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Short Bio: Vikram Madan grew up in India where he really wanted to be a poet and cartoonist, but ended up an engineer. Many years later, he finally came to his senses and followed his heart back into writing and drawing. When not making whimsical paintings in his Seattle studio, Vikram creates fun books for kids, including the award-winning poetry collections A HATFUL OF DRAGONS, THE BUBBLE COLLECTOR, and LORD OF THE BUBBLES, the early reader series BOBO & PUP-PUP, the 2023 Geisel Award Honor book OWL & PENGUIN, and the graphic novel series ZOONI TALES.
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'Self-Portrait with Vandal' - Acrylic & Charcoal, 24"x18"
Too-Much-Information Back Story:
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 as an editorial cartoonist 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 had to fall back on his more-practical love - programming - to pay the bills, which process took many, many years, and ended in a middle-management career that made him far more miserable than he would admit to himself, even on the best (or worst) of days.
Eventually Vikram realized that he could no longer ignore his callings - that there were books only he could write, and art only he could make - and that the decision to follow his dreams was not a logical one of the mind, but an irrational one of the heart. One fine day he pulled the ripcord, quit his job (without any plan!), and bumbled around in his basement trying to figure out what to do next.
A chance conversation led him to discover Seattle's Gage Academy of Art where Vikram spent the next two years honing his drawing and painting skills, after which he completed the ArtistTrust EDGE Professional Development Program for Visual Artists, and has been working as a full-time professional artist ever since, focused on whimsical studio paintings and public art projects 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.
These self-publishing experiments gave Vikram a whole new respect for traditional publishing and with a little bit of luck and persistence, Vikram 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' was published by Astra/WordSong in 2020 to much acclaim, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, chosen as a finalist for the Texas BlueBonnet Award and the South Dakota Prairie Bloom Award, featured on numerous Best Book lists by Kirkus Reviews, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education and others, selected as one of the only poetry books on the American Library Association's ALSC 2021 Summer Reading List, being turned into a musical theater performance, and has been 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) and two graphic novel projects for Holiday House Books for Kids: OWL & PENGUIN (2022) and ZOONI TALES (2023). In 2023, OWL & PENGUIN won a GEISEL AWARD HONOR from the American Library Association.
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 also has several Art Books available from Amazon.Com. He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and represented by Stimola Literary Studio.
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
Press:
* 2023: The Seattle Times times interviews Vikram, on choosing creativity and about Owl & Penguin.
* 2019: Cover feature in Seattle's Real Change weekly paper
* 2017: Watch a TV interview on Kent TV from 2017
* 2017: Listen to a radio interview on ArtBeat NW from 2017
* 2014: Read a profile of Vikram's journey here in this 2014 front-page article in the Redmond Reporter.
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 as an editorial cartoonist 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 had to fall back on his more-practical love - programming - to pay the bills, which process took many, many years, and ended in a middle-management career that made him far more miserable than he would admit to himself, even on the best (or worst) of days.
Eventually Vikram realized that he could no longer ignore his callings - that there were books only he could write, and art only he could make - and that the decision to follow his dreams was not a logical one of the mind, but an irrational one of the heart. One fine day he pulled the ripcord, quit his job (without any plan!), and bumbled around in his basement trying to figure out what to do next.
A chance conversation led him to discover Seattle's Gage Academy of Art where Vikram spent the next two years honing his drawing and painting skills, after which he completed the ArtistTrust EDGE Professional Development Program for Visual Artists, and has been working as a full-time professional artist ever since, focused on whimsical studio paintings and public art projects 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.
These self-publishing experiments gave Vikram a whole new respect for traditional publishing and with a little bit of luck and persistence, Vikram 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' was published by Astra/WordSong in 2020 to much acclaim, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, chosen as a finalist for the Texas BlueBonnet Award and the South Dakota Prairie Bloom Award, featured on numerous Best Book lists by Kirkus Reviews, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education and others, selected as one of the only poetry books on the American Library Association's ALSC 2021 Summer Reading List, being turned into a musical theater performance, and has been 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) and two graphic novel projects for Holiday House Books for Kids: OWL & PENGUIN (2022) and ZOONI TALES (2023). In 2023, OWL & PENGUIN won a GEISEL AWARD HONOR from the American Library Association.
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 also has several Art Books available from Amazon.Com. He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and represented by Stimola Literary Studio.
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
Press:
* 2023: The Seattle Times times interviews Vikram, on choosing creativity and about Owl & Penguin.
* 2019: Cover feature in Seattle's Real Change weekly paper
* 2017: Watch a TV interview on Kent TV from 2017
* 2017: Listen to a radio interview on ArtBeat NW from 2017
* 2014: Read a profile of Vikram's journey here in this 2014 front-page article in the Redmond Reporter.
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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.