Ones to watch from Mr Paul Gravett

The wonderful Paul Gravett has flagged one of our forthcoming titles Dance By The Light Of The Moon (SelfMadeHero) by Judith Vanistendael as 'one of the graphic novels I’m most looking forward' on his website.

This is what Paul Gravett says:

The Flemish new wave is unleashing some amazing graphic novels (Randal C.‘s Sleepyheads from Blank Slate and Brecht Evens’ Wrong Place from Drawn & Quarterly will also blow your socks off). So watch out for a strong Flemish focus at Comica 2010 this autumn. Judith Vanistendael will definitely be a part of this and come over to London. Hers is a standout work of ‘autobiofictionalography’, to use Lynda Barry’s perfect term. According to SelfMadeHero’s site, Judith ‘has just completed a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Her Spanish pilgrimage took her six weeks and she produced a stunning diary and sketchbook of her journey. She’s kept a diary in French, but you can enjoy her sketches without reading the entries.’ Here’s her wonderful Pilgrimage blog link to see this.

This is what we say about Judith's debut:

“A love story of two parts.” A moving love story inspired by the author’s relationship with a political refugee from Togo. It began as a response to the publication of a short story, Message from the Fortress, written by the author’s father, Geert Vanistendael. In it, her father gives vent to his feelings about the relationship. At first angry with her father, the author publicly responded by reclaiming the story in this semi-autobiographical novel.  Originally published as two books and nominated for the prestigious Angoulême Festival Grand Prix, Belgian artist Judith Vanistendael creates comics ‘about life as it really is’. Her captivating, light brush style in this semi-autobiographical work has invoked comparisons with Craig Thompson’s epic graphic novel Blankets. Dance By the Light of the Moon is a beautiful, unexpected story, told from the heart, which reaches far beyond the love story that originally inspired it.

Look out for Judith during this year's COMICA Festival 2010. The launch event details will be posted via our Facebook Page and signing events will be announced here on the SMH blog and via our Twitter stream.

The book is available for pre-order via our store, here.