“In over ten years of writing for Broken Frontier, there have been few comics I have reviewed that have come close to matching Ravi Thornton’s HOAX Psychosis Blues in terms of emotional impact, connectivity and communicative power.”
I said that about Ravi Thornton’s hugely acclaimed graphic novel back in 2017 (also calling it “a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece” when I reviewed it in 2014). The book was just one part of the overall HOAX cross-media project, alongside touring musical play HOAX My Lonely Heart which acted as a prologue to the graphic novel, and an interactive app which debuted as part of the HOAX Our Right to Hope initiative last year.
All strands of the HOAX project focus on the last decade of Thornton’s brother Rob’s life as he struggled with schizophrenia. The graphic novel HOAX Psychosis Blues combined a framing sequence focusing on Ravi and Rob’s relationship with comics interpretations of his poetry by artists of the calibre of Bryan Talbot, Karrie Fransman, Hannah Berry, Mark Stafford, Rian Hughes, Julian Hanshaw, Ian Jones, Rhiana Jade (right) and Leonardo M. Giron. It was also the book where I first encountered the work of Rozi Hathaway who would go on to become one of our very first ‘Six Small Press Creators to Watch’ back in 2015 and our 2016 Breakout Talent Award winner.
This week the HOAX Project has been announced as a finalist in the National Lottery Awards which look to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects. It’s the first time in the 15 years of the Awards that anything comics-related has reached the finals.
So we’re reaching out to the comics community today to enlist your help in getting this vitally important project the recognition it deserves. Below we have an open letter from Ravi Thornton and all the relevant links/information for voting. Ravi Thornton is one of the most inspirational people I have met in my many years at Broken Frontier and it’s a privilege to throw the site’s support behind her!
HOAX Psychosis Blues review here
HOAX Project interview (2014) here
HOAX Project interview (2017) here
PLEASE VOTE NOW!
You can vote from anywhere in the world, in three different ways:
1) Vote on the National Lottery HOAX Project webpage.
2) Vote by calling the National Lottery HOAX Project phone line: 0844 836 9673
3) Vote on Twitter by tweeting or retweeting the hashtag: #NLAHoax
An Open Letter to Everyone I Know
Dear Everyone,
I have some pretty big news…
The HOAX Project has reached the finals of the National Lottery Awards 2018!
Now, however, it needs your votes. The project with the most votes wins £5,000 to carry on the work, and will be featured on the BBC One Show. That’s why I’m sharing this with everyone I know, well or otherwise, to ask that you all please vote and share this too, so that together we can try to make this happen.
What is The HOAX Project
The HOAX Project is based on a poem written by my younger brother Rob, who lived with the mental health condition, schizophrenia. After Rob took his own life, I turned his poems, with the help of some truly great people, into a stage musical, a graphic novel and an interactive app. The app invited users to take part in research aimed at helping people with psychosis in the future. You can read about The HOAX Project in detail here.
6 reasons why you should vote for The HOAX Project
1. You care about Mental Health
HOAX pushed the boundaries of engagement, involvement and impact around mental health.
Vote HOAX to keep the conversation moving forwards!
2. You care about Theatre
HOAX proved scientifically that theatre can be transformational for its audiences.
Vote HOAX to support the case for arts provision in our communities!
3. You care about Music
Musical theatre and schizophrenia might not seem an obvious match, but the HOAX soundtrack allowed people to escape into and out of its themes with ease.
Vote HOAX to support the work of independent composers and musicians everywhere!
4. You care about Comics
This is the first time in the 15-year history of the National Lottery Awards that a comics/graphic novel project has made it to the finals.
Vote HOAX simply to celebrate that!
5. You care about Innovation in Research
HOAX combined narrative, arts, technology and health to engage people with research about a subject that is hard to talk about.
Vote HOAX to keep breaking down barriers!
6. You care about the Work We Do.
You want to support the ongoing engagement and social-impact work that Ziggy’s Wish does.
Vote HOAX to help develop our follow-on project, raising awareness of the increase in young female suicides in the UK and internationally.
PLEASE VOTE NOW
You can vote from anywhere in the world, in three different ways:
1) Vote on the National Lottery HOAX Project webpage.
2) Vote by calling the National Lottery HOAX Project phone line: 0844 836 9673
3) Vote on Twitter by tweeting or retweeting the hashtag: #NLAHoax
AND PLEASE SHARE THIS IF YOU CAN
Whatever your channels – mailing list, newsletter, family Sunday lunch – please spread the word.
It’s 10 years since my brother, pictured below, took his life following years of mental illness. National Lottery funding helped us bring his story to the public, and use it to explore new methods of mental health research. To be in the National Lottery Awards finals is an amazing boost in our quest to make mental health issues more visible. We ask everyone to please vote for us, and keep the conversation moving forwards!
With love and thanks,
Ravi
