Author Bio

Full Author-Illustrator Bio

Circle Yuen is a UK-based author-illustrator originally from Hong Kong. She creates picture books that explore how children experience family change, belonging and the shifting shape of home.

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Before becoming a picture-book maker, Circle spent over a decade working in gender-based violence prevention, community arts and social innovation. Her experience of bringing people and organisations together continues to inform the collaborative and community-minded way she approaches her work.

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She holds an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. Her picture-book practice combines observational drawing, narrative structure and visual metaphor, with an interest in the things that can be difficult to put into words.

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Her debut picture book, Our Dance (Graffeg, 2025), explores parental separation from a child’s perspective. Developed in partnership with the National Association of Child Contact Centres, the book has received international recognition, including being shortlisted for the 2026 Klaus Flugge Prize and selected for The White Ravens 2026 by the International Youth Library. Her second book Mama’s Wedding (Lantana Publishing, 2026), explores remarriage, family change and belonging through a child’s perspective. She is also the illustrator of Oakie (Graffeg, 2026).

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She lives and works from her home studio in Nottingham with her family.