Meet Máire Zepf and Andrew Whitson in the latest episode of the Graffeg Meet the Author Podcast. With producer and interviewer Keiran Manetta-Jones, Máire and Andrew tell all about their Rita series of children's picture books. Together they discuss how the Rita series first came about and the different language editions, offering you a unique insight into the illustrations and stories from the series.

Máire Zepf has written 12 books for children, from picture books to a YA verse novel. Winner of the KPMG Children’s Book of the Year, the Réics Carl Award and a White Raven in 2020, her books appear in 8 languages worldwide. The Co. Down author was the first Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland and is Artistic Director for Quotidian.

Andrew Whitson is an award-winning artist and Belfast native who likes to be called Mr Ando! He lives in an old house which is nestled discreetly on the side of a misty hill at the edge of a magic wood, below an enchanted castle in the shadow of a giant’s nose. His house looks down over Belfast Harbour, where the Titanic was built, and up at the Belfast Cavehill, where an American B-17 Flying Fortress bomber plane once crashed during World War II!

Mr Ando has illustrated over twenty books under his own name, the most recent of which being the Molly series with Malachy Doyle and the award-winning Rita series of picture books with Máire Zepf.