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Myriad Editions is delighted to announce that the winner of the first ever competition for a first graphic novel in progress is Gareth Brookes. Brookes’ The Black Project was chosen from a very strong shortlist of seven, including the writer and artist team Adam Blackman and Dylan Shipley, and creators Con Chrisoulis, Hannah Eaton, Tom Eglington, Thom Ferrier and Paula Knight.
Entrants were asked for 15–30 pages of a graphic work-in progress, either fiction or non-fiction, in black and white.
In all, seventy-four qualifying submissions were received, and the seven shortlisted works were chosen from a very strong longlist of twenty-one. The works were showcased and the winner announced at a packed gathering at the University of Sussex on Saturday 21st January 2012 at First Fictions, a weekend of events championing first novels past and present, jointly organised by Myriad Editions and the English Department at the University of Sussex.
Brookes, whose work includes embroidery and lino-cuts, will have his work published by Myriad Editions in 2013.
To see images of the shortlisted works, please visit First Fictions.
The winning entry was chosen purely on the strength and promise of the art and writing by the panel of judges:
Steve Bell, cartoonist (Guardian)
Hannah Berry, graphic novelist (Britten & Brulightly)
Ed Hillyer (Ilya), cartoonist (King Lear, Skidmarks) and author (The Clay Dreaming) Corinne Pearlman, Creative Director, Myriad Editions
Ian Rankin, author (Inspector Rebus series and other novels)
Bryan Talbot, graphic novelist (Grandville, Alice in Sunderland, The Tale of One Bad Rat)
