The Observer published the winners - and runners-up - for the Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize. The Observer site has a whole heap of galleries so there’s plenty to ogle
Julian Hanshaw‘s winning short - Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms.
Emily Haworth-Booth’s short - What do married people talk about?
Isabel Greenberg’s short - Cheer up love, it’s only a credit crunch.
Some really great stuff - worth reading. Definitely.
The Guardian and Times UK both feature slide-shows at the minute. The Times have the winner (left) and runners-up from The Wind in the Willows cover competition (here)
The Guardian has 11 illustrations by Quentin Blake, Emily Gravett, Posy Simmonds, Axel Scheffler, David Roberts and Alexis Deacon, from The Birthday Book - to commemorate the Prince of Wales’s 60th birthday - edited by former children’s laureates Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake.
And JK Rowling wrote in the Guardian about the scene she chose for The Birthday Book - where Harry Potter goes to face the dementors.
The destinies of wizards and princes might seem more certain than those carved out for the rest of us, yet we all have to choose the manner in which we meet life: whether to live up (or down) to the expectations placed upon us; whether to act selfishly, or for the common good; whether to steer the course of our lives ourselves, or to allow ourselves to be buffeted around by chance and circumstance
The winner of the Observer Graphic Short Story Prize has been announced - Julian Hanshaw - for his “haunting, evocative and beautifully drawn story“.
The story will appear in next weeks Observer and Mr Hanshaw should be seeing a specially uniformed postman outside his door with a cheque for £1000 some time this week.
Looking forward to seeing it! More over on the Observer.
The mysteriously talented Mr Alan Clarke has an exhibition of paintings, sketches and other things in London opening next week - it opens on Wednesday and runs until 22 November in the Capital Culture Gallery.
If ye’re in the area (and even if you’re not) I highly recommend dropping in to have a snoop. (And if no one is looking maybe grab a painting or two - one for me, one for you)
Something nice and light for a post Culture Night morning. And I couldn’t think of anything better than a day spent with Babar - who features in the current New Yorker. There is an exhibition of Laurent de Brunhoff in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York with original artwork and sketches.
The New Yorker piece, here, comes complete with a slideshow of de Brunhoff’s work. Enjoy.
Back from Electric Picnic (it was incredible - check out some of the pics here) A couple of things to catch up with now that I’m back though:
Including Philip Pullman’s address to the world (or to anyone who will listen in the world) about Age Branding. As Michael has said - read every word. Go on - notoagebanding.org
Spotted on Boing Boing that Disney are releasing a new edition of Alice in Wonderland, featuring Mary Blair’s original movie sketches. Looking forward to seeing how it looks! Here’s a sneak peak at Blair’s illustrations, enjoy!
Two bits of good news for Cartoon Saloon - not too long ago (a week or three) the company landed a 52-episode deal with everyone’s favourite network for cartoons, Cartoon Network.
But it gets better….
This years illustration for the Children’s Books Festival is out - and guess who’s name is on the bottom? Tomm Moore of Cartoon Saloon. The poster looks great - the monsters, Dracula being my favourite, is frighteningly frightened.
I’m off galavanting in Sligo today and with long trips across country comes long hours of trawling through newspapers. A couple of highlights from 4 hours of sitting on a bus:
> Anthony Horowitz appears in the Irish Indepdent - interesting read and good interview by Julia Moloney.
> Alan Garner encourages the habtit of reading outside your age bracket in the Times (UK) - comes ahead of the The Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group Conference next week.
> Louise Tucker investigates the phenomenon of boys reading Shakespeare as a graphic novel but not in text on the Guardian Blog.
Mobile broadband… it even works on a bus trekking through the middle of nowhere in west coast Ireland.
The Observer’s graphic short story competition is back with an offering of £1000 and publication in the Observer Review. Check out last year’s winner, Catherine Brighton, for a start and then get the creative juices flowing. On the success of last year Brigthon had her first book published by MacMillan.
More info on the Guardian blog as well as a feature on Raymond Briggs - just to put it all into perspective I guess.
The artist/designer Pauline Baynes, the woman behind the original illustrations for Lord of the Rings trilogy and CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia died last week aged 85. The Guardian and UK Independent have extensive obituaries.
Apparently she was working on 40 illustrations for a new edition of Aesop’s Fables which will hopefully be published next year.
The new all singing, all dancing Tor.com site is up. Covering all things, Science Fiction-y, Fantasy-y and the rest of the Universe - with new stories from John Scalzi and Charles Stross. (If that doesn’t do it - have a look at the gallery)
Seen the Watchmen Trailer yet? Alan Moore has an interview about the new movie here. (via FP blog.) The first question sets the mood pretty well:
Don’t you have the slightest curiosity about what Watchmen director Zack Snyder is doing with your work?
I would rather not know.
A couple (literally just two) of comic/illustration/art-work/visually-pleasant launches out and about in Dublin.
First is the joint launch of The Comic Cast (the new place for all things podcast and comicbook) and Gazebo (a new indy comic, this time from Philip Barrett and Liam Geraghty - who just happens to be one half of the The Comic Cast). All the who-be-whats-its of comics will be there, as well as some musicians (Mary Bellos and Schmackey and the Salads) and other people. The madness kicks off tonight at half seven downstairs in Thomas Reads on Dame Street.
And secondly Mr Alan Clarke, that kinda/sorta/maybe/really talented art guy, is opening an exhibition in the Winding Stair Bookshop next week - where, no doubt, all the who-be-whats-its of art, comics, books, publishing, newspapers and meeja will be clambering to get themselves a glass of sparkling rosé and a look/see/ogle at the walls. (The floodgates open at half six on July 17 and will be on display in the bookshop ever after)
>> Also worth a mention: the second best blog name in existence, Liz Maybury.
From the pages of Scamp comes the news that Patrick Lynch’s comic Last Bus is being launched tonight at half seven in the Stags Head. According to Senor Lynch himself it deals with ’such weighty themes as public transport, street violence, dream logic and absent friends.’
I’m kicking myself that I can’t make it.
Although, rumour has it that the Stags Head is downright creepy these days anyway. Looking forward to seeing the comic though.
Have you heard about the 2D Comics Festival yet?*
The what festival?
It’s a two day (Friday - Saturday) comic festival hosted by the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry.
Uh-huh. Comics.
Yeah, seriously. Comics. Who doesn’t love superheroes at some stage? And it is proving a great way to get younger male readers interested in books. In fact, Verbal Arts are running a special day of workshops as part of the festival just for schools.
Okay. So when is it again?
It runs from Friday June 6th till Saturday 7th. In the Verbal Arts Centre.
And is there anyone famous lined up?
Well. Now that you mention it. Alan Martin is going to be there. I think Rufus Dayglo, David Hine, Simon Furman and Mark Stafford are all going to be there too.
Right. I don’t recognize any of these names. Should I?
Too right you should. Head over to the 2D website and have a read. Then book your train ticket.
I think I will.
Good. You do that.
Fine.
Fine.
More about the 2D Comics Festival here. And in issue 14 of Verbal Magazine.
*Conversation may never have happened.
Last night saw the (re?)launch of O’Brien Press’ award winning and successful poetry anthology Something Beginning with P.
Click on the image for a better look >>>
The new paperback edition follows the original four years later with no changes to the text - it is still edited by Seamus Cashman and it still brings some of Ireland’s best poets together alongside the artwork of Alan Clarke, Corrina Askin and Emma Page.
The poems move from funny to sad, poignant, mythological and farcical but each one of them is brought to life by the imaginative and fantastic illustrations that appear on every page. I couldn’t recommend a better anthology of Irish poetry for children.
I’m late getting to this: The Carnegie Medal shortlist was announced somewhere in mid-April. The award goes to an outstanding book for children and young people, first published in the UK.
This year’s shortlist is:
Kevin Crossley-Holland | Gatty’s Tale
Linzi Glass | Ruby Red
Elizabeth Laird | Crusade
Tanya Landman | Apache
Philip Reeve | Here Lies Arthur
Meg Rossoff | What I Was
Jenny Valentine | Finding Violet Park
There are a few titles I have read, What I Was and Crusade, some names I have read before, Philip Reeve and Kevin Crossley-Holland, and others who are new to me. As with all awards, I’m surprised not see some names up there - David Almond, Derek Landy and Siobhan Dowd’s London Eye Mystery.
The Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist on the other-hand is spot on, with only Oliver Jeffers missing. Some of the year’s best books are listed - including two from the brilliant Emily Gravett.
Anthony Browne| Silly Billy
Polly Dunbar | Penguin
Emily Gravett | Little Mouse’s Book of Big Fears
Emily Gravett | Monkey and Me
Jane Ray (Text by Carol Ann Duffy) | The Lost Happy Endings
Chris Riddel | Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Ed Vere| Banana!
An article from the Economist on the difficulties in publishing picture books:
Not all are quite so gloomy. Booktrust, a charity, has launched the Big Picture campaign to raise the profile of picture books. At the Illustration Cupboard, a London gallery, John Huddy reckons the market is correcting itself, rooting out inadequate contenders. Panicky book folk may be talking their business down—but new ways to sell cheaper products across borders must certainly loom.
Time for a new kind of picture book? More on picture books here.
A few quick links that I keep fogetting to post:
George Fournier, formerly of this address, has gotten himself a website.
Two from the Scamp blog: An interesting book of art drawn by Writers and the step-by-step guide on drawing Twenty Major’s bestselling book cover.
Just One More Book has an interview with writer and illustrator Lita Judge.
An ‘entrepeneur’ in Washington is locked in solitary confinement cell and left to drink her own urine for four days. Euwww.
Pub Rants has a rant about work clauses from MacMillan - seems a bit drastic:
the Author will complete the Work and submit it to the Publisher prior to beginning work on any other book for INSERT GENRE (excluding only other books that may already be under separate contract to the Publisher).
The Northern Ireland 2D Festival is back this year - details on the FPI blog. In the Verbal Arts Centre (Derry) from June 5 - 7.
The guardian has the full list of winners from the 2008 British Animation Awards.
The excellent Dreadful Thoughts series is continuing on Fústar.info - next up is Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows.
Skullduggery Pleasant has come and gone. I was disappointed and thrilled by the book - disappointingly thrilling? - but I have taken issue with one of the last lines.
My weekend was rescued by the unnerving horror tales of Chris Priestley. In his eleven crafted stories, told by the secretive Uncle Montague, Priestley creates one of the best gothic horror novels for readers about 12+ I’ve read in ages. The chilling tales of vengeful trees, lost souls and menacing demons are illustrated by David Roberts, culminating in a book that will haunt you for more than one reading.
Not only is this week Library Ireland Week or this Thursday World Book Day - it is also Japanese Animation week. To mark the week that’s in it the Japanese embassy is running a series of movies throughout Dublin.
Disappointingly, I missed tonight’s showing of Voices of a Distant Star and Princess Mononoke in St Pat’s. (The dubbed version of Princess Mononoke stars Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Gillian Anderson and Minnie Driver.) On Thursday, Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days (both from Makoto Shinkai) will be showing in Trinity College and there will be three more movies shown in the Chester Beatty Library on Saturday, including The Castle of Cagliostro.
For more visit the Embassy’s website. Might even see you there.
Also: Gary Gygax has died. The man behind Dungeons and Dragons.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
If that’s not your kind of thing - why not try one of these:
> Jim Carroll’s post on Mongrel and Foggy Notions passing. 100+ comments - including some from the mongrel team.
> Will a self-published book ever win a major book award?
> The Kenyon Review - On writing Badly
> Slinky Pics (wowsie website) is nominated for a British Animation Award.
> Alan Moore and Todd Klien’s Alphabet of Desire is back for a second limited print-run.
> Mr Linehan has a suggested reading list. Go buy.
> The University of Minnesota has bought $100,000 worth of comics. Here.
> Strange children’s picture book nature scene.
> Steven Spielberg is launching a paranormal/UFO social network site. (Suggested names anyone?)
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