The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, in partnership with Comica and VIP Brands, has announced the short list for the Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation – English, for 2024.
The Sophie Castille Awards for Comics in Translation are for the best translation of graphic novels into a variety of languages. Publishers from around the world again submitted for consideration a huge variety of comic stories translated into English, and deciding the final shortlist was no easy task.
This year’s Sophie Castille Award – English prize will be awarded at the Lakes International Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere over its Festival weekend, 27th – 29th September 2024.
Shortlisted are (in alphabetical order of translator): “Je ne veux pas être maman” (“I Don’t Want to Be a Mom”) by Irene Olmo, translated from French by Kendra Boileau, published by Graphic Mundi, an imprint of Penn State University Press; “沖合の雷” (“Offshore Lightning”) by Saito Nazuna, translated from Japanese by Alexa Frank, published by Drawn & Quarterly; “A la recherche de Gil Scott-Heron” (“In Search of Gil Scott-Heron”) by Thomas Maucéri and Seb Piquet, translated from French by James Hogan, published by Titan Comics; “L’Arc en cieliste” (“The Rainbow Catcher”) by Cédric Mayen, Laura Lorio and Ricci Roberto, translated from French by James Hogan, published by Europe Comics; “Juliette: Les fantômes reviennent au printemps” (“Juliette: Or, the Ghosts Return in the Spring“) by Camille Jourdy, translated from French by Aleshia Jensen, published by Drawn & Quarterly; “La falaise”(“The Cliff”) by Manon Debaye, translated from French by Montana Kane, published by Drawn & Quarterly; “Freud: le moment venu” (“Through Clouds of Smoke: Freud’s Final Days”) by Suzanne Leclaire and William Leroy, translated from French by Nanette McGuinness, published by Life Drawn Books, an imprint of Humanoids; and “Dans la Tête de Sherlock Holmes” (“Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes”) by Cyril Lieron and Benoit Dahan, translated from French by Christopher Pope, published by Titan Comics.
Launched last year, the Sophie Castille Award – English is an award for the best translation of a non-English graphic novel into English, a project initiated by VIP Brands Ltd., in partnership with Comica and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Michele Hutchison was announced as the winner of the inaugural Awards, for her translation of The Philosopher, The Dog and the Wedding by Barbara Stok, published in English by SelfMadeHero.
These awards have been created in honour of Sophie Castille, international rights director and V. P. of licensing for Mediatoon, cofounder and director of Europe Comics, who died unexpectedly in 2022. Since the late 1990s, Sophie built bridges for bandes dessinées and their authors, from France and around the world. She was a constant source of creativity, motivating publishers across the globe and encouraging them to exchange ideas and, as a result, she became a key figure in the growth of translation of comics and graphic novels around the world.
The goal is to have these awards in as many countries in the world as possible. Since the Award was launched in the UK last year, five other countries have joined: FICOMIC – Barcelona, Spain, where Regina López Muñoz received the award for Lizzy Stewart’s “Alison” (“Errata Naturae”), Comicon, Naples – where Samata K. Milton Knowles received the award for Liv Stromquist’s “Astrologia” (“Fandango”). Łódź International Festival of Comics and Games Poland will announce their first winner the 14th September 2024, while Slovenia’s Tinta Festival Stripa will have two awards, one for a children’s comic and one for an adult comic, and will announce their first winners at this year’s festival (9th – 13th October). ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΚΟΜΙΚΣ (Greek Comics Academy) will announce their first award in May 2025.
The UK jury again comprised of three judges: Associate Professor in the Nottingham School of Art & Design, writer and artist Carol Adlam; comic archivist, author, publisher and longstanding comics advocate Paul Gravett; and Gemma Sosnowsky, of Lancaster University.
Comics and graphic novels, considered in France as The Ninth Art, are a diverse and dynamic international medium that are growing in popularity every year and are loved the world over. Spreading these works internationally through translation is a way to bring the world together.
With comics in translation becoming an important influence in the publishing world, VIP Brands Ltd, Comica and LICAF have decided to honour Sophie’s memory and continue her work to promote comics in translation around the world with these new Awards.
“The Sophie Castille Awards are global awards to recognise the work of translators in the medium,’ explains Ivanka Hahnenberger, General Manager of VIP Brands and founder of the Sophie Castille Awards, “as well as to highlight the importance of the work of translation in the world of comics, recognising the skill and dedication of those who contribute significantly to the dissemination and understanding of comics around the world which was very important to Sophie Castille. We are very proud to have 6 countries onboard through six organisations that are very important to the world of local and international comics.”
“We’re delighted to again be hosting the awards ceremony for the Sophie Castille Award – English prize,” says Festival Director Julie Tait. “Alongside the launch of the International Rights Market at the Festival, a project also supported by VIP Brands, this will be another good reason for comic creators and publishers to come to Bowness next month!”
• More about The Sophie Castille Awards here on the LICAF web site and at sophie-castille-awards.org
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Bowness-on-Windermere Friday 27th – Sunday 29th September 2024 | Ticket details here
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is online at: comicartfestival.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Sign up for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Newsletter
Shortlisted Books
In Alphabetical Order of Translator | All book links are AmazonUK Affiliate Links
No Quiero Ser Mama (“I Don’t Want to Be a Mom”)
By Irene Olmo, translated from Spanish by Kendra Boileau
Published by Graphic Mundi and imprint of Penn State University Press
ISBN: 978-1637790595
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
A true story of liberation and self-empowerment in the face of societal prejudice, I Don’t Want to Be a Mom questions the imposition of motherhood on women as both an expectation and a path toward fulfilment. With an affecting mix of humour and introspection, Spaniard Irene Olmo describes the subtle and not-so-subtle ways she was pressured to have children and the feelings of isolation and self-doubt that ensued. Her delightful full-colour illustrations capture perfectly the maddeningly narrow-minded reactions of those around her, as well as her own discomfort and frustration.
沖合の雷 (“Offshore Lightning”)
By Saito Nazuna
Translated from Japanese by Alexa Frank
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
ISBN: 978-1770465053
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
A collection of assorted stories. Nazuna Saito began making comics late. She was in her forties when she submitted a story to a major Japanese publishing house and won an award for newcomers. She continued to work through the 1990s until she stopped drawing to take care of her ailing parents.
In her sixties, she took a job teaching drawing at Kyoto Seika University and became inspired by her talented students. When she returned to teaching, her storytelling interests had shifted. Before suffering a stroke she drew In Captivity (2012) and Solitary Death Building (2015) – both focused on aging and death. Offshore Lightning collects Saito’s early work as well as these two recent graphic novellas.
A la recherche de Gil Scott-Heron (“In Search of Gil Scott-Heron”)
By Thomas Maucéri and Seb Piquet
Translated French by James Hogan
Published by Titan Comics
ISBN: 978-1787740235
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Singer, poet and writer; considered to be the godfather of rap, Gil Scott-Heron
is a myth and legend in the Afro-American music scene.
Through his personal experiences, Thomas Maucéri allows us to discover the life of this genius along with other aspects of America’s recent history.
L’Arc en cieliste (“The Rainbow Catcher”)
By Cédric Mayen, Laura Lorio and Ricci Roberto
Translated from French by James Hogan
Published digitally by Europe Comics
Amazon ASIN: B0CDHJV77T
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
As the plague rages through England, Hayden Springworth is busy trying to find hidden treasure at the end of a rainbow. But an encounter with Isaac Newton will shatter the young lord’s antiquated beliefs. Sent to the southwest of France as a spy, Hayden continues his research on rainbows in secret.
That is, until he meets a strange young girl who seemingly has the power to bring rain with her wherever she goes…
Juliette: Les fantômes reviennent au printemps (“Juliette: Or, the Ghosts Return in the Spring”)
By Camille Jourdy
Translated from French by Aleshia Jensen
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
ISBN: 978-1770466647
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
A vibrant tableau of small-town life as seen through the eyes of a woman returning home from Paris.
La falaise (“The Cliff”)
By Manon Debaye
Translated from French by Montana Kane
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
ISBN: 978-1770466944
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Schoolyard outcasts Charlie and Astrid meet up after school near a cliff at the edge of the woods surrounding their sleepy town. They make a blood pact to jump together in five days time, before their thirteenth birthdays. Not that navigating the unspoken pecking order of the school quad makes it easy. Can the intensity of their bond survive the scrutiny of their peers, or will it crumble under the sum of each other’s disappointments?
Freud: le moment venu (“Through Clouds of Smoke: Freud’s Final Days”)
By Suzanne Leclaire and William Leroy
Translated from French by Nanette McGuinness
Published by Life Drawn Books, an imprint of Humanoids
ISBN: 978-1643376011
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
The ageing Sigmund Freud reflects upon the torments of age, the lung cancer he suffers due to his cigar addiction, and the rise of Nazism.
In 1923, Sigmund Freud, 67 years old and an inveterate cigar smoker, discovers that he has mouth cancer, a truth long hidden from him by doctors. Despite his diagnosis, Freud survived 15 more years, convinced the cigars that were slowly destroying him increased his productivity and gave him control over himself.
At the same time, a different sort of cancer was consuming Europe. In 1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, annexing Freud’s home country of Austria five years later. His books burning upon fascist pyres and his peers concerned for his life, Freud had no choice but to leave Vienna for London, his final home…
Dans la Tête de Sherlock Holmes (“Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes”)
By Cyril Lieron and Benoit Dahan
Translated from French by Christopher Pope
Published by Titan Comics
ISBN: 978-1787738911
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
An award-winning, and Eisner nominated, original graphic novel starring the world’s greatest detective: Sherlock Holmes! See into Sherlock’s mind like never before as Cyril Lieron depicts an intricate visual representation of his mind palace…
• More about The Sophie Castille Awards here on the LICAF web site
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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.
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