This Wednesday 14th May, the Comics Unmasked exhibition programme of events will see esteemed British comics commentator Paul Gravett talking to four leading European graphic novelists about their work and the evolving nature of the medium in Europe. Line Hoven, Lucie Lomova, Max, and Judith Vanistendael – creators whose work has seen print in English from publishers like Blank Slate Books, SelfMadeHero and Fantagraphics – will be joining him in a panel at the British Library as part of European Literature Night.
Paul Gravett is, of course, not just a co-curator of Comics Unmasked but also one of the co-directors of the Comica Festival, and those who regularly attend Comica events know how invaluable and informative they are in bringing the wonderful and compelling diversity of comics as a form to a wider audience. The Comics Unmasked programme over the course of this summer embraces that very same philosophy. So whether you’re an aficionado of Euro comics, or simply looking to expand your graphic novel horizons further, Wednesday night’s panel represents a unique opportunity to see four of the top practitioners of the art in Europe discussing their craft on stage together.
To celebrate this evening of pan-continental comics chat Broken Frontier also has two tickets to give away to one lucky winner, allowing you not just to attend the European Graphic Novelists event on Wednesday evening but also to visit the exhibition that night as well. To enter simply retweet the Broken Frontier competition tweet here. The winner will be chosen at random by the BF team.
The press release with further details is below. Or visit the British Library’s site here.
European Literature Night 2014
Stories in Words and Pictures
Cross a continent in one evening with some of
Europe’s finest literary talent
The British Library, Wednesday 14th May 2014, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Now in its sixth year, European Literature Night returns once again to celebrate the best of literature from across the continent, inviting you to join an enthralling journey of words across some vivid cultural landscapes.
Bigger and bolder than ever before, European Literature Night will present two events this year. European Literature Night: The Writerswill be an event of readings and conversation with six internationally acclaimed writers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Poland. These six remarkable writers were each selected by a panel of judges from 15 countries.
A new addition to the programme this year, European Literature Night: The Graphic Novelists has been conceived to coincide with opening of the British Library’s summer exhibition, Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK. Chaired by exhibition co-curator, Paul Gravett, this event will bring together four of Europe’s most talented cartoonists from Belgium, The Czech Republic, Germany and Spain.
About European Literature Night: The Graphic Novelists
Exhibition co-curator and chair of the event, Paul Gravett, will explore the diversity and innovation evolving within the graphic novel genre across Europe with these three authors:
- Line Hoven is an illustrator and comic artist who studied under German comics greats Anke Feuchtenberger and ATAK at HAW Hamburg. She uses a highly meticulous scratchboard method – using black card and scratching out contrasting white lines, surface areas and filigree textures. Love Looks Away was her first full length graphic novel and was published in English by Blank Slate Books in 2012. Line is married to the cartoonist Arne Bellstorf and lives and works in Hamburg.
- Lucie Lomova is a writer, artist, illustrator and teacher, studied dramaturgy at the Theatre faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and worked briefly as a journalist before devoting herself fully to drawing and writing. Her best known work is a three volume children‘s graphic novel series about the two small mice Anca and Pepik. She has also published famous Czech fairytales in the comic format while her graphic novels The Savages created a stir in France in 2011. Her brand new detective graphic novel will be published in March 2014 in both the Czech Republic and France.
- Max has been writing and drawing comics since the early 80’s. His book Bardin the Superrealist won him the Spanish National Comic Award in 2007. His latest books are Vapor, Paseo astral and Conversación de sombras. He is well known for his graphic work as an illustrator, producing posters, record covers and illustrations for books and press. He’s currently publishing a comic series on fiction in El País Semanal and illustrations on the literary world in Babelia. Oh panoptic fiction! a retrospective exhibition of his work, has recently been on show in Barcelona, having travelled to Valencia, Madrid, Mexico and Brazil.
- Judith Vanistendael creates comics that are about “life as it really is”. Born in Brussels, she studied at the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin, earned an academic degree in art sciences from the Univeristy of Ghent, and took a course on comic strip creation at the Sint Lukas art school in Brussels. Her first graphic novel, the semi-autobiographical Dance by the Light of the Moon, was made in response to her father, journalist Geert van Istendael, publishing her story without her permission. It was nominated twice for the prestigious Angouleme Grand Prize. Her most recent work is When David Lost His Voice. Both are published in English by SelfMadeHero.
