Simona Massa

Simona is an Italian-born visual storyteller based in the UK.

Originally from Naples, she studied graphic design in Rome before moving to London, where she worked in the field of branding for over a decade. She decided to pursue a career in publishing as a children’s book author and illustrator and studied on the Children’s Book Illustration MA at Cambridge School of Art, graduating in 2024 with a distinction.

Her illustrations tend to include a combination of wet and dry materials, as well as traditional and digital tools. She enjoys infusing her work with humour and emotions, striving for verbal and visual synthesis in line with her design background.

Simona was named the New Talent winner of the World Illustration Award in the Children’s Publishing category in 2023, and a finalist in the 61st edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair exhibition.