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Hi, I’m Merve, an artist, author and illustrator based between Ankara, and London, England. 🐜

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I graduated with Distinction from the MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University in 2025, after an MSc in Education and many years working in that field. I am currently undertaking a practice-based doctoral degree in Illustration within the field of Graphic at Hacettepe University.

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I love starting my creative process with hands-on experimentation, playing with inks, making monoprints, and creating my own textures. I enjoy letting the surprises of traditional media guide me, then bringing everything together digitally to shape the final illustrations.

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When I'm not writing or drawing, you'll probably find me binding tiny sketchbooks, folding paper into mechanisms that pop and turn, learning ceramics and working out how to get my illustrations onto clay, or disappearing into a good book.

AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS

Awards and Recognitions​

  • Winner | Bologna Children's Book Fair '26 Italian Excellence Exhibition Winner, 2026 - Link

  • Highly Commended | Plymouth Illustration Awards (2026) Link

  • Distinction | Master of Arts Children's Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, ARU (2025)

  • Longlisted dPictus Picturebook Makers | Unpublished Picturebooks Showcase 6 (2025)

  • Shortlisted for the 12th Hiii Illustration International Awards, Lona (Unpublished Picture Book), (2024)

  • 1st Place, UNDP Turkey Visual Content Competition (Link) (March 2022) 

  • 1st Place, Stamp Design Competition by Hacettepe University & PTT (Link) (Additional Link) (Dec 2021)

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A member of

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Exhibitions

  • Bologna Children's Book Fair, Italian Excellence – Pinocchio’s New Clothes Exhibition, Bologna, Italy (Link) (April 2026)

  • Cambridge Arts Festival 2026, CamCreatives Art Show - 09-18 February 2026

  • Imaginary Friends, Picture Book Illustrations Exhibition, Deqiu Shanghai Illustration Town, Shanghai (28 September-28 November 2025)

  • Cambridge School of Art, MA Children's Book Illustration Graduation Show, London Copeland Gallery (Link) (19-23 February 2025)

  • Ada Online Exhibition (Link) (21 June-26 July 2023)

  • From Blue to Light: Cambrian Scientific Illustration Exhibition, Biodiversity (Biophere) Museum (Link) (June 2, 2023)

  • Exhibition of Stamp Design Competition by Hacettepe University & PTT

Talks & Workshops

  • Visual Communication and Creativity: Presentation & Workshop, Teacher Education Digital Ecosystem Project, Ministry of National Education & UNICEF, Ankara, Türkiye — Workshop Leader (6 May 2026)

  • Visual Creativity: Presentation & Workshop – The Art of Making Connections, 16th National eTwinning Conference, Antalya, Türkiye  (10 December 2025)

  • Guest Speaker, Art Education in Early Childhood, TED University (2020)

  • Illustration Workshops for Adults, Ankara (August, September & October 2019)

©2026 by Merve Dilek Efe

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  • Siyah Heyecan Simge
  • Instagram
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