Alina is a children's book writer and illustrator, who grew up in Lithuania and now lives and works in Cambridge, UK. She graduated from the MA Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art in 2015. ‘I Love You, Bunny’ is her debut picture book about the fear of darkness, published in 2018 by Lincoln Children’s Books in the UK and the US and by Toyokan Books in Japan. It was longlisted for Klaus Flugge Prize 2019.
She received her BA degree in Graphics at Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania. Alina has been passionate about children’s books and animation since childhood and continues to create her own stories as well as illustrate fiction. She loves pencil and charcoal drawing, which she scans and colours digitally. Alina finds inspiration in nature and children.
Alina is a member and volunteer of SCBWI. She was selected in the Illustrator Showcase 2015-16 and was featured in Words & Pictures for winning the best portfolio at Winchester Conference 2015.
She organises scrawl-crawls for children’s book writers and illustrators in Cambridge, UK.
To learn about her debut picture book writing process, please read the interview with picture book writer Karlin Gray.
A Lithuanian magazine article about her picture book and art journey Skaitykite vaikams prieš miegą.
Alina’s twin sister Margarita is also a children’s book illustrator and author: Margarita Surnaite.
To contact Alina, please email: