Selfmadehero Spring 2020
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SelfMadeHero Spring 2020 Our mission at SelfMadeHero is simple: to publish ground-breaking and beautiful work by authors and artists from across the globe, from the quirky and humorous to the political and profound. We are proud to bring readers graphic novels and visual narratives that provoke, entertain, inspire and inform. For March, Jurga Vilė and Lina Itagaki bring us Siberian Haiku, an unforgettable story of courage, inspiration and human endurance that highlights the Soviet deportations from Lithuania in 1941, a long- neglected episode from the darkest period of 20th-century history. Alongside this, the timely Thoreau and Me by Cédric Taling explores the causes and consequences of today’s climate breakdown through a forty-something painter who has begun to question his life choices. In April, surgeon and professor of medical history Jean-Noël Fabiani stitches together Medicine: A Graphic History, a fast-paced and rigorously detailed journey through the most significant and intriguing episodes from the history of medicine. The same month, Altitude, Jean-Marc Rochette’s autobiography charting his early years as both a climber and an artist is released, highlighting the exhilaration and terror invoked by confronting nature’s raw beauty. In The Summer of Her Life, released in May, Thomas Von Steinaecker and Barbara Yelin create a subtle and moving story about an elderly woman looking back on her adolescence, her passion for astrophysics, and a profound choice between love and a career abroad. Oenophile Benoist Simmat and artist Daniel Casanave also launch Wine: A Graphic History in May, a delectable, full-bodied exploration of the innovations that have accompanied the ancient art and science of wine, from oak-barrel ageing to the invention of the bottle. www.selfmadehero.com The Summer of Her Life ■ WORDS BY THOMAS VON STEINAECKER ■ ART BY BARBARA YELIN ■ TRANSLATED BY JOHN REDDICK SELLING POINTS ■ A beautifully drawn, poetic graphic novel that asks – and seeks to answer – some of life’s big questions ■ Barbara Yelin’s previous book, the Eisner-nominated Irmina, was A contemplative and highly praised by The Observer, compelling tale about The Quietus and Pop Matters ■ A moving story that confronts the growing old and what underrepresented subject of life it means to be happy in a care home SPECIFICATIONS Colour illustrations throughout 80 pages, 190mm x 290mm Hardback PUB MONTH: MAY 2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL • ORIGINAL FICTION hile trying to cope with the daily realities of Wher existence in an old people’s home, Gerda ISBN 978-1-910593-78-3 Wendt looks back on her childhood and adolescence, on £14.99 her passion for astrophysics and the raised eyebrows it provoked, and on the tough choice that she had to make back in the summer of her life: the choice between love and a career abroad… Subtle and deep, moving and funny, sad and true, Gerda’s reflections seek to answer the question that keeps us all awake in the small hours: have I lived a happy life? ALSO AVAILABLE Thomas Von Steinaecker is a German novelist and journalist. He has written extensively for radio and is the creator of several documentaries, including Richard Straus and His Heroines. Two of his novels have been nominated for the German Book Prize. Barbara Yelin studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. Her original graphic novel Irmina was BLOSSOMS IN AUTUMN 978-1-910593-62-2 nominated for an Eisner Award and an Ignatz Award. She lives and works in Munich. SPRING 2020 ■ 3 Wine A GRAPHIC HISTORY ■ WORDS BY BENOIST SIMMAT ■ ART BY DANIEL CASANAVE ■ TRANSLATED BY EDWARD GAUVIN SELLING POINTS ■ An informative and insightful graphic history of one of the world’s favourite alcoholic drinks ■ A unique collaboration between a wine specialist and a graphic novelist, Wine: A Graphic History is at once authoritative and A graphic history of brilliantly readable ■ A fascinating narrative that gives wine, from ancient perspective to today’s globalised times to today wine culture SPECIFICATIONS Colour illustrations throughout 232 pages, 190mm x 260mm Paperback PUB MONTH: MAY 2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL • NON-FICTION he history of wine is nothing less than the history Tof civilisation. It is the religious drink par excellence — from the Ancient Greek god of wine, Dionysus, via ISBN 978-1-910593-80-6 the vineyard Noah planted after the Flood in the Old £15.99 Testament, to Christ’s miracle at Cana. In the monasteries and churches of the Middle Ages, the syrupy drink of antiquity, unpalatable if undiluted, was transformed into the wine we know and love today. Oenophile Benoist Simmat and artist Daniel Casanave tell the story of wine from its origins in the Mediterranean to the globalised industry of the 21st century. Tracing the innovations that have accompanied this ancient art and science, from oak-barrel ageing to the invention of the bottle, Wine: A Graphic History will leave readers with a fresh and full-bodied view of our own drinking culture. Benoist Simmat is a journalist, essayist and scriptwriter, and the author of thirty books. A wine specialist, he is a long-time contributor to La Revue du Vin de France. Daniel Casanave is a comic book artist and writer. He lives in France. SPRING 2020 ■ 5 Medicine A GRAPHIC HISTORY ■ WORDS BY JEAN-NOËL FABIANI ■ ART BY PHILIPPE BERCOVICI ■ TRANSLATED BY EDWARD GAUVIN SELLING POINTS ■ A comprehensive and accessible guide to the history of medicine, from the Middle Ages to the present day ■ A unique collaboration between a comic book artist and an An engaging, eminent surgeon and professor informative and of medical history endlessly surprising ■ Sits neatly alongside a number of graphic history strong-selling works of graphic of medicine non-fiction, including Filmish SPECIFICATIONS Colour illustrations throughout 240 pages, 190mm x 260mm Paperback PUB MONTH: APRIL 2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL • NON-FICTION n the Middle Ages, surgery was left to barbers, owing to their skill Iwith sharp instruments. During the French Revolution, doctors were banned from hospitals. In the mid-19th century, the diverting effects of laughing gas inadvertently led to the discovery of anaesthesia. Three decades later, Louis Pasteur made a crucial breakthrough in ISBN 978-1-910593-79-0 his research into vaccination because his assistant decided to go £15.99 on holiday. In Medicine: A Graphic History, surgeon and professor of medical history Jean-Noël Fabiani stitches together the most significant and intriguing episodes from the story of medicine, from chance breakthroughs to hard-won scientific discoveries, featuring a vivid cast of history’s most dedicated and often heroic personalities. Spanning centuries and crossing continents, this fast-paced and rigorously detailed graphic novel guides us through one of the most wondrous strands of human history, covering everything from blood-letting to organ donation, plague to prosthetics, X-rays to Viagra. Jean-Noël Fabiani is a doctor at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, where he heads the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. He is also a professor at the University Paris-Descartes, where he spent a decade teaching the history of medicine. Philippe Bercovici is a comic book artist from Nice, France. He has created numerous comics and graphic novels over the last 40 years. SPRING 2020 ■ 7 Altitude ■ WORDS BY OLIVIER BOCQUET AND JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE ■ ART BY JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE ■ TRANSLATED BY EDWARD GAUVIN SELLING POINTS ■ Appeals to fans of the Oscar- winning documentary Free Solo and the SXSW Audience Award-winning The Dawn Wall An exhilarating ■ In 2018, Alex Honnold’s free solo graphic novel about ascent of El Capitan sparked major media attention and the thrill and terror attracted widespread interest in of mountaineering the sport of climbing ■ From the co-creator of Snowpiercer, a French graphic novel and major soon-to-be released Netflix series SPECIFICATIONS Colour illustrations throughout 296 pages, 190mm x 260mm Hardback PUB MONTH: APRIL 2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL • NON-FICTION s a teenager, bivouacked on a mountainside Abeneath a sky filled with stars, Jean-Marc ISBN 978-1-910593-81-3 Rochette had already begun measuring himself against £16.99 some of Europe’s highest peaks. The summits of the Massif des Écrins represent both a challenge and an escape. However, the frozen slopes can swiftly turn from a playground to a merciless test of endurance where life hangs in the balance. In Altitude, Rochette tells the story of his formative years, both as a climber and as an artist. Part coming-of-age story, part love letter to the French Alps, this autobiographical graphic novel captures the exhilaration and terror invoked by confronting nature’s raw beauty and life’s many hurdles. Jean-Marc Rochette is a French comic book artist and writer. Among his many credits is Snowpiercer, a graphic novel and major soon-to-be released Netflix series. Olivier Bocquet is the author of many graphic novels, and he has collaborated with artists including Julie Rocheleau, Gabriel Germain and Léonie Bischoff. SPRING 2020 ■ 9 Siberian Haiku ■ WORDS BY JURGA VILĖ ■ ART BY LINA ITAGAKI ■ TRANSLATED BY JURA AVIZIENIS AND JURGA VILĖ SELLING POINTS ■ An unforgettable story that brings to life a crucially important period of Soviet Union history ■ Based on the true story of writer Jurga Vilė’s father, who was exiled to Siberia as a child An intense, ■ Siberian Haiku has won numerous awards in Europe poignant and and has become a bestseller in informative Lithuania glimpse into life in exile SPECIFICATIONS Colour illustrations throughout 240 pages, 190mm x 260mm Hardback PUB MONTH: MARCH 2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL • ne morning in June 1941, a quiet village in central Lithuania is BIOGRAPHY Oshaken out of its slumber by the sudden arrival of the Soviet Army. Eight-year-old Algiukas awakes to the sound of Russian soldiers pounding on the door.