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Dublin Worldcon 2019
So, we came back from Dublin Worldcon late on Monday. Our initial reason for being there was to attend the amazing Worldcon Philharmonic Concert. As I explained in my last post, the programme included three short movements of an ambitious work-in-progress: an opera based on Dotter of her Father’s Eyes.You can see from the programme that she was in very good company indeed!
Carrie Fisher Tribute: Princess Leia’s Theme It was impossible to take good photographs of the dance from back in the auditorium. They were moving so fast!
The Dispute of Lucia and James Young Mary Seeks Attnetion The Death of Lucia We also participated in other events. Bryan was on a panel with Declan Shalvey (see below).
As we seem to have forgotten to take any photos of the lovely people we socialised with over the weekend, there’s a restaurant photo below shamelessly purloined on Facebook.
Chaz and Karen Brenchley, Mary Talbot, Jenny Campbell, Bryan Talbot, Ramsey Campbell View from the Green Room, Dublin Convention Centre. Samuel Beckett Bridge visible below -
Dotter goes to Dublin
Well, here’s a thing! Dotter of her Father’s Eyes is going on stage again. Three movements will be performed as part of the Worldcon Philharmonic Concert at the 77th World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin. An operetta based on Dotter has been an ambitious work-in-progress for composer Gary Lloyd and choreographer Bettina Carpi for quite some time. I’ve joined forces with them in developing their three music and dance pieces (created and first performed in 2015 for the Huddersfield Literary Festival) by composing accompanying lyrics. With voices and a full orchestra, the performance is going to be awesome!
So, we’ll be off to Dublin Worldcon, which is based in the Dublin Convention Centre from 15-19th August 2019. As we’re there, we’ve been asked to participate in some programme events, as follows:Saturday 17th
12.00 Grandville and the anthropomorphic tradition
ECOCEM Room (Convention Centre Dublin)
Presenter: Bryan Talbot15.30 Signature style
Odeon 1 (Point Square, Dublin)
Most of us can recognise our favourite artists just by their style of drawing or painting. But what if you want to work in more than one style, or your style goes out of fashion? We ask some artists who stands out for them, who and why that is, and whose styles have stood the test of time.Panellists: Jackie Burns, Kaja Folio, Sultana Raza and Bryan Talbot
Sunday 18th August
16.30 Politics in art and art in politics Odeon 3 (Point Square, Dublin)
As communication and control of perception become increasingly important in politics, visual storytelling is an increasingly necessary skill in persuading others. Creators of stories already know this. What are the best examples of political storytelling through art, and how are today’s politics influencing our work now?Panellists: Jim Fitzpatrick, Siobhan Murphy, Dominic Riemenschneider and Mary Talbot
Monday 19th
13.00 Familiarity breeds…comics
Liffey Room-2 (Convention Centre, Dublin)
There’s no place like home. And that’s why comic creator Bryan Talbot (Alice in Sunderland) and Declan Shalvey (Savage Town) chose to set their graphic novels in their respective home towns of Sunderland and Limerick. But was that decision an easy pitch to collaborators and retailers? Did any unexpected difficulties arise? And what did they learn about their homes that they had never known before?Panellists: Declan Shalvey and Bryan Talbot
14.00 When the rain comes
Liffey Room-2 (Convention Centre, Dublin)
Rain is a complete departure from Bryan and Mary Talbot’s previous biographical and historical collaborations. It deals instead with the here and now of environmental degradation that threatens us all. The story follows the everyday experiences of ordinary people, while engaging with pollution, climate change, moorland mismanagement and the disruption, misery and loss that they bring. The characters are fictitious: what’s happening around them is shockingly real.Presenters: Bryan Talbot and Mary Talbot
Hoping to see some of you there!
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March update
This month’s activities have been varied and really rather interesting. Bryan and I did the first two of our talks on Sally Heathcote Suffragette for Read Regional 2015. So that’s Hull and North Tyneside library authorities done – seven more to go! We also took part in the exciting Dotter-based event on Storytelling &Adaptation for Huddersfield Literature Festival -which I’ve already posted about here.I’ve also done a couple of solo talks at universities. Last year, to my great surprise, I was invited to do the keynote lecture for a Lancaster
conference on Discourse on Literary Celebrity Across Genres. Stevie Marsden, one of the delegates, has just posted this lovely write-up. Some very agreeable post-grads at Queen Mary University had invited me to talk as well, so I’d tried out the lecture with them a couple of weeks previously.
Another busy month ahead. So where’s next, you ask? Barcelona, as guests of the Barcelona International Comics Fair. Now that should be nice! -
Dance/theatre adaptation of Dotter of her Father’s Eyes
This is so exciting!
On Sunday 15th March, the final event of the Huddersfield Literature Festival showcased the first three completed pieces of music and dance of a work-in-progress: the dance/theatre adaptation of Dotter of her Father’s Eyes by composer Gary Lloyd and choreographer/performer Bettina Carpi. The extracts were three scenes, clearly distinguishable by the lighting in the photographs below. They depicted Lucia and James Joyce, myself and my father, and Lucia’s incarceration in mental institutions (all partnered by the dancer Christopher Owen). Expect to see this exciting project premiered sometime in 2016. Complete with interviews with Gary, Bettina, Christopher, Bryan and me, this was a pretty unique event for a lit fest. Bryan said “I can’t wait to see the finished performance, complete with sets inspired by the graphic novel illustrations, and a live orchestra providing the music.”
Photographs by Jonathan Jacob -
Getxo Comics Festival. The rain in Spain falls mainly on Bilbao.
With four books recently published in Spain (Dotter of her Father’s Eyes appeared there last September, the first two Grandville and The Tale of One Bad Rat came out this year), Bryan and I were delighted to be invited to the 12th Getxo Comics Festival.
Yes it rained. And it rained and it rained. Almost continuously. A little like Kendal, only wetter.
The long weekend didn’t start promisingly. We got to the airport early Thursday evening, in ample time, or so we thought. Then we discover that our flight was overbooked. Know that sinking feeling? We were the last to check in, so the plane was already full. As it turned out, we had a pleasant evening in a hotel close by, and all was well. Apart from having to get up before 5 am for the first flight out.
Bryan was kept very busy, sketching in the signing zone and at the Astiberri booth:
And we were interviewed by Jesus, which was nice.
Here’s Bryan signing next to the other international guest, Guy Delisle:
Hanging about eating and drinking is always good and on this occasion it was an opportunity to get to know some of the Spanish guests. Laureano from Astiberri (end of table) was a splendid host. On my left is Alfonso Zapino, whose graphic novel on James Joyce I’m looking forward to reading. There’s an English-language edition, published in Ireland.
Guy and Nadage. The festival organiser, Iñaki, is in the background.
We managed to fit in a little sightseeing. Here’s a couple of shots taken outside the Bilbao Guggenheim. It’s a spectacular building. Not being a fan of conceptual art, I can’t say the same for what’s on exhibition inside!
One thing struck us in particular: the Spanish are seriously into ham. Look!
On Sunday evening, when the festival was over, we waited for the Astiberri people to pack up then went zigzagging back and forth through the sodden streets, in search of a restaurant that wasn’t about to close. How far did we walk that night? Did the restaurants close when they saw us approaching? Who knows? But it took us here, and we zipped across the river by means of this striking suspension bridge/ferry construction:
And there was a hotel and, lo, its restaurant was open. Fabulous food. So good, in fact, that even Bryan ate the seafood. I now have photographic evidence of him enjoying a langoustine.Our return flight on Monday wasn’t until mid-afternoon, so we spent some time looking around Bilbao before we left. Bryan spotted an Alladin’s cave down a side street. Sadly, we had no space in our luggage, most particularly not for that eight-foot mahogany armoire that caught my eye!
There are plans for Spanish editions of the next two Grandville books, with other possible publications too. So maybe we’ll be back again. And will it still be raining? Probably. -
Video of Edinburgh Festival Talk Released
The recording of our talk at the 2013 Edinburgh International Book Festival is now available to view: -
