''Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment'' is a 2007

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

by comics writer and artist

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequel '' Heart of Empire'', as well as the ''Grandville'' series of books. He collaborated ...

. It explores the links between

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

and the

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

area, with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling.

Overview

The artwork for the main cover was drawn and made by graphic artist Jordan Smith. His daughter, Kaya Anna Lawson (Smith) is the model for Alice. She is featured on the front cover as Tenniel's Alice, as well as inside the book as her normal self. The work relates

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...

. It focuses upon the eponymous city, but also covers other towns and cities in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

, such as

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

. Local legends and tales are documented, including

The Lambton Worm The Lambton Worm is a legend from County Durham in north-east England in the United Kingdom. The story takes place around the River Wear, and is one of the area's most famous pieces of folklore, having been adapted from written and oral tradit ...

and the monkey hanged in Hartlepool. It is published in the UK by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, and in the US by

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

Exhibition

"Alice in Sunderland: The Exhibition" displayed work from the graphic novel, as well as exploring the various influences. It ran from April 5 to July 1, 2007, at

The Cartoon Museum ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Awards

BSFA Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

nominee, Best Novel *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: Nominated for "Favourite Original Graphic Novel" Eagle Award

Notes

References

* *

External links

''Alice in Sunderland'': the official homepage

Interviews

March, 2007
Curioser and curioser – Bryan draws on Alice
''

Sunderland Echo The ''Sunderland Echo'' is a daily newspaper serving the City of Sunderland, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Easington (district), East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Tem ...

'', March 17, 2008
Review
by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 2007 graphic novels 2007 comics debuts Comics based on Alice in Wonderland British graphic novels City of Sunderland Comics by Bryan Talbot Dark Horse Comics graphic novels Jonathan Cape books {{graphic-novel-stub