Calling all aspiring cartoonists and graphic novelists: the prestigious Jonathan Cape/Observer/Comica Graphic short story prize, now in its 11th year, opens for entries today. Our guest judges in 2018 are the novelist (and comics fan) Michel Faber (The Crimson Petal and the White, The Book of Strange New Things) and the cartoonist Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe, Gemma Bovery). The winner will receive a cheque for £1,000 and his or her work will appear in the Observer in print and online. The runner-up will receive £250 and have their work published online.
It’s worth remembering that several past winners, and some runners-up, have gone on to land publishing deals, among them Stephen Collins, Isabel Greenberg and Fumio Obata. In 2009, Joff Winterhart was a runner-up – and now his 2012 graphic novel, Days of the Bagnold Summer, a longer and more fully realised version of his original entry, is to be made into a film by Simon Bird of The Inbetweeners fame. In other words, this competition really could change your life.
All you need to do is draw and write a four-page comic designed to run over a double-page spread in the Observer New Review. What are you waiting for? Entry forms and terms and conditions can be downloaded here; the deadline is Friday 12 October 2018.
