Willy Linthout:
Years Of The Elephant

Comica is thrilled to welcome one of the finest and funniest Flemish cartoonists, Willy Linthout, whose autobio-graphic novel Years Of The Elephant, coming in English from Fanfare, has won him huge acclaim for the poignant and surreal account of his grief after the suicide of his young son. Willy will be in conversation with former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen, who wrote so touchingly about his own son’s death in The Sad Book illustrated by Quentin Blake. Expect an evening of insights into these tender, life-affirming first-person testimonies. More…
Tickets: £8 / £7 Concessions / £6 ICA MembersWhere: Nash Room, ICA, The Mall, London
When: Monday, November 23, 2009 - from 7pm
“The language of comics is richly flexible and playful, ideally suited to the strange and surreal. As a best-selling cartoonist of some 130 zany Urbanus albums, Willy uses his skills brilliantly to convey a rollercoaster-ride of bewilderment, grief, anger, despair, paranoia and ultimately enduring love for his son.”
Paul Gravett - Read the full article here.
“Years of the Elephant is sad. Infinitely sad. It’s the unfortunately true story of the suicide of Willy Linthout’s son and the resulting toll it ends up taking on both him and his wife. As such, it’s incredibly difficult to get through, yet remarkably good. It’s a journey we don’t want to go on, and yet Linthout is so deftly good that we want to embark on it… for his sake and for ours… Here, in this simple drawing, is a perfect representation of the power of the graphic form: how art and story combined can tell a truly transforming story.”
Graphic Novel Reporter - Read the full review here.





