Borders Book Festival includes graphic novel event for children with Edward Ross

By John Freeman on April 29, 2025

Filmish and Gamish creator Edward Ross is running a children’s workshop tying in with his latest book, Graphic Novel Builder, as part of the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, on Sunday 15th June.

Borders Book Festival, running 12th – 15th June, also includes appearances by Ian Rankin, illustrator Eilidh Muldoon, children’s authors Gary Panton & Dotty Sutton, Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho and many others.

Published by Collins late last year, Graphic Novel Builder: The Illustrated Guide to Making Your Own Comics, Edward Ross’s latest work, is a fun and accessible guide to creativity for ages 11+ – a comic book about making comic books.

Meet the Graphic Novel Builders, a group of big-dreaming teens who set out to write, design and draw their own comic books. There’s Ash the Publisher, Jay the Writer, Finn the Designer, Rayah the Artist, Sam the Colourist… and Peanut the Pup! Together, you’ll explore all the building blocks of the complete creative process behind making comics.

Edward Ross is an Edinburgh based comic book artist, writer and illustrator. With an early and obsessive interest in cinema and comics, it wasn’t until after studying Film at university that he managed to combine these two interests in the form of his self-published Filmish comics.

Well received by both movie fans and academics, Edward released four issues of the series between 2009 and 2013, before beginning work on Filmish – A Graphic Journey Through Film for SelfMadeHero. The book won a YASLA 2017 Great Graphic Novels for Teens award and has been translated into eight languages.

His second graphic novel, Gamish – A Graphic History of Gaming published by Penguin, explores the amazing history of games. A love-letter to gaming in all its forms, the book sheds light on why games fascinate and compel us.

Edward has also worked on a number of science themed comics in collaboration with Dr. James Hall for universities, museums, charities and research bodies. He often runs comic classes and workshops, including this one at the Borders Book Festival.

Launched back in 2004, Borders Book Festival 2025 offers four amazing days of talks, comedy, live music, food and drink, and much more, taking place at Harmony Garden, Melrose.

• Find out more about Edward’s workshop here and book tickets

• Check out the full Borders Book Festival programme at bordersbookfestival.org

• Graphic Novel Builder: The illustrated guide to making your own comics by Edward Ross is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

Thanks to Jeremy Briggs for the news tip

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.