Giselle Clarkson

Giselle Clarkson is a New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator, best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues.

Life Clarkson studied for Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, intending to become a painter but majoring in photography. She works as a freelance illustrator and comics artist, and lives in South Wairarapa, New Zealand.

After graduation she worked in an outdoor equipment shop and volunteered with conservation projects; she was torn between becoming an artist and working for the Department of Conservation. which led to commissions from Forest and Bird's children's magazine, the New Zealand School Journal, newspapers, websites, and magazines, and a career in illustration. Her best known work, "Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand", is a visual catalogue of New Zealand baking, with each object given a fanciful Latin name: for example, Anzac biscuit is "Lestwee forgetum". Widely shared in social media, this was published in Annual 2 (2017) and subsequently became a poster and tea towel; Clarkson was interviewed about the success of the comic on TV3's The Project. A follow-up illustration appeared in Annual 3 (2022). She frequently undertakes field expeditions as part of her work to places such as the Kermadecs, Milford Sound (to draw penguins) or the Subantarctic Islands (a 19-day sea voyage which led to an 8-page comic in the School Journal). In 2018 she produced a comics summary of a scientific paper on the migration of the Fiordland penguin or tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus), which was enthusiastically retweeted by Diana Gabaldon. The book was shortlisted for New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction in 2024.

In 2026 Clarkson's book Omnibird: An Avian Investigator's Handbook was shortlisted for New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction.

Honours and awards In 2023, Clarkson received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award. The panel described her work as "always technically impressive and incredibly imaginative; demonstrating huge sensitivity whilst retaining her trademark energy and vibrance."

Publications

Nonfiction writing

Book contributions as illustrator

Other illustration works