PARIS, Jan 25 — British cartoonist Posy Simmonds, widely regarded as one of the masters of the graphic novel, is working on a new book about a “fat, rich, greedy, stupid and criminal” member of the British upper middle classes, she told AFP.
The author of the bestselling “Tamara Drew” and “Gemma Bovary” — both of which have been adapted into films — said her new female protagonist lives in London.
But the story, which like much of her work gently sends up the British middle classes, is not proving easy.
Not because of a lack of inspiration but because of the writer’s bad back.
“Before, I used to draw very quickly because I worked for a lot of newspapers. I don’t want to labour it, but now I have such a bad back that I can only draw for 10 minutes at a time.
“Then I have to get up and do something else before I can start again,” the 71-year-old added, saying the book was “well advanced”.
Simmonds is president of the jury at this weekend’s Angouleme International Comics Festival in France, the third biggest in the world.
“It’s a great honour,” she said. “I don’t know yet if they will put a crown on my head when I arrive in Angouleme on Thursday,” she joked.
The jury she heads will decide its top prize, the Golden Wildcat, on Saturday. — AFP
