Sonia Leong
Internationally Esteemed Manga Artist
Content
About Sonia Leong
Sonia's School Visits
Sonia's Books
Recommendations & Reviews
Download Information Sheet for Schools
To Make a Booking
About Sonia Leong
Sonia is a professional comic artist and illustrator specialising in the Anime/Manga style. She is internationally known and has more than 70 publications and appearances to her credit. She is experienced in giving workshops and demonstrations both in the UK and abroad, having worked in countries such as Japan, USA, Germany, and most recently, Athens, Greece, at the Children's Literature Festival as a guest of the British Council.
She works in a variety of mediums including watercolour, pen and ink, screentone, alcohol colour markers, pencils and computer software. Her first graphic novel, Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, won the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) “2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers” and the “Best Books for Young Adults 2008” award. She was also the winner in TOKYOPOP®’s first UK Rising Stars of Manga competition (2005/06) and Winner in NEO Magazine's 2005 Manga Competition.
Her artwork features prominently in the British movie, Popcorn (2007) and also on the set of Channel 4’s popular sitcom The IT Crowd. She contributed Siren to Comic Book Tattoo: Tales inspired by Tori Amos (Image Comics). Sonia has been involved in many instructional art books - she was the Lead Artist for the book Draw Manga by Sweatdrop Studios, the leading UK comic collaborative. She has exhibited artwork in prestigious venues (Kyoto International Manga Museum, London County Hall, London Cartoon Museum, Japanese Embassy, Manchester URBIS Centre) and provided product demonstrations (on behalf of Copic, Letraset and Wacom).
Currently, Sonia is working with Infinite Ideas on the Manga Life series of self-help comic books, the first two titles being Find True Love and Be Creative. She is the artist for Aya♥Takeo, a full-colour comic published weekly online from April 2007-2009. Sonia loves reading manga, watching animé, playing video games, singing classical opera and j-pop, home baking and oriental cooking (Chinese, Thai, and Japanese), Gothic Lolita, Punk, and Victorian fashions. She was president of her university fencing team.
Sonia's Self-Portrait
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Sonia’s School Visits
Sonia is recognised throughout the UK as one of the leading Manga artists and workshop presenters. Her visits to schools are inspirational and help to motivate students to look at literature through the art of Manga, which is very accessible to all children.
Her visits often throw up skills in students otherwise undiscovered. The link between Manga and English is also emphasised by the fact that Sonia brings along her own publications for the students to see.
Signed copies of her work will also be available on the day of the visit. If time permits, Sonia is also very happy to look at student portfolios for 'outside' feedback.
A typical, full day school visit by Sonia
A full day visit usually starts with a general presentation on Manga to a whole year group (or a group selected by the school). Any age group is suitable, from years 5 to 12 (ages 9 to 18).
The general presentation lasts about 45 minutes and is designed to get the children motivated and excited about Sonia’s visit.
The presentation includes:
- Background and history of manga
- How manga comics are put together
- How to create manga characters and manga style
- How a manga artist works
- Plenty of time for Q & A
The rest of the day is split into manga style art workshops for groups of about 20-25 students (any age). Workshops usually last about an hour, but there would need to be a break in between them.
In these workshops, Sonia demonstrates techniques that she uses, which are usually supported by a PowerPoint presentation and by exercises on a flip chart or whiteboard. Students are encouraged to draw along with guidance and troubleshooting help from Sonia. By the end of the lesson, they create their own manga page.
Equipment needed for Sonia’s visit
The ideal set-up is:
- A laptop
- Whitescreen projector
- 1 or 2 flip charts/boards with markers, pencils, erasers and paper for the students.
** Although this is the ideal set-up, we often work around lack of equipment
or space, etc. Most things are possible!
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Sonia’s Books
**Sonia signs all copies of her books purchased by students on the day of her visit.**
Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Now presenting Manga Shakespeare—the Bard’s greatest plays in an accessible, lively format for a new generation of readers.
Romeo and Juliet is ideally suited for the manga format—it has teenage heroes, scheming and villainous adults, heartbreaking tragedy, and the ultimate romantic plot about star-cross’d lovers. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall deeply in love—and they refuse to let their parents’ age-old feud get in their way. When Romeo is banished from their town, a series of mistakes and misunderstandings, along with their families’ mutual hatred, finally manages to end their love. An exciting introduction to the Bard for reluctant readers and manga fans alike.
- Courtesy of Amazon.com
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Recommendations & Reviews
On her school visits:
"Just a quick note to say thank you for your visit on Monday. I have had reports from teachers about the animated conversations in their lessons on Monday after your presentation. We're planning a big display of yours and the student's work in the main reception area.
Thank you again for a very interesting and inspiring day."
- - Ellen Krajewski, Librarian, The Hemel Hempstead School, Hertfordshire, UK
"Just a quick message to let you know how much our school enjoyed Sonia's visit on Friday! Her assembly and workshops were outstanding and our students responded to the energy and enthusiasm she put into her teaching and demonstrations. It was undoubtedly a special day for Fir Vale and many students have approached me to express how much they loved it and to ask when she would be back!
Thank you for all your help in getting stuff arranged and hope to hear from you again sometime in the future!"
- Penny Leigh, Learning Resource Centre Officer, Fir Vale School, Sheffield
"I just wanted to say how fantastic Sonia’s visit was – she is dynamite! The students were enthralled and her signing session was the busiest we had ever had at Oakgrove. Sonia is a natural teacher/communicator and her workshop was really practical and each student produced a Manga page to keep. The students were captivated during her presentations to very large groups (180 then 210) because she has such style, energy and enthusiasm for her specialist field.
Thank you very much for all your help in arranging her visit."
- Librarian, Oakgrove School, Milton Keynes, UK
"Sonia was brilliant! The students were transfixed. Her entusiasm and love of her work showed in all that she did. The workshops helped in so mant different ways, the students were still buzzing the next day, and were asking when she was returning!!! I recommend Sonia to ALL High Schools."
- Andrew Medhurst, Librarian, Stopsley High School, Luton, UK
"Sonia's visit to our school was truely inspiring, and the students were thrilled with her work and enthusiasm! They continued to talk about the day as the week went on, mentioning how much fun they had, how 'cool' Sonia was, and how their work improved as a result of her visit.
I also saw the improvement in one day! My students continued with the scenario piece in their own time, and I was inundated by people wanting to come to Manga Art Club. I have also started working on a Manga style inspired Scheme of Work.
Thank you for a fantastic opportunity and a highly inspiring workshop!"
- Kelly Bignall, Head of Art, Stopsley High School, Luton, UK
"Sonia was such an inspiration to our students and worked with them to create some wonderful Manga art. I was extremely impressed by her positive attitude and the way she interacted with all the students she met.
There was such a buzz of excitement around school all day and I’ve had several staff come up to me to say how much the students enjoyed themselves.
Sonia’s work ethic is impressive, she’s so keen to share her love of Manga art and this enthusiasm is reflected by the students. We had some ‘difficult’ students who just sat enraptured by her and then produced some wonderful work.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to other schools."
- Librarian, King Edward VII School, Sheffield
If you would like us to put you in touch with any of the schools Sonia has visited, please don't hesitate to ring us for contact details.
On her manga art:
"Leong has developed a style and vocabulary that's completely her own."
- Helen McCarthy, Manga Critic/Historian
"As the original creator, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know that I would be taken to places, weeping over songs that I didn't weep about. The murder in 'Siren'..."
- Tori Amos, Musician
"Sonia Leong... uses the dynamic flow of manga to give Shakespeare's plots an addictive, page-turning energy."
- Helen Allman, Independent
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Download Information for Schools
The following information is designed to send home to parents about one week prior to Sonia's visit. Please download it, modify as you wish, and then print out and make copies for pupils to take home with them.
Information Sheet & Book Order Form for Sonia's school visitsTo Make a Booking
To make an enquiry about Sonia Leong, or any of the other authors, poets & illustrators listed on this website, please phone Trevor Wilson on +44 (0) 1535 656015, or email him at info@authorsabroad.com
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