Publisher's synopsis
A unique 128-page, textless graphic novel, in black, white and sepia, The Arrival draws its inspiration from tales of migrants in past and recent times. The central character is a middle-aged man who arrives in a strange new place and tries to find a place to live, a job and a handle on a new language. He encounters many challenges, all described entirely through visual sequences. The absence of words emphasises the strangeness of the situation and the loneliness experienced by many migrants, but the ending is full of affirmation and hope, when the wife and son the migrant had to leave behind are finally able to join him in their new homeland.
Awards
- Winner 2006 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, Premier’s Prize
- Winner 2006 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, Children’s Books
- Winner 2007 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award
- Winner 2007 Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year
- Winner 2008 Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book for Là où vont nos pères (French edition of The Arrival)
- Winner 2011 Peter Pan Award (Swedish translation of The Arrival)
- Nominated 2008 Hugo Award for Best Related Book
- Nominated 2008 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the ‘good drawer’ which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. He graduated from the University of WA in 1995 with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature, and currently works full-time as a freelance artist and author in Melbourne.
Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since become best known for illustrated books that deal with social, political and historical subjects through surreal, dream-like imagery. Books such as The Rabbits, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival have been widely translated throughout Europe, Asia and South America, and enjoyed by readers of all ages. Shaun has also worked as a theatre designer, and worked as a concept artist for the films Horton Hears a Who and Pixar’s WALL–E. He is currently directing a short film with Passion Pictures Australia; his latest book is Rules of Summer (October 2013).
Shaun is the winner of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren prize, the world’s richest children’s literature award. The award described Shaun as ‘a masterly visually storyteller’. The film adaptation of The Lost Thing won the Oscar for best animated short film in 2011.
