The Edinburgh International Book Festival, the world’s largest literary festival which runs from 13 to 29 August 2016 in the Scottish capital’s Charlotte Square Gardens, opens doors one week from today.

While the impressive Stripped ‘festival-within-a-festival’ that was held in 2013 is now long passed, and even its name is no longer used to tie BookFest’s comics related events together into a coherent theme, there is still a range of comics creators in its programme giving both talks and workshops.

The following comics events are taking place:

(Updated with Unbound – 28 June 2016, and sell-outs – 6 August 2016)

Phoenix Comic Workshop with Jamie Littler – SOLD OUT
Saturday 13 August
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Baillie Gifford Imagination Lab
Children’s Programme – Age 8-12
Let your imagination and creativity run wild as you get the chance to produce your very own comic strip in this interactive workshop with Britain’s leading weekly comic, the Phoenix. Comic writer Jamie Littler brings a host of illustrated characters to life, giving you top drawing and storytelling tips to provide inspiration for your own comic book adventures.

Barroux – Alpha: The Man Who Hoped For A Better Life
Saturday 13 August
8:00pm – 9:00pm
Garden Theatre
Barroux presents the world première performance of Alpha, a son-et-lumière dramatic realisation of his powerful graphic novel, launched here in the English language for the first time. With translator Sarah Ardizzone and actor Thierry Lawson, Barroux tells the story of a West African migrant who leaves Ivory Coast to find his family in France. Thus unfolds a tragic, unforgettable tale about the hopes and perils of migration. Musical supervision by Carole Mendy. Part of our Migrant Stories series of events. Supported through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo fund.

Edward Ross – Film: Very Graphic Images
Sat 13 August
8:45pm – 9:45pm
Studio Theatre
Comic book artist, writer and illustrator, Edward Ross has created something special in his fantastic voyage through cinema. Filmish looks at the ideas behind famous movies; at big issues such as censorship and at great directors like Hitchcock and Tarantino. The book takes the form of a graphic novel, taking a visual approach to serious filmic challenges like time, propaganda and different ways of looking.

Phoenix Comic Workshop: Evil Emperor Penguin with Laura Ellen Anderson – SOLD OUT
Sunday 14 August
10:30am – 11:30am
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
Children’s Programme – Age 8-12
He may look sweet, but evil is most definitely lurking beneath that adorable exterior… Enter into the world of Evil Emperor Penguin with professional comic writer Laura Ellen Anderson and the Phoenix, Britain’s leading weekly comic. Laura shares top drawing and storytelling tips to help you perfect your comic strip style. Supported by Anon Writers in Wendbach.

Steve Butler: Dennis the Menace’s Great Escape – SOLD OUT
Sunday 14 August
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
Children’s Programme – Age 6-9
How do you think Dennis the Menace would fare at an elite boarding school? In the fifth book of the bestselling The Diary of Dennis the Menace series we find out, as Britain’s most misbehaved young man plots his great escape. Join author Steven Butler for an hour of mischief, mayhem and grannies on motorbikes!

Unbound: The Phoenix Rises
Sunday 14 August
9:00pm – 11:00pm
The Spiegeltent
Free & Drop-in
The Phoenix Comic has been cool for kids for many years, and now Unbound revellers will be treated to some late night antics from gladiatorial Gary Northfield (Julius Zebra), caped comic crusader Laura Ellen Anderson (Evil Emperor Penguin), adventurer extraordinaire Jamie Littler (Cogg & Sprokit), Cloud Rider Zak Simmonds-Hurn (Simon Swift) and deadly Corpse Talk creator Adam Murphy. Join them for a night of interactive drawing and performances.

Comic Consequences with Adam Murphy, Gary Northfield and Zak Simmonds-Hurn
Monday 15 August
10:30am – 11:30am
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
Children’s Programme – Age 8-12
Festival favourite Vivian French challenges comic creators to a lively game of consequences. You choose the starting point for each story and then the writers take it in turns to move the story along. Come and watch some fantastic live drawing and see how comic makers Adam Murphy, Gary Northfield and Zak Simmonds-Hurn fare when you throw your craziest ideas at them.

Metaphrog: The Red Shoes
Monday 15 August
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Baillie Gifford Imagination Lab
Children’s Programme – Age 10-14
Graphic novelist duo Metaphrog return to the Book Festival with their highly-acclaimed retelling of some of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic stories, The Red Shoes and Other Tales. Hear them talk about what it takes to turn fairy tales into compelling comics, watch them recreate some of their lavish illustrations, and pick up some tips for creating a comic book of your own.

Phoenix Comic Workshop with Zak Simmonds-Hurn
Tuesday 16 August
12:15pm – 1:15pm
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
Children’s Programme – Age 8-12
Comic creator Zak Simmonds-Hurn takes you on a fantasy adventure with his Sky Drifters series, featured in Britain’s leading weekly comic, the Phoenix. Come and meet Zak and hear about what it takes to create an exciting comic series. An unmissable interactive workshop for all budding comic creators.

Sarah Ardizzone & Bessora – Alpha: A Story of Our Times
Wednesday 17 August
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Baillie Gifford Imagination Lab
The graphic novel Alpha, written by Bessora and translated from French into English by Sarah Ardizzone, is a story of endless dirt roads, refugee camps and constant danger, but it’s also one of great humanity. Both writers join us to talk about the book and discuss, with Rowena Seabrook, the materials that have been developed by Amnesty International to challenge the dehumanising discourse around migration. Part of our Migrant Stories series of events.

Bessora & Karrie Fransman with Bidisha: Taking Refuge in Pictures
Thursday 18 August
5:45pm – 6:45pm
Garden Theatre
The courageous, often doomed journeys undertaken by refugees offer issues and questions that are well served by the graphic novel medium. Belgian novelist Bessora provided the stunning text used by illustrator Barroux to create the newly-translated Alpha. She joins Karrie Fransman, with Over Under Sideways Down, a comic book produced for Refugee Week that charts the true story of Ebrahim, a boy who fled from Iran aged 15. They discuss their work with Bidisha. Part of our Guest Selector: Bidisha series of events.

Tom Gauld: The Last Policeman on the Moon
Wednesday 24 August
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
‘Living on the moon? What were we thinking?’ The lunar colony is winding down and the last cop’s beat is getting steadily smaller. In the plaintive, pared-back style of his popular Guardian cartoons, Tom Gauld’s new graphic novel Mooncop is a story that beautifully captures the personal realities facing a dying community. A witty, melancholy adventure that confirms Gauld as a star of British graphic novels.

Bryan Talbot & Mary M Talbot: The Irresistible Urge for Utopia
Saturday 27 August
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Garden Theatre
In their first jointly produced graphic novel since winning the Costa Biography Award for Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, Bryan and Mary M Talbot return with the story of a French revolutionary. Utopian dreamer, teacher, poet and fighter on the barricades in the 1871 Paris Commune, the outrageous life of Louise Michel is vividly told in their glorious graphic novel, The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia.

Fionnuala Doran & Marcel Ruijters: Graphic Biographies
Sunday 28 August
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
Two brilliant biographies in graphic novel form. Fionnuala Doran’s The Trial of Roger Casement charts the downfall of a man knighted in 1911 for humanitarian work, but condemned later as a revolutionary and a homosexual. Marcel Ruijters treats his graphic novel biography of Hieronymus Bosch in an entirely different manner. Since few facts remain about the medieval painter, Ruijters has created a work of fiction.

Celebrating The Broons and Oor Wullie
Monday 29 August
11:00am – 4:30pm
Baillie Gifford Story Box
Free & Drop-in
Scotland’s favourites, The Broons and Oor Wullie, celebrate their 80th anniversary this year. Drop into the But ‘n’ Ben, grab a bucket, put a puddock in your pocket and join in with their jokes, stories and crafts. Just make sure you don’t mix up those twins!

Jens Harder: All Inhuman Life is Here
Monday 29 August
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre
In his book Alpha…Directions, German illustrator Jens Harder embarks on the modest task of squeezing 14 billion years of history into one graphic novel. In this life-affirming compendium of images and ideas, Harder tells the story of evolution from the Big Bang through to genesis of life on Earth and right up to the start of human history. The book is a mind-boggling, meticulous, graphic masterpiece.

Details of how to book tickets for any of the above talks and workshops are on the Edinburgh International Book Festival website.

Jeremy Briggs

News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.

Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events

Tags: Adam Murphy, Barroux, Bessora, Bryan Talbot, downthetubes News, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edward Ross, Filmish - A Graphic Journey Through Film, Gary Northfield, Jamie Littler, Jens Harder, Karrie Fransman, Laura Ellen Anderson, Mary Talbot, Metaphrog, Oor Wullie, Sarah Ardizzone, Steven Butler, The Broons, The Phoenix, The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia, Tom Gauld, Zak Simmonds-Hurn