About

Matt Ottley is an internationally acclaimed award-winning artist, author and composer, with more than forty picture books to his name. He is the 2024 Australian illustrator nominee for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. 

Matt’s intermodal work for adults/young adults, The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness, won the 2023 Aurealis Awards Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book, as well as winning the Special Award-Professional category in the 2023 World Fantasy Awards . The film version of the book received a Special Mention at the 2023 BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Awards.

In 2021 Matt’s collaboration with author Meg McKinlay, How to Make a Bird, was joint winner in the Children’s Literature category of the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. It was also the CBCA’s Picture Book of the Year, won the Western Australian Premier’s Prize for Writing for Children, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards. Many of his books have been shortlisted for the CBCA awards.

In 2019 Matt was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards for his work on The Incredible Freedom Machines by indigenous author Kirli Saunders.

In 2015 Matt was awarded the Patricia Wrightson Prize in the New South Wales Premier’s Award for his illustrations in Teacup (by author Rebecca Young), and for the same work he received the prestigious Australian Honour Book Award (in 2017) from the International Board on Books for Young People, IBBY. 

His groundbreaking multi-modal work, Requiem for a Beast, won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Picture Book of the Year Award in 2009 as well as the Queensland Premier’s Award for YA Literature. It was selected for the White Ravens catalogue in 2008.

Many of Matt’s books have been shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Awards.

Matt is an Endorsed Yamaha Musician and for the past decade he has been working with The Literature Centre in Western Australia, Yamaha and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) on The Sound of Picture BooksTM, in which he sets his books to music for multi-modal performances (moving image, music, narration and physical theatre). These performances have reached over 20,000 students.

Matt acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which he lives and works. He pays his respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Published Books

Music Composition – The Sound of Picture Books

Intermodal music/performance works

  • The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness: 50-minute multimodal work containing images, music and narration. The music is scored for large orchestra (76 piece), 40 voice choir and solo tenor by Matt Ottley, 2022. Guest composition by Alf Demasi.
  • How to Make a Bird: 11-minute multimodal work containing images, Meg McKinlay’s narration of her text for the book How to Make a Bird, and music for string quintet, piano, French horn and clarinet by Matt Ottley, 2021
  • Afloat in Venice: 11-minute multimodal work containing images, Tina Wilson’s narration of her text for the book Afloat in Venice, and music for string quintet, piano, French horn and clarinet by Matt Ottley, 2021
  • The Incredible Freedom Machines: 8-minute multimodal work containing images, Kirli Saunder’s narration of her text for the book The Incredible Freedom Machines, and music for string quintet and piano by Matt Ottley, 2019
  • Dumazi and the Big Yellow Lion: 30-minute multimodal work containing images from the book Dumazi and the Big Yellow Lion. Music composed for small orchestra with guest composition by Valanga Khoza (narration, lyrics and playing of traditional zulu instruments), 2018.
  • Teacup: 40-minute multimodal work containing animations, images and narrated text from the award winning book Teacup.  Music for chamber orchestra (Piano, 1 x violin, 1 x cello, 1 x double bass, recorder quartet, organ, recorded natural sounds, soprano and alto) by Matt Ottley, 2016
  • Home and Away: 18-minute multimodal work containing images, the narrated text from the book Home & Away, and music for symphony orchestra and soprano by Matt Ottley, 2014
  • Parachute: 8-minute multimodal work containing images, the narrated text from the book Parachute, and music for string quintet and piano by Matt Ottley, 2014
  • Tree: 8-minute multimodal work containing images, Danny Parker’s narration of his text for the book Tree, and music for string quintet and piano by Matt Ottley, 2013
  • Requiem for a Beast: 30-minute multimodal work containing images and music (no narration). Music composed by Matt Ottley for string quintet, piano, harpsichord, soprano, tenor (traditional Bundjalung singing), 2007.

Print media articles and illustrations

  • School Magazine, NSW Various illustrations since 2004
  • Beneath the Skin, May 2002 Scan vol 21, no 2
  • Lesley Rees lecture, 2008

Exhibitions of visual arts

Matt has exhibited paintings in the following major galleries and has artworks in private and public collections around the world:

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