Scarlett Robinson-Kean returns with part three of her comic on being the recipient of an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Award, and she’s been pitching to publishers at the Storylines Hui.
Scarlett Robinson-Kean has been working with mentor Giselle Clarkson on a pitch to publishers. She reports back on how it went, and her first Storylines Hui.
You can read the other instalments of the Springboard Comic here, more about the 2026 Storylines Hui here and read Kate De Goldi’s ‘Midnight at the Edge of Reading’ presentation on the Storylines website.
Scarlett Robinson-Kean
Scarlett Robinson-Kean is an illustrator based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. With a specialty in narrative illustration, Scarlett has worked across publications, editorial illustration, animation, murals and community kaupapa. In early 2025 Scarlett completed her Master of Creative Practice at Unitec, receiving first-class honours for her research titled Wilding: The role of the bizarre in illustrated narratives. Her accompanying graphic novel, To seed, to sprout, to seed, a strange and twisting story about a girl with a plant growing in her chest, received a Bronze Pin at the 2025 Best Design Awards. Drawing on the wild and curious imaginations of tamariki, Scarlett’s practice seeks to capture a bit of that childish joy through illustration and storytelling. She is passionate about community, and believes in the accessibility of illustration—a deceptively simple craft with communication at its core.