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 Talbot

15.30 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!