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As we’ve been noting, literary awards for graphic novels are becoming more common everywhere, and here’s a new one: The 9th Art Award. The prize is a joint venture between Graphic Scotland and the Edinburgh International Book Festival and will be presented this August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Given the excitement last year over two graphic novels being nominated for the UK’s prestigious Costa Prize, this new award will be kind of a comics version of the UK’s Man Booker prize, says Graphic Scotland Co-Director Gordon Robertson. “The 9th Art Award will be a significant annual award for recognition of excellence in the field of Graphic Literature. Its introduction as part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival recognises graphic literature’s rightful status as an art form,” he said in a statement.

The prize recognizes “the best work of graphic literature originally written and published in English between May 2012 and July 2013, from anywhere in the world. The judges include:

graphic fiction historian Paul Gravett
acclaimed arts critic and writer Hannah McGill
Freight Press publisher Adrian Searle
Costa award-winning writer of Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes Mary Talbot
A casting vote will be given to Graphic Scotland chair John McShane in the event of a tie.


which is a pretty fine panel, so we expect a fine winner.

BTW, if you’re wondering why its called the 9th Art Award, it dates to 1964 when French film critic Claude Beylie, made a then-new media list of the arts:

– the first art : architecture
– the second art : sculpture
– the third art : painting
– the fourth art : dance
– the fifth art : music
– the sixth art : poetry
– the seventh art : cinema
– the eighth art : television
– the ninth art : comic strips


Reality shows, web design, hubcaps…maybe this list need sot be updated?

Anyhoo great award — details of submissions in the link, which seems to have been swamped for the moment.

1 COMMENT

  1. I work in the performing arts, and the Edinburgh Prize is among our brass rings. One of the biggest.
    I hope this award gains the same stature.

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