Toby Morris announces The Side Eye!

Above: The Side Eye GIF by Toby Morris.

Recently cartoonist Toby Morris announced his regular comics series The Pencilsword would be ending, with a new project on the horizon. Today he unvailed his next comics endevour, The Side Eye, which will be hosted by The Spinoff website!

In a statement at The Spinoff, Morris described the new project: 'The Side Eye is about casting a sceptical (but hopefully not cynical) eye on the changing world around us. A way of taking all the little things that make us say ‘eh?’ and looking a little closer. And these days there are plenty of things to question: Climate change, inequality, shifting attitudes about sexuality, health, diversity, the workplace. How we use technology. How we process history. In the end I want it to be about how we treat each other. Where we’re going, and why.'

To read Morris' full announcement, you can visit The Spinoff website HERE. The first Side Eye will debut at The Spinoff later this week.

- AK!

Recommended Reading: The Pencilsword: Follow The Leader

Above: The Pencilsword: Follow the Leader: Bill English - National, by Toby Morris.

With the New Zealand election looming at the end of this month, cartoonist Toby Morris is on the campaign trail - capturing his impressions of our political party leaders out there meeting the public and pushing their respective views. Toby's Pencilsword series, created for The Wireless website, has covered all four of the major party leaders, starting with James Shaw of The Greens Party, which you can read HERE.

Above: The Pencilsword: Follow the Leader: James Shaw - The Greens Party, by Toby Morris.

Followed by part 2: Jacinda Ardurn - The Labour Party, which you can read HERE, and Part 3: Bill English - The National Party, which you can read HERE.

Above: The Pencilsword: Follow the Leader: Jacinda Ardurn - The Labour Party, by Toby Morris.

UPDATE: And finally, Part 4: Winston Peters - NZ First, which you can read HERE.

Above: The Pencilsword: Follow the Leader: Winston Peters - NZ First, by Toby Morris.

It should go without saying, but remember to get out there and vote on September 23rd. As we've seen in recent overseas elections, EVERY VOTE can make a difference - and this is gearing up to be a close one, so make sure you have your say on Election Day!

- AK!

EVENT: Cartoonists at Auckland Writers Festival 2017!

The Auckland Writers Festival is back for 2017, taking place this week at the Aotea Centre from May 16th - 21st. Alongside international and local authors, two of our most talented cartoonists will be taking part in the festival.

Sarah Laing, author of Mansfield and Me, will be featured in two events: 

EVENT 16: A Personal Tale: Dudding & Laing: Two recent New Zealand works entwine the personal with the literary: Sarah Laing’s 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted graphic memoir Mansfield and Me plots her literary journey alongside that of our starry export Katherine Mansfield; and the shortlisted Adam Dudding’s My Father’s Island circumnavigates his father, the late great literary editor Robin Dudding. Laing and Dudding speak with Geoff Walker about memoir writing, and inescapable literary forces.

A Personal Tale: Dudding & Laing, takes place Friday May 19th, from 10 - 11am at the Aotea Centre's Lower NZI Room. Tickets are on sale HERE.

EVENT 43: Walk On High: Walk on High is an intimate meandering journey, featuring a sampler of Festival talent on a word trail along High Street in the CBD. From 6.30pm to 8pm choose from four fifteen-minute events, repeated four times across the ninety minutes, individually crafted and each as delectable as the next. Formats take in games, Insta-essays, music, spoken word and theatre. Over 20 writers and performers take part, including: Jess Holly Bates, Anthony Byrt, Teju Cole, Glenn Colquhoun, Jonothan Cullinane, Mei-Lin Hansen, Ali Ikram, Simone Kaho, Sarah Laing, Last Tapes Theatre Company, Michelle Leggott, Lana Lopesi, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Doug Poole, Randa, Rosabel Tan, Apirana Taylor, Tourettes, Steven Toussaint, Ian Wedde, Rewa Worley and Sonja Yelich. 

Walk on High is a FREE event, taking place on Friday 19th at various venues on High Street, Auckland Central, from 6.30pm - 8.00pm. Check out the AWF website HERE for more information.

Toby Morris, author of The Pencilsword, The Day The Costumes Stuck and Capsicum Capsi Go will be taking part in three events:

EVENT 36: Writing the Past: A Museum Collaboration: Five writers recently went exploring at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, each seeking inspiration for a piece of writing. Hera Lindsay Bird, Anne Kennedy, Kelly An a Morey, Toby Morris, and Ngahuia te Awekotuku present their resulting takes on our archival past.

Writing the Past: A Museum Collaboration: is a FREE event, taking place on Friday 19th at the Aotea Centre's Upper NZI Room from 4 - 5pm.

EVENT 118: The Day The Costumes Stuck (5+): Iggy can’t get his party costume off, his parents haven’t noticed and weird happenings lie ahead. Toby Morris unfolds a fun family story with illustrations. Taking place on Sunday 21st from 11 - 11.30am at the Aotea Centre Heartland Festival Room, this is a FREE event but sessions are ticketed, so book early.

EVENT 123: Capsicum Capsi Go: Capsicum goes on holiday! Come on an adventure with the coolest Capsi around led by Toby Morris and featuring a chance to draw your own Capsi. This event takes place on Sunday 21st in the Aotea Centre's Herald Theatre from 1 - 1.30pm. There is FREE entry, no ticket required. 

For more information on the Auckland Writer's Festival, you can visit the event website HERE.

- AK!

The Pencilsword #36: What About the Renters?

Above: Image from The Pencilsword #36 by Toby Morris.

Home ownership in New Zealand has become a hot topic of late, with increasingly inflated property markets making home ownership unaffordable for the vast majority of first-time buyers. As a result, many New Zealanders are renters; and even that market is becoming more difficult for many of us to find quality accommodation to live in.

In the latest Pencilsword, Toby Morris asks the question, 'What About the Renters?'; and gets the perspective of renter Elliot Ferguson and Robert Whitaker from renters rights group, Renters United. You can read the full strip at The Wireless website HERE.

- AK!

Weekend Reading: Oneiric, Let Me Be Frank and The Pencilsword

Above: A page from Oneiric by Sarah Lund. Copyright 2016 Sarah Lund.

Here's some local comics to catch-up on this weekend while kicking back with your digital reader or laptop: 

Oneiric is a new webcomic by Sarah Lund, it is about a girl named Daisy who is about to celebrate her 15th birthday by having a shared dream party with her friends. Lund's drawing style is uniquely her own, with a vivid, changing colour palette that adds a sense of warmth and intimacy - that perfectly suits it's subject of a close-knit group of friends. There's 16 pages of story so far, which you can read HERE.

Above: A page from Believing by Sarah Laing.

Sarah Laing's blog, Let Me Be Frank has been a hive of activity lately, with a several great and insightful new comic strips. There's Believing, a strip in which Laing contemplates the value of creating art in a world that seems to place little worth in it - a sentiment that any published writer or working artist can surely relate to. You can read the full strip HERE.

In Complicated, Laing considers the recent conversations surrounding begging bylaws in the inner city areas of Auckland and Wellington, and her own responses to being confronted with begging: is giving someone money the right thing to do? Like the title says, it's complicated. You can read the full strip HERE.

And most recently, One Morning in Karori, in which Sarah's daughter Violet awaits a visit from the Tooth Fairy. You can read the full strip HERE.

Above: A scene from The Pencilsword #25: Shifty Business. Copyright Toby Morris 2016.

In Pencilsword #25, Toby Morris looks at the shifty business of tax evasion by multi-nationals. You can read the full strip HERE.

- AK!

Event: Mariko Tamaki: Drawing on Life

Above: Canadian graphic novelist Mariko Tamaki. Image by Sorrell Scrutton.

The New Zealand Festival Writers Week 2016 is currently on in Wellington, with a variety of local and international writers descending on the capital for a full week of book launches, discussion, and literary goodness! One of the visiting authors happens to be award-winning Canadian graphic novelist Mariko Tamaki.

Above: This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki.

Tamaki's first graphic novel, Skim (2008), was a collaboration with her cousin, artist Jillian Tamaki. The story is about a teenage girl and her romantic feelings towards her female teacher, which went on to win an Ignatz Award, a Joe Shuster Award and a Doug Wright Award. In 2014 they reunited to collaborate on This One Summer, about two young girls on summer holiday who begin to navigate the complexities of teen love, and the unspoken secrets of the teens and adults in their lives.

In 2015, the American Library Association awarded This One Summer one of its highest recognitions for both illustration and young adult literature – a Caldecott Honor and Printz Honor. This marks the first time a Caldecott Honor has been awarded to a graphic novel.

Above: A page from This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki.

Mariko Tamaki will be discussing her books with children’s writer and critic Kate De Goldi at a one hour panel, Drawing on Life, this Sunday 13th of March at the Embassy Theatre at 12.30pm. Tickets are available from Ticketek HERE.

In addition to her writing, Tamaki is also a performance artist. As a multi-talented storyteller, she will be joining local multi-genre artists: Kerry Ann Lee, Sarah Laing and Courtney Sina Meredithon in Taking Form, a conversation about letting a story find its form. Should your story become a book, a song or a play? Is it a solo project or a collaboration? Listen in on this talk to find the answers that work for you. Taking Form takes place at the BATS Theatre, on Saturday 12th of March, at 12.30pm. Tickets are available from Ticketek HERE.

Above: Artwork from The Pencilsword #23 by Toby Morris.

And as an added bonus: in this month's edition of The Pencilsword, Toby Morris conducts a 'graphic' interview with Mariko, which you can read in full HERE.

- AK!

Weekend Reading: The Doctor Foxglove Show and The Pencilsword #20

Above: Artwork from The Doctor Foxglove Show by Rachel Smythe.

Rachel Smythe, the creator of The Maidan, which placed 3rd in last year's Chromacon Chroma Art Awards, has a new webcomic available for you to read, The Doctor Foxglove Show. Described as, 'surreal thriller that follows a young woman and her struggles adjusting to her place in between life and death'. The artwork has deliciously gothic texture to it, establishing a great sense of atmosphere in it's opening chapter. You can read the intro and first chapter HERE.

Above: Artwork from The Pencilsword #20: Holes by Toby Morris.

In this month's Pencilsword, Toby Morris considers the unseen: the gaps in our perception of the world, the uncomfortable truths that we'd rather not notice or pay attention to in our daily lives or society at large. Perhaps it's time we were more honest with ourselves, and took a closer look at the 'holes'. You can read the full animated strip HERE.

- AK!