Born in Penafiel in 1990, Joana Estrela started drawing family portraits at an early age, writing funny subtitles to go alongside them. One of her classic birthday gifts was a list of things-we-say-when-we’re-angry, applying the concept to different family members. Her mother, for example, once received her portrait together with all the various criticisms she’d typically make of her father, such as “Don’t scuff the rugs in our room!” or “You started to eat before you cut up your daughters’ food!”. Her methods haven’t changed a lot since then: what motivates her to start a book is still the amusement that it brings.
She studied Communication Design at the Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto (2012). She spent time in Budapest and Vilnius, she lived in Porto with two cats (one black and one white) and, in 2022, she began studying Graphic Storytelling at LUCA, in Brussels.
In 2014, Plana Editor published her first book: Propaganda. In 2016, Planeta Tangerina published Mana, the winner of 1st Serpa Internacional Award for Picture Books.
