The brilliant and inspirational Jonathan Cape/Observer/Comica Graphic short story prize, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year, is now open for entries.
All entrants must do (all!) is draw and write a four-page comic designed to run over a double-page spread in the Observer New Review. Our guest judges this year are the writer (and comics fan) Philip Pullman, and the cartoonist (and a former winner of the prize) Stephen Collins.
The winner not only receives a cheque for £1,000, but 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. Several past winners, and even some runners-up, have gone on to land publishing deals, among them Isabel Greenberg and Fumio Obata.
In 2009, Joff Winterhart was one such runner-up – and now his truly wonderful 2012 graphic novel, Days of the Bagnold Summer, a longer and more fully realised version of his original entry, is set to be made into movie by Simon Bird of The Inbetweeners fame.
This competition really can make a huge difference to the life of an aspiring cartoonist, for which reason I urge anyone who might fall into this category to get started, pronto. To your drawing boards! The clock is ticking. The entry forms and terms and conditions can be downloaded here, and the deadline is 29 September.
