Lily Uivel
After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Lily found work making props in the New Zealand film industry, then as a surface designer in London. But since before she could remember, she loved telling stories more than anything else. She spent all of her spare time sketching and studying illustration. When Lily and her partner Rory left London and came home to New Zealand, Lily decided to give freelance illustration a chance.
She is now the illustrator of many children’s books, and the author of Big Bang Bread.
Lily has had books shortlisted in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2024 and 2025, and her books have been included in the Storylines Trust Notable Book Lists in 2023 and 2024.
Lily lives in a seaside village called Eastbourne with her assistant, She-Ra the dog, her partner Rory and their little boy Reed. She works from an office that overlooks the sea, and finds inspiration at the beach and walking in the hills behind her house.
