NEWS FROM
PAUL GRAVETT - COMICA - ESCAPE BOOKS COMICA FESTIVAL 2010 Where: London Print Studio and other venues
When: Throughout November 2010 Friday, 22 October 2010 saw the opening of the Comica Festival 2010 and the exhibition I have curated with a full two-month run at the London Print Studio, 425 Harrow Road, London W10, on till 18 December and admission free. Entitled That's Novel: Lifting Comics Off The Page, it presents original artworks and specially conceived digital prints by a range of British and transnational creators. The accent here is on innovation and on how comics can transcend their printed forms, both literally and physically in Karrie Fransman's and Philippa Rice's hand-crafted three-dimensional comics, or adapted for the big and small screens, such as Charlie Adlard's Walking Dead or Pulp Theatre's Alien Ink for Channel 4's website, as well as more subtly, for example being used to help carers, patients and relatives coping with depression or mental illness in Brick's Depresso or Darryl Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales, or as searing personal testimonies and astonishing works of art in their own right, as in the case the late John Hicklenton's last, tortured masterwork, 100 Months. More details... The exhibition at the London Print Studio forms the hub of this year's Comica Festival and already we've got an array of brilliant events lined up there, kicking off with Comica Conversations with Brick and Darryl Cunningham, and with Charlie Adlard and Alex Fitch, on Saturday 6 November, and a rare UK appearance by Ho Che Anderson, graphic biographer of Martin Luther King Jr, on Monday 15 November, talking with UK artist Paul Peart-Smith. More amazing events to come at LPS but meantime be sure to book tickets online as numbers are limited. And we have not left the ICA, by no means. The grand finale event on 1 December will be at the ICA's Cinema 1 where two legends of British comics, Steve Bell and Bryan Talbot, get together to reveal all about their prolific careers and launch their brand new books. More details.... In tune with the times, Comica Festival also continues to offer you great free events, and this year's programme kicks off again on Friday 5 November - 'Remember, Remember!' - with a free full-day Comica Symposium. The whole day's schedule is now online. Come and hear, and engage with, some of the UK's brightest researchers into all kinds of comics culture, from manga to superheroes, bandes dessinées to autobiography, and watch the fireworks fly! More details... And we're adding an exciting new venue and attraction to the regular free Comica Comiket Independent Comics Fair this year from 12-5pm at the Royal National Hotel, Bloomsbury on Sunday 7 November. As well as a dazzling variety of self-publishers, small presses, zinesters and collectives offering you the chance to buy their latest titles direct, we've invited a range of exciting artists from this scene to a 'Drawing Parade', in which they will draw live, before your very eyes, and inside their books if you like, and have their performances viewable on a large overhead screen. Among those taking part are: Charlie Adlard (Walking Dead), Paul Duffield (Freak Angels), Hunt Emerson (Firkin, Fortean Times), Garen Ewing (Rainbow Orchid), Paul Grist (Jack Staff, Torchwood), Roger Langridge (Muppets, Thor), Ellen Lindner (Whores of Mensa) and others. More details... This year's 4th Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize has once again unearthed some amazing UK-based talents. The winner will have their 4-page strip printed in The Observer on Sunday 7 November, but you can see many of the finalists on show at Orbital Comics Gallery from Monday 1 November till the end of the month. We're also compiling links again to as many entrants' stories as we can, so do please contact us once you've posted yours online. More details... And a last plug for two imminent events that I'm involved with. First up, today (Saturday 23 October) at 7pm, I am chairing a panel on Indian Graphic Novels as part of the new DSC South Asian Literary Festival, with special guests Mustashrik, Kripa Joshi, Woodrow Phoenix and S. Anand plus, technology willing, a live Skype-chat with Vishwajyoti Ghosh in New Delhi. The Indian comics scene is blossoming, come and discover its latest blooms! More details... And secondly, The Crick Crack Club are bringing to London (Tuesday evening 26 October) and Oxford (Wednesday lunchtime 27 October) a totally wild and thrilling 21st century version of Kamishibai, the Japanese performance storytelling tradition which is a major precursor of both manga and anime. Spice Arhur 702 have to be seen to be believed - you can see a video of them in action here. A unique chance to experience this inventive manga-performance troupe in the UK! More details... I'll sign off there, with the promise of more frequent newsletters as the Comica Festival season bubbles into life and as our very first Escape Book, The Great Unwashed by Warren and Gary Pleece, nears completion, ready for us to preview to you soon. More details... Thanks again for supporting my websites and the varied events and projects that spin out of them. Your continued interest means a lot to me and do hope you can spread the word to let more people know about them. I hope you'll enjoy more of the wonders of the comics world with me. Warmest wishes. Paul Gravett
Comica Director |
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