Karen Vermeulen is an artist, illustrator and teacher living in Cape Town, South Africa, known for her happy, uplifting and quirky creations. She is the illustrator of two Catalyst Press children's books,It's Just Skin, Silly!(2023) andWanjiku, Child of Mine(2024), middle grade books Small Mercies (2020)and The Cedarville Shop and the Wheelbarrow Swap (2022) as well as many Catalyst Press book covers.
""...insightful, engaging...Readers can expect significantly haunting, lasting resonance as Vermeulen vibrantly, gloriously, unabashedly shares her “imperfect life.” — Booklist Starred Review ""Vermeulen, a 'chronically single and chronically childless' Cape Town artist and Instagram cartoonist, debuts with a savvy collage of self-deprecating personal anecdotes....Charming illustrations add a welcome dimension of silliness....What initially appears as breezy as a Cathy cartoon reveals a surprising well of novelty and depth."" - Publishers Weekly ""Immaculately-captured moments in both writing and illustration that will give some stand-up comedians a run for their money. Refreshing and Hilarious."" - Liora Friedland, co-author of NO! and Let’s Party ""My internal reader nodded along happily… …except in those parts where my internal reader laughed out loud and gave my external quietly-sitting-reading reader a fright. [Good Luck To Us All] has these tiny, quiet observations that surprise and amuse."" – Karin Schimke, author of The Karen Book of Rules ""Candid and funny, Karen lifts the veil, the bandage, and the skirt on life in all of its complicated beauty"" - Alex Latimer, author-illustrator “A truly graphic, hilarious, intimate and warm portrait.” - Iain S. Thomas author of I wrote this for you and Every Word You Cannot Say.