Where I live there are a lot of Italian and Greek immigrants and if you ask them a question about the early days in Melbourne, they’d just say, “Oh it was very hard, very hard. Published by McClelland & Stewart (2008). 'Tales from Outer Suburbia,' by Shaun Tan. But you know that contained in that simple statement there’s a whole adventure, and there’s a whole depth there, but it doesn’t communicate in the language. His English isn’t perfect and he will say something in a very abbreviated way about some experience he had coming to western Australia from Malaysia.

The idea that interested me the most was the inarticulateness of many immigrants that I know-my dad being one. I really love discontinuity, that dreamlike state of things like nonsequitors that have some undercurrent coherent meaning that’s on the surface.ĭid you originally plan for The Arrival to be wordless? is actually closer to my sketchbooks and closer to how I work when I don’t have an overriding project. While I was working on The Arrival, I started to work on this book, partly because of the urge to write-and also to switch styles and play with humor and have that immense variety. Tales from Outer Suburbia is so completely different. But I’ve learned that the key to illustrated books is to let the reader do the work.

I always worry that my work will seem obscure and that people will not know where to shelve it. I was surprised that people reacted so positively to it because I was expecting it would be a disadvantage, in some ways, with a wordless book. Were you surprised that The Arrival was such a hit in this country? In June 2009, The School Library Journal spoke with him about the perils of fame, the nature of his writing, and his inspiration. Levine), Shaun Tan continues to gain worldwide attention for his work.

Levine) and a collection of 15 stories ( Tales from Outer Suburbia, 2009, Scholastic/Arthur A. With a wordless debut novel ( The Arrival, 2007, Scholastic/Arthur A. This interview first appeared in The School Library Journal.

Tan is the author of numerous illustrated works, including The Arrival (2007) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009). Scholastic author and illustrator Shaun Tan shared some of the secrets behind his work in this interview.

Shaun tan interview the arrival