BRING ME THE HEAD OF RYAN GIGGS

Rodge’s next novel, BRING ME THE HEAD OF RYAN GIGGS, has been signed up by TINDAL STREET PRESS and will be published on APRIL 7th 2012.
There will be launches in London, Manchester and Glasgow. More details to follow on the Tindal Street site but in the meantime an extract from the book, a chapter called ‘Hello! Hello!’ is published in GUTTER 05.


DOUGIE’S WAR

In recent months, DOUGIE’S WAR has been nominated for several prizes. Firstly, Best Graphic Novel at the SICBA Awards 2011. Secondly, at the Scottish Creative Awards 2011, it has been nominated for both Best Publication and Best Illustration, for the work of Dave Turbitt, the artist on the project.
The winners will be announced on October 7th at Edinburgh Corn Exchange. Dougie will also be appearing alongside Pat Mills (2000AD, Judge Dredd, Charley’s War) at Edinburgh International Book Festival on 28th August and at the Internaitonal Festival of Authors in Toronto on October 30th.
For more details on DOUGIE’S WAR events, interviews and images, please see www.dougieswar.com
Details of Scottish Creative Awards shortlists here.


FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

For more regular news on publications, events and competitions, you can now follow Rodge on Facebook and Twitter


EVENTS

Rodge is hosting a series of events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011, including Will Self, David Belbin and Christoper Wallace, all on Sunday 28th August.
He will also be appearing in Alasdair Gray’s play Fleck, being performed by authors including Liz Lochhead, AL Kennedy and Alasdair himself, on Monday 29th August.
Details at www.edbookfest.co.uk
News to follow about trips to Canada and Poland. .


CARGO

Rodge is the newly appointed Associate Editor at Cargo Publishing, an independent based in Glasgow for whom Rodge edited The Year of Open Doors, a collection of Scottish fiction, in 2010. For more information on future Cargo projects and events go to www.cargopublishing.com or find them on Twitter and Facebook.



DOUGIE’S WAR

“The only graphic novel I’m aware of on the war in Afghanistan, Dougie’s War reveals the hidden cost of all wars. Very memorable and powerful, the art is stylish, moody and cinematic.”
Pat Mills, Charley’s War, Judge Dredd and 2000AD

Dougie’s War, a graphic novel about one soldier’s return from Afghanistan and his struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is written by Rodge Glass and illustrated by artist Dave Turbitt. The book was published on 16th September 2010 by Freight, who also publish the award-winning literary magazine Gutter. Here are a few of the reviews:

“…throughout the book Dave Turbitt finds effective ways to illustrate the sheer psychic disruption of PTSD, the sudden intrusion of nightmares into waking life. His most powerful images find a minimal modernism for Joe Colquhoun’s expressionism…”
Scottish Review of Books

“a hard-hitting tale of post traumatic stress syndrome… it hammers home its message without being preachy… as forceful as any conventional novel or non-fiction account”
The Big Issue

“its attempt to be honest, without being sensational or voyeuristic about the tragedy of war, is a successful and admirable one”
Sunday Herald

“a highly unusual novel with graphics… like the writing, the artwork is excellent”
Sunday Express
“…raises questions about the validity of the wars our country is conducting and, particularly, the effect these conflicts have on those involved.”
The Spectator

 

EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW ABOUT DOUGIE'S WAR
(for more please see www.dougieswar.com)

Dougie Campbell is a Scottish soldier, a veteran of Afghanistan, who comes home to the south side of Glasgow. He has just left the British Army but cannot forget his experiences of combat. A battle rages inside as he struggles to adjust to civilian life, trying to live with his memories and understand his burning need for recognition.

Rodge said: “We ask our service men and women to do things and witness things the rest of us cannot imagine. They are trained to operate in the harshest and most stressful environments. But medical research shows that the effects of those experiences can be deeply damaging, sometimes after a single traumatic event, sometimes many years later, the cumulative effect of pushing oneself to the limit over long periods.

“Dougie’s War aims to do for the war in Afghanistan what Waltz with Bashir did for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Graphic novels have an advantage over other art forms in allowing the reader to experience something of the horror chronic PTSD can induce. Treatment of PTSD is improving all the time, whether via the NHS or veterans’ charities, but it is vital that soldiers and those closest to them recognise the symptoms and seek help.

The book includes moving interviews with a number of army officers and others who have experienced combat first hand in a range of conflicts from the Falklands to Iraq and Afghanistan and have suffered the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. They expose a forces culture where appearances are everything and asking for help risks a dangerous loss of authority.

Adrian Searle, Publisher at Freight and co-editor of Gutter magazine said, “Rodge was a natural choice to write this graphic novel. His fiction has a forensic interest in families and the stresses contemporary life places on them. Our troops in Afghanistan have seen some of the fiercest fighting since the Second World War and, in addition to the tragic loss of life, there will be a resulting long-term legacy for many of those who have served there.