Warrior Cats from behind the scenes – a unique meeting with the Nowa Baśń publishing house!

Ready to see the behind the scenes of one of the most popular young fantasy series? This is your chance! The Literature Zone will be visited by a team from the Nowa Baśń publishing house, responsible for the Polish edition of the Warrior Cats series. This is a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes at the creation of books that have won a place in the hearts of readers around the world. In addition to meeting Victoria Holmes, the originator and main author, you will also learn about the process of translating stories created under the pseudonym of Erin Hunter, or how Polish book covers and illustrations are created. Prepare your questions – the meeting will be full of fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories!

Warriors’ team – who will visit us?

Victoria Holmes – born in the English county of Berkshire. She grew up on a farm, learning to ride horses from the age of two. Even as a child, she loved to read, but also write her own stories. She studied English philology at the University of Oxford, whose beautiful old buildings awakened her interest in history. After graduation, she took a year off, during which she worked with horses. Later, she took up a job as an English teacher. When she came to the conclusion that teaching was not for her, she became an editor at Working Partners. Vicky is the editor of the Warrior Cats series. She creates an outline of the plot, and Kate and Cherith write it out. Holmes is also responsible for the continuity and consistency of the series. She comes up with the titles of the books, and the pen name “Erin Hunter” was also her idea. When she was younger, her family and friends called her “Mouse,” and her name, according to the official Warriors website, is Mousepaw. Victoria loves to bake chocolate cakes, hang out with friends, plan home renovations, and come up with new stories.

Johanna Tarkela – is a Finnish-born digital artist currently living in the UK, specialising in realism and creating visually believable and atmospheric images in Photoshop. Since 2015, when she got her bachelor’s degree in illustration at Norwich University of the Arts, she has been working exclusively as a freelancer. Her art is greatly influenced by the surrounding nature – both animals and the environment – there is something special in each texture, which makes the artist love what she does. Recently, she has worked with LBYR, HarperCollins, Hachette, as well as Sanoma and the Smithsonian. And her work in Nowa Baśnia resulted in, among others, covers for “The Fourth Apprentice”, “Fading Echoes”, “Night Whispers”, “Sign of the Moon” or “The Forgotten Warrior”, as well as renewed covers for “Into the Wild”, “Fire and Ice”, “Forest of Secrets”, “Rising Storm”, “A Dangerous Path” and “The Darkest Hour”.

Manuel “Treelancer” Castañón – an illustrator and concept artist from Mexico. He is the latest illustrator for the Warrior Cats series, whose works will be published in the seventh arc of the series. Manuel is a self-taught man who runs a YouTube channel in his spare time, and professionally cooperates with companies such as Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, CD Projekt RED, or 11bits studios.

Anna “Akreon” Podedworna – a Polish illustrator cooperating with Nowa Baśń since 2019, when she made her debut with the cover of “Yellowfang’s Secret”. Since then, six books from the Warrior Cats series have been published with her illustrations. Akreon also cooperates with pop culture giants such as CD Projekt RED, Magic: The Gathering or Disney.

Aleksandra IDRIL Jabłońska – is a Polish illustrator whose main source of inspiration is nature. In her works, she presents native plant species and various creatures, from cats to fantastic beasts. You can know her works from selected covers and gadgets of the Warrior Cats series, as well as from the illustrations inside the “Battle Guide”.

Urszula “Kordian” Przybylska – a Polish storyboardist, illustrator and creator of comic book zines, with a passion for animation. She is responsible for the preproduction of Polish and foreign animated series, such as “Basia”, “Frycek: Mały Chopin” or “Odo”. Her illustrations can be found for example on the covers and appendices to the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter.

Alicja Siemiątkowska – has been making traditional and digital art for years. For the Nowa Baśń publishing house, she created two covers of the Warrior Cats series. She teaches courses in digital painting, and as a freelancer she deals with computer graphics and illustration, which is her great passion.

Wojtek Cajgner – a literary translator with about sixty localised titles to his name, specialising in fantasy and youth literature. For Nowa Baśń Publishing House, he translates, among other things: the superedition of the Warrior Cats series, the Redwall series, the Pendragon series. In the past, he has also worked on scripts, dialogues and video game texts. An enthusiast of pop culture, LEGO bricks, bass guitar and guitar effects, as well as various peculiar phenomena, people and places.

If you have ever wondered how your favorite books are created – from the first sentence to the back of the cover – you simply cannot miss this meeting. Come, listen, ask questions and discover Warrior Cats from a whole new perspective. See you in the Literature Zone!