Matt Ottley
Matt Ottley was born in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea and studied Fine Arts and Music in Sydney. He has worked as an equestrian artist and a volunteer wildlife rescuer. His first book was published in 1983, and since then he has gone on to become one of Australia’s most popular children’s author/illustrators of over forty books including REQUIEM FOR A BEAST, HOME AND AWAY, NO KIND OF SUPERMAN, PARACHUTE, TEACUP and THE INCREDIBLE FREEDOM MACHINES. Matt is also a composer and musician, and has written music to accompany many of his stories. He has won numerous awards including the 2021 CBCA Picture Book of the Year award for the stunning HOW TO MAKE A BIRD written by Meg McKinlay. His latest book THE TREE OF ECSTASY AND UNBEARABLE SADNESS is a multi-modal work chronicling Matt’s struggle with mental health issues and his bipolarism. Matt lives in the beautiful rainforest mountain area of northern NSW with his partner Tina Wilson.
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The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness
The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness is a multi-faceted forty minute presentation employing music, text and art to tell the story of one young man’s struggles with mental health. Inspired by Matt’s own journey with bipolarism, this beautiful, haunting and deeply personal work is a truly multi modal, sensory experience. The music, composed by Matt, is intertwined with the art and text in such a way as to render them almost inseparable without each other in order to fully understand and experience the story. The 136 page picture book explores the themes of mental health, psychosis, bildungsroman and self-knowledge and comes with accompanying audio CD. It is suitable for ages 15 +.
Due to unforeseen circumstances Matt is unable to present at MANTLE 2022. However, we will still screen the film of Matt’s book The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness and provide an annotated Padlet list of recommended books on mental health for both primary and secondary.
Due to unforeseen circumstances Matt is unable to present at MANTLE 2022. However, we will still screen the film of Matt’s book The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness and provide an annotated Padlet list of recommended books on mental health for both primary and secondary.