LATEST:
Behold! Gügor Speaks! (June 17, 2013) At the end of May, at Book Expo America 2013, peop ... ☞
Poetry, Neil Gaiman, “Writers as Outsiders” and Cowboys in the State of Texas (May 11, 2013) Last month (April 2013), I headed off to the Texas ... ☞
The Creature Department ARCs…GLOW IN THE DARK! (March 26, 2013) Imagine my surprise when I opened the box of ARCs ... ☞
London Street Art (March 4, 2013) Since relocating to London, I’ve been repeat ... ☞
The Creature Department: Coming in November 2013 (February 13, 2013) I’m very pleased to announce the upcoming pu ... ☞
Zorgamazoo Wins Germany’s Award for Best Children’s Audiobook (February 1, 2013) Good news everyone: Zorgamazoo has been awarded G ... ☞
Victor Rivas’ Artwork for Prince Puggly (January 12, 2013) As of today, it’s exactly one month before t ... ☞
2012 in Pictures (December 31, 2012) So that’s it for 2012. The world didn’ ... ☞
Kerouac’s Scrolled Manuscript and Britain’s Last Typewriter (November 27, 2012) Today I stared down Jack Kerouac’s 120 foot ... ☞
Dispatches from the Berlin International Literature Festival (September 21, 2012) I’m deep in the trenches of a new book at th ... ☞
Prince Puggly of Spud: Sketches and Advance Reader Copies (July 27, 2012) Good news, everyone. The advance reader copies of ... ☞
How do you say Zorgamazoo in German? (July 9, 2012) Quick question: What do I have in common with Pear ... ☞
Destination: London (June 12, 2012) As some people reading this will know, I am moving ... ☞
Interview with Books For Breakfast (May 9, 2012) Last week I did and interview with Dan Evans, who ... ☞
Dust City Book Trailer (April 27, 2012) This week, I spoke at a battle-of-the-books event, ... ☞
- Harbour Front Literature Festival
on 12 Sep 2013 ( )
@ Hamburg, Germany
Behold! Gügor Speaks!
At the end of May, at Book Expo America 2013, people stopping into the Penguin booth had the opportunity to speak to one of the characters from my upcoming children's novel, The Creature Department. The character in question was Gügor, who is a knucklecrumpler (of course). If you don't know what a knucklecrumpler is, think of something like an 8-foot salamander with colourful dreadlocks, usually dressed in little more than a tartan loin cloth (or just look at the pictures, below). Come to think of it, maybe it's better if you read the book. The cool thing about this incarnation of Gügor is that he's a real-time CG project from Framestore, the amazing special effects company responsible for the artwork in The Creature Department. R
The Creature Department ARCs...GLOW IN THE DARK!
Imagine my surprise when I opened the box of ARCs for The Creature Department and discovered they glowed in the dark. Seriously. No one told me about this, but wow...awesome. That's it. What else is there to say? Not much. (Except what everyone already knows, that this is the real reason you become a writer. To produce phosphorescent books!)
The Creature Department: Coming in November 2013
I'm very pleased to announce the upcoming publication of my newest—and perhaps most unusual—novel, The Creature Department. What makes the book so amazing (apart from a deeply affecting story and sparkling prose, of course) is the fact it's not just a book. It's a unique, unprecedented collaboration between Penguin's most fabulous (definitely sharpest) imprint, Razorbill Books, and the Academy and BAFTA Award-winning special effects company, Framestore (Where the Wild Things Are, the Harry Potter films, Skyfall, and many others). Instead of going the usual route, with me writing a manuscript, followed by Razorbill doing cover design, marketing etc, we wanted to find a way to get going with the book's visual elements—jacket design,
Poetry, Neil Gaiman, Writers as Outsiders and Cowboys in the State of Texas
Last month (April 2013), I headed off to the Texas Library Conference, held in Fort Worth, just outside Dallas. I was a guest on a few panels, speaking on poetry and children's books. I was honoured to appear with fellow scribblers, Michael Salinger, Rebecca Dotlich, Jane Yolen, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Charles Waters, and Guadalupe Garcia McCall, seen here with the conference's poetry guru, Sylvia Vardell: I had been once before to the conference and, as always, if was great fun, especially seeing the wonderful people from Penguin USA—including one of my editors—whom I don't get to see very often, not living in New York. On the first night there, after a long flight from London, I drowned my jet lag in Sauvignon Blanc with a g
London Street Art
Since relocating to London, I've been repeatedly astonished by the quality and sheer preponderance of street art. The stuff is everywhere, especially in my neighbourhood of east London. It's gorgeous, inspiring stuff, too, not just illegible tags (not that there's anything wrong with illegible tags, except that it's kind of a private club, what with the illegibility and all). Which is why it's so nice to see all these elaborate murals; capering characters; tiny, easily-missed tableaus... A few of these artists are close to household names, people like Roa, Invader, Christiaan Nagel, and of course, Banksy. But wait, there's more: If you've got money to burn, there are people you can hire to give you a tour of the art. Barring that, you
2012 in Pictures
So that's it for 2012. The world didn't end. Life goes on. Et cetera. Wasn't sure how to recap the year, so I'm doing in pictures. Here are, roughly in chronological order, my ten favourite-slash-most-significant images from the past twelve months. 1. In January, Penguin USA's young adult imprint, Razorbill Books, expanded into Canada. This first pic was taken at the launch party, held at The Baitshop Gallery in Toronto. It's a skate shop, bar, screening room, cafe, whatever you like (even comes with its own half-pipe—you can see a slice of it down below the footlights). Speaking on stage is my Canadian editor (and head of Razorbill Canada), Lynne Missen. 2. In May, it was the Forest of Reading Awards, where Dust City was nominatedPRINCE PUGGLY OF SPUD & THE KINGDOM OF SPIFF
“Ought to enchant readers, whether they are fashion plates or reprobates.”
DUST CITY
“Chinatown via the Brothers Grimm”
ZORGAMAZOO
“A natural descendant of the works of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl”