KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Matt Cosgrove was born and grew up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, Australia. As a child, his love for literature was sparked by the brilliance, and naughtiness, of Roald Dahl and Raymond Briggs. And if he didn't have a book in his hand, he had a pencil, practicing drawing. While other kids played with their Masters of the Universe figurines, Matt posed them in scenes and then sketched them.
Matt later went on and studied a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication at university and majored in illustration. His passion for the interplay between prose and pictures has seen some slight detours in his career path—including Creative Director at Australia's number one fashion magazine marie claire, Lecturer in Comic Art at the University of Western Sydney, and a tragically short-lived stint as one of the guys who drew the animations for the television show, Burgo's CatchPhrase! Over the course of 20 years, Matt has worked in the publishing industry as an author, illustrator and designer. He has collaborated on, illustrated and written multiple books including his Epic Fail Tales series, My Dad is a Robot and his most recent picture book series, Macca the Alpaca.
Matt keeps a notebook and pen handy at all times so he can jot down anything that pops into his head. It might be words or a book title or a storyline or a character. Sometimes it ends up being nothing and sometimes it blossoms into a whole book.
Matt lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 19th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.