Spotlight.
Shirley Hottier
INTRODUCTION
A Former architect/placemaker Shirley Hottier is a Creole/ French self-taught illustrator for children and young adults' books as well as editorial and commercial illustrations, with a passion for maps. In 2021, she won the Faber Illustration FAB Prize and has since then worked on a illustrating picture books and poetry books for children published in the US and the UK. She's based in Edinburgh where she resides with her young family.
INTERVIEW
How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?
Just before the pandemic, I was working as a placemaker in an architectural office in London and became very interested in using illustration to help stakeholders imagine a new vision for their neighbourhood. I could see that it resonated a lot with people and I started being more and more interested in developing my style outside of my day job. I realised what I love the most about living in city is the diversity of people, colours, fashion styles and situations that surrounds me. It is primarily people who inspire me.
What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?
Nowadays, I've been working mostly illustrating for children's books. It is still the case that few characters of picture books are diverse and by making the active choice to reverse that, I want to participate in normalising new practices in this industry. I find it very important to celebrate and show the rich diversity of the British society to children from a very young age. Children's books, to me, need to reflect their world, to open it up and to make each of them feel seen, and empowered.
What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?
I had the chance to illustrate the poetry anthology of British-Guyanese Poet John Agard " The Poetry World of John Agard" (Otter-Barry Books, 2025). A Caribbean Creole, John's work is filled with cultural references and themes which - as a mixed French/Creole from the Indian Ocean myself- connected with me and the history of my family deeply. Working on his books made me feel closer to my heritage and put many many smiles on my face.
What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?
I think you should tell yourself that you can do it, that yes, it can be hard but do not give up, do not think this is not for you. You can be where you want to be as much as any other person. Be kind to others and support your peers, be part of a creative community to help you keep going. Try jump on every opportunity you see and do not pause to wonder if you should or not do it. Do it and think after!
What are you currently working on?
I am working on illustrating another children's poetry book. This time, the author is Joseph Coelho, who was the Children's Laureate from 2022-2024. It is called "Rapunzel is a Lettuce" and will be published in September 2026 by Otter-Barry Books. I've been also working on developing my debut picture book as an author-illustrator and hope I can share more about it very soon