In July, Deborah Levy’s latest novel Hot Milk was longlisted for the Booker Prize. This week, we release her first graphic novel, Stardust Nation. Illustrated by Andrzej Klimowski and adapted from one of the centrepieces of Levy’s collection Black Vodka, Stardust Nation is a Freudian tale about memory, empathy and human connection.

To celebrate, we’re hosting a launch event this Friday, 9th September, at the Freud Museum in London. Join us from 6pm for fine company, palatable wine and an exclusive chance to get your hands on a signed copy. But first, RSVP to [email protected].

Want to know more about the book? Here’s the blurb:

The book, which is published in the UK, Europe and Australia, can now be ordered from Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles and independent book shops across the land. It will be published in North America in 2017.

That’s right, folks: Peter Kuper’s Ruins has won the biggest prize in English-language comics! Kuper’s graphic novel, which explores the shadows and light of Mexico through its past and present, scooped the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album. We love this book, and we’re delighted it’s won the recognition it deserves.

The winners of the so-called “Oscars of comics” were announced at the San Diego Comic Con. Here’s a picture of Peter Kuper alongside Congressman John Lewis, winner of the award for Best Reality-Based Work for the second volume of March.

Ruins tells the story of a New York couple who launch into a sabbatical year in the quaint Mexican town of Oaxaca. In tandem, the remarkable and arduous journey that a monarch butterfly endures on its annual migration from Canada to Mexico is woven into the book, creating a parallel picture of the challenges of survival in our ever-changing world. Publishers Weekly said of Ruins, “[it’s] magnificent… a beautiful, epic roman à clef about the importance of seeking the new and questioning the old.”

Kuper has created over a dozen graphic novels, including The System, Sticks and Stones and an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. He is co-founder of the political graphics magazine World War 3 Illustrated and, since 1997, has written and drawn “Spy Vs Spy” for MAD Magazine. His comics have appeared in TIME, The New York Times and many other publications. He has been teaching comics courses for over 25 years and is a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Newsflash #2: A special mention, too, for our friends at Orbital Comics in London. They scooped the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award. Congratulations!

A graphic history of Tetris; fiction from Rob Davis, Aimée de Jongh, and Deborah Levy and Andrzej Klimowski; biographies of Salvador Dalí and Roger Casement; adaptations of ghost stories by M.R. James; and the latest addition to the One Year Wiser series: this autumn we bring you a collection of graphic novels and visual narratives to inspire, inform and entertain.
 

Our autumn lineup kicks off with the release of a graphic biography by Fionnuala Doran, The Trial of Roger Casement. Doran, who won the British Library’s “Comics Unmasked” competition in 2014, has chosen as the subject of her debut graphic novel the extraordinary life of Roger Casement. In 1911, Casement was knighted for his humanitarian work; five years later, he was hanged for treason. The Trial of Roger Casement traces the astonishing downfall of an Irishman once feted for his compassion but later condemned both as a revolutionary and as a homosexual.

Mike Medaglia follows his bestselling collection of illustrated meditations with One Year Wiser: A Gratitude Journal. Filled with uplifting quotes and guidance, this beautifully produced journal will help you keep a lasting record of the small moments that reflect the richness and variety of life. Keep it on your bedside table – and start living the grateful life.

Originally slated for June this year, Stardust Nation by Deborah Levy and Andrzej Klimowski will now hit the shelves in September – and it’s worth the wait. Adapted from one of the centrepieces of Levy’s short story collection Black Vodka, Stardust Nation follows the story of Nikos Gazidis, a man suffering from a strange psychiatric condition: he seems to have unwittingly crashed into the consciousness of his boss. Written by the Booker-shortlisted author of Swimming Home, Stardust Nation is an absurdly funny, unsettling and unforgettable graphic novel about memory, empathy and how we are, all of us, connected.

In October, the latest addition to our Art Masters series: Dalí by Edmond Baudoin. The veteran French comics artist asks, who was Salvador Dalí? A madman? A genius? An exhibitionist? There is no shortage of labels for the Surrealist painter, who was as well known for his acts of public bravado as for his extraordinary work. Commissioned by the Pompidou Centre, Dalí is a rigorously researched and absorbing portrait of a singular artist and an enigmatic man.

We celebrate Halloween with the release of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, Vol. 1., which collects graphic retellings of four spine-chilling tales by the renowned medievalist and writer M.R. James. Adapted by Leah Moore and John Reppion, and illustrated by four outstanding comics artists, Ghost Stories gives a new lease of life to some of James’s best-known works: “Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book” (illus. Aneke), “Lost Hearts” (illus. Kit Buss),  “The Mezzotint” (illus. Fouad Mezher) and “The Ash-tree” (illus. Alisdair Wood). Vanishing children, spectral works of art, vengeance from beyond the grave: these tales have it all.

Return of the Honey Buzzard by Aimée de Jongh (October) tells the story of Simon, the third-generation owner of the struggling Antoinisse Book Shop. When he witnesses a suicide, old memories intrude, guilt bubbles up and his grip on reality loosens. Haunted by the past, Simon struggles to face the future. It is only in the tender, ethereal presence of Regina that he is able to open up – and, finally, to look ahead. Powerful, perceptive and beautifully drawn, The Return of the Honey Buzzard is a compelling graphic novel about grief, love, our actions and their consequences.

As previously announced, October also sees the release of Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown. This hotly anticipated – and, we can confirm, brilliant – graphic novel is a dramatic and surprising history of the most ubiquitous and addictive video game of all time. I follows the story of Tetris’s Russian creator Alexey Pajitnov, who created the game in his spare time, and spotlights the innumerable businessmen who were desperate to monetise it. Box Brown untangles Tetris’s complex history – the bidding wars, clandestine trips to Moscow, backroom deals and miscommunications – and while doing so delves deep into the role games play in art, culture and commerce.

Finally, November brings us a brand new graphic novel from Rob Davis. In his British Comic Award-winning The Motherless Oven, Scarper Lee asked: “Who the hell is Vera Pike?” The Can Opener’s Daughter gives us a chance to find out. Charting Vera’s unsettling childhood, the book takes us from her home in Parliament to suicide school, and from the Bear Park to the black woods that lie beyond. In the present day, Vera and Castro Smith are determined to see their friend Scarper again – but is he still alive? And if so, can they save him? Can anyone outlive their deathday? Both a sequel and a darkly inventive standalone graphic novel, The Can Opener’s Daughter answers many of the questions posed in The Motherless Oven, while asking plenty more of its own.

So, even if it doesn’t seem like it right now, there are things to look forward to, a couple of them European.

This weekend, 10th-12th June, ELCAF celebrates its 5th birthday – and it promises to be the best show yet. Richard McGuire? Check. Adrian Tomine? Check. Fabulous tote bags? Check. What’s more, we’ll be installed in Hackney’s beautiful Round Chapel throughout the weekend (Fri: 12-7; Sat & Sun: 11-7).

As well as touting our selection of graphic masterpieces at better-than-Amazon discounts, we’ll be joined by guest Mike Medaglia, who’ll be signing and sketching copies of his bestselling One Year Wiser books on Sunday.

We’ll have with us all of our spring releases: Irmina by Barbara Yelin, An Olymic Dream by Reinhard Kleist, Agatha by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau and Alexandre Franc and the Observer‘s Graphic Novel of the Month for May, Munch by Steffen Kverneland.

The Round Chapel is easily accessible via the London Overground (nearest stations: Hackney Downs and Hackney Central). Full details of the ELCAF programme can be found on the festival’s website.

It’s our favourite time of year. We’ll soon be packing up our bags and heading to Toronto for Canada’s foremost comic book extravaganza. TCAF takes place on 13th, 14th and 15th May, with exhibitors laying out their wares in the Toronto Reference Library on the Saturday and Sunday.

Joining us at the festival this year will be Barbara Yelin (Irmina), Edward Ross (Filmish) and Mike Medaglia (One Year Wiser). They’ll be signing on SelfMadeHero’s stand throughout the weekend, as well as taking part in events (of which more next week).

Set for the most part in the Berlin of Hitler’s Germany, Barbara Yelin’s award-winning graphic novel Irmina is a troubling drama based on the life of the author’s grandmother. Conjuring the oppressive atmosphere of Nazi Germany,Irmina explores the tension between integrity and social advancement, reflecting with compassion and intelligence on the complicity that results from the choice, conscious or otherwise, to look away.

Barbara Yelin is a Munich-based comics artist. She received the Bavarian Art Award for Literature for Irmina, which also won the Best German Graphic Novel prize at the PENG Awards. She’s also the author of Gift (with Peter Meter) and Riekes Notizen.

On Thursday evening, Yelin will speak alongside Balak, Manuele Fior, Francisco Sousa Lobo and Bastien Vivès at the Alliance Française Toronto (“Comics Around the World”, 19:00-21:00).

On Friday, she leads a workshop as part of TCAF’s creator-focussed “Word Balloon Academy” (“Drawing as Exploring”, 11:30-13:00, Mariott Bloor-Yorkville)

And on Saturday, Yelin again joins Manuele Fior for a free-to-attend festival event (“Lost Loves”, 14:45-15:45, Marriott Bloor-Yorkville).

In Filmish, Edward Ross takes us on an exhilarating ride through the history of cinema, using comics to uncover the magic and mechanics behind our favourite movies. Exploring everything from censorship to set design, he spotlights the films and film-makers that embody this provocative and inventive medium, from the pioneers of early cinema to the innovators shaping the movies of today, from A Trip to the Moon to Inception and beyond. For further info, preview material and more, visit www.filmish.co.uk.

Edward Ross will be discussing Filmish with Nathalie Atkinson on Saturday morning (“Spotlight: Edward Ross”, 10:00-11:00, 11:30-13:00, Mariott Bloor-Yorkville).

Mike Medaglia is the creator of oneyearwiser.com, where he posts regular illustrated meditations. A practicing Zen Buddhist, Medaglia also tackles subjects from presentness to self-doubt in a Meditation Comic for The Huffington Post and a weekly strip, “The Mindful Life”, for The Elephant Journal.

One Year Wisercollects 365 of Medaglia’s illustrated meditations, bringing the wisdom of the world’s great thinkers to life through beautiful hand-drawn illustrations. From Rumi to Roosevelt, the Buddha to Martin Luther King Jr., the meditations that fill this book will help you beat stress, be positive and appreciate the moment. Plus, for readers who like a more hands-on experience, there’s One Year Wiser: The Coloring Book.

Mike Medaglia will lead a hands-on workshop on Saturday afternoon (“Draw Your Favourite Quote”, 12:00-13:30, Toronto Reference Library), which is free to attend.

As if that weren’t enough, Steffen Kverneland’s Munch and Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau and Alexadre Franc’s Agatha will make their Canadian debuts at the festival. What’s more, we’ll be giving away signed, limited-edition prints with a bunch of new titles and backlist favourites, including Frederik Peeters’ Aama, Reinhard Kleist’s An Olympic Dream, Rob Davis’s The Motherless Oven.

So, stop by early and get your hands on some fabulous printed goods, some of them cheap, some of them free, and all of them beautiful.