Bryan Talbot: news and events

Upcoming personal appearances

Bryan will be speaking with Paul Gravett and Hannah Berry at The Ipswich
Literary Festival Tuesday 1st July and with Alan Grant at the Edinburgh
Literary Festival at 8.30 on Friday 22nd August. He will also be signing and
sketching at The Bristol Comics Expo 10th & 11th May and The San Diego
Comicon 24 -27th July.

Bryan is nominated for two Eagle Awards! - vote now!

Nominations have started for the eagle awards and this year, for the first time in ages, Bryan is eligible: so calling all Bryan Talbot fans: voting for the 2008 Eagle Awards has begun and this year, Bryan is eligible in several categories!

Please go along to the Eagle Awards nominations page and vote for Alice in Sunderland in the Favourite Original Graphic Novel and vote for The Naked Artist in the Comics-related Book Category.

Also, the very last category is for the Roll of Honour: now - Bryan didn't specifically mention this to me but I am also going to ask everyone to vote for him in this category: he's certainly made a huge contribution to the art form!

Other awards news: At this year's Comicdom, the annual Athens Comic Festival, Bryan walked away with two awards in the English Language section: Alice in Sunderland won Best Graphic Novel (by two thirds of the ballot) and Bryan won Best
Writer/Artist.

Alice in Sunderland has been shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association award for Best Novel of 2007 -- the first time, I believe, that a graphic novel has been shortlisted in this category for the BSFA awards. The awards will be presented on Saturday 22 March 2008 at Orbital, the British national science fiction convention, which is being held at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel near Heathrow, London.

Bryan will be attending the convention, along with his old Sandman colleague, Neil Gaiman.

As mentioned before in this news column, last year Bryan took on the responsibility of being the sole agent for Veronique Tanaka and to find a publisher for her innovative graphic novel METRONOME, an experimental and erotically-charged "visual poem". Well the book is published this month by the New York company NBM. You can buy the book at www.nbmpub.com

There is also made available a 17 minute animated version of the book at http://metronome.shadowgallery.co.uk/

It's quite amazing - frame-by-frame at one second a frame, the book works equally well as an animation, though the experience is very different. In the animation, you can't see the subliminal shapes that the panels make on the page. NBM are offering a free 3 minute excerpt on their site as the animation is usually pay-to-view but we can offer you unlimited access for the limited time of one month. Just go to the site and put in this free access code: 04545

Release dates! Cherubs! will be in the shops from 13th February, published by Desperado. Heart of Empire, from Dark Horse will be out in March. Jonathan Capes' new UK hardback edition of The Tale of One Bad Rat will be out in April, as will
Dark Horse's new edition of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, using the
all new digitally remastered files.

Bryan will be giving two talks in the new year.

The first is part of the Leicester Library Comics event BLAM! Breaking in to Comics and Graphic Novels: Tuesday 12th February, 7 - 9pm Central Lending Library, Leicester: Bryan will talk about storytelling in comics and answer questions from the audience. This event is free but places are limited. To book please phone 0116 2527347 or e-mail: booknews@leicester.gov.uk - and also see the poster of for the event.

The second is at the Literary and Philosophical Society on Monday 4th February 6.00pm. Phone or email to reserve seats: The Lit & Phil, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE. Tel: 0191 232 0192 Email: library@litandphil.org.uk or see their site.

After being out of print for over 5 years, the trade paperback edition of
Heart of Empire is being reprinted by Dark Horse Comics. This will be
followed by a new edition of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, using the
files digitally remastered for the Czech edition. The pages now have a
clarity never before seen in an English language version.

Release dates: Heart of Empire on sale Feb 20, The Adventures of Arkwright March 12.

Both will have new ISBNs. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright: 978-1-59307-725-9 Heart of Empire: 978-1-59307-726-6 Copies of the slipcased delux limited edition hardcover of Heart of Empire are still available from Dark Horse Comics

The second Jonathan Cape printing of Alice in Sunderland has sold out! The
book has now gone to its third reprint in seven months. Copies are currently
unavailable in the UK but the new edition should be on sale by mid-December.
This is actually a new edition, rather than a reprint, as Bryan has
corrected the few minor mistakes that managed to creep in to the first
edition.

Fortunately the stores where Bryan is signing in December stocked up well in
advance! The first foreign edition of AIS was published in Italy last week by Comma 22, owned by Danielle Brolli, Bryan's longtime Italian publisher. Editions
in France, Spain and the Czech Republic will appear next year.
BTW, the first Greek edition of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright is published in December.

Bryan will be doing three Alice in Sunderland signings in December. These are:

Sunday 9th December 1.00pm - 3-00pm, Page 45, 9 Market Street, Nottingham, NG1 6HY, Tel: 0115 9508045: Signing with Guardian artist Posy Simmonds

Saturday 15th December 11.00 - 2.00pm, Waterstones ,31 The Bridges,, Sunderland , SR1 3LB, Tel: 01915674331, Signing with cover artist Jordan Smith

Saturday 22 December 1.00 - 3.00pm, Travelling Man, 43 Grainger Street, Newcastle, NE1 5JE, Tel:0191 2614993. Signing with cover artist Jordan Smith
Free mince pies and mulled wine!

"The Art of Bryan Talbot" is mainly a collection of the best magazine and book illustrations Bryan has done over the years, plus some previously unpublished material, such as some examples of his home made comics drawn when he was about 12 and a selection of life drawings. It's 96 pages with a commentary by Bryan and is published by NBM in December. There's an introduction by Neil Gaiman.

See the front cover to the Art of Bryan Talbot and the Art of Bryan Talbot press release, or buy it direct from Amazon.

Bryan got interviewed on a podcast over at the rather excellent Inkstuds site; check it out!

Inside the Alice in Sunderland House!
Bryan is reluctantly having to leave Sunderland - for exactly the same reason he moved there. Ten years ago, his wife Mary accepted a post as lecturer at Sunderland University. Bryan can work anywhere he can set up a studio. On arriving in Sunderland he found that not only did he really like the place but that the city had many links to both Lewis Carroll and his supposed muse, Alice Liddell. Bryan had in mind for a long time the idea of a graphic novel based around Carroll and the result of his moving there was Alice in Sunderland and his house features in the graphic novel. Now Mary has accepted a much better position at Nottingham Trent University and they will be moving to the city within the next few months.
So - if you’ve ever wondered what Bryan’s house looks like, just go to:
http://www.andrew-craig.co.uk/ then click on buy a home, then type in 450000 both in price from and price to, choose Sunderland from the area list and click search.

Only one house comes up for that price at the moment - St Bede's Terrace, Ashbrooke - and that's it. There’s even 360 degree "virtual tours" of some of the rooms. Unfortunately the studio is not included – it’s just too damn untidy for the estate agents!

Because of the book Bryan has actually been made an official "Ambassador of Sunderland" by Sunderland City Council.

Official reproductions of Arkwright's vibro-beamers announced!

A fellow fan has secured permission from Bryan to create actual reproductions of Arkwrights vibro-beamer! - check out the vibro-beamer page for more info and see the gorgeous looking prototype vibro-beamer in its presentation box!

Alice in Sunderland sells out!

The UK edition of Alice in Sunderland has completlety sold out within its first month of sale and has now gone to reprint!

The second edition will be available from the 25th of May.

Announcing the UK signing tour for Alice in Sunderland

Bryan will be touring the UK to publicise and sign copies of Alice in Sunderland; this page will list the dates and venues as and when they are finalised. (this info will be duplicated on the Alice in Sunderland homepage)

See the Alice in Sunderland homepage for a complete listing of the Alice in Sunderland signing tour dates; it is such a big list that I don't want to publish it here too!