work-in-progress...
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Unless otherwise noted, all images and text on this website are copyright Vikram Madan. Please do not reproduce without permission.