§ The LA Times looks at the rising sales for novels based on manga. Already a huge category in Japan, the novels are catching on the US as well.

The practice of adapting stories from manga and animation to prose has been growing in Japan. As Roland Kelts, the author of “Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.,” put it, “What’s happening in Japan is that the shift from novelists to manga writers has gone backwards. Now you have established manga writers writing novels and publishing imprints capitalizing on this trend.”


§ the Detroit Free Press profiles Erin D. Russell who recently won the 2006 Charles M. Schulz Award for college cartooning, which comes with a $10,000 grant. Russell’s strip JADED JOY ran for two years in her college paper.

“When I was in high school, I worked for my high school paper, and I asked if they were interested in me drawing and they said yes. I did editorial cartoons. That’s how I started my career.”

She has studied art, cartooning, anime, metalsmithing and Japanese art, and toyed with the idea of becoming a video game designer because she loves gaming. Her current favorite is “Super Smash Bros.”


§ Literacy News looks at Phil Yeh’s latest literary tour , which will bring him to the BEA from June 1-3.

At this year’s BookExpoAmerica, booth #101, the two cartoonists Phil Yeh and Phil Ortiz will debut the 14th issue of Yeh’s Winged Tiger magazine which also features brand-new character creations from Ortiz, and an interview with Academy Award winning animator John Canemaker about Winsor McCay, the genius behind Little Nemo in Slumberland. The magazine is filled with new cartoon features and articles about their global tour. Phil Yeh, Phil Ortiz, and Alex Niño were invited as special guests for for the 3rd annual China Cartoon and Animation Festival in Hangzhou, China, held April 28 through May 4, 2007 and have great plans to expand their work throughout Asia in the coming years.

1 COMMENT

  1. I keep hearing about Phil Yerh and his magazine but have never seen it in diamond or anywhere else. This issue sounds fantastic and I’d really like to get a copy. Can anyone help? A UK stockist would be a godsend.

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