Broken Frontier

Myriad Editions are delighted to announce that the winner of the first ever competition for a first graphic novel in progress is Gareth Brookes. Brookes’ The Black Project was chosen from a very strong shortlist of seven, including the writer and artist team Adam Blackman and Dylan Shipley, and creators Con Chrisoulis, Hannah Eaton, Tom Eglington, Thom Ferrier and Paula Knight.

Entrants were asked for 15–30 pages of a graphic work-in-progress, either fiction or non-fiction, in black and white.The judges were novelist Ian Rankin, graphic novelists Bryan Talbot, Ed Hillyer and Hannah Berry, cartoonist Steve Bell and Myriad’s commissioning editor for graphic novels, Corinne Pearlman.

In all, seventy-four qualifying submissions were received. The shortlisted works were showcased and the winner announced at a packed gathering at the University of Sussex on Saturday 21st January 2012 at First Fictions, a weekend of events championing first novels past and present, jointly organised by Brighton-based independent publisher Myriad Editions and the English Department at the University of Sussex. Brookes, whose work includes embroidery and lino-cuts, will have his work published by Myriad Editions in 2013.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

GARETH BROOKES studied Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, but started making small press comics in 2006, having found himself increasingly drawn towards storytelling mediums. Since then he has been self publishing and working with small press groups such as Banal Pig, Alternative Press, aaah distro and the Comix Reader. He has recently been in Thailand teaching printmaking at a charity school and will be working on his novel in New Zealand until he returns to the UK in June.