Artist talk: Posy Simmonds

Posy Simmonds is the grande dame of the British comics scene. Since 1968, she has enjoyed great success with her cartoons, comic strips and picture books. She made her international breakthrough with three literary-based graphic novels: “Gemma Bovery” (based on Gustave Flaubert), “Tamara Drewe” (based on Thomas Hardy) and “Cassandra Darke” (based on Charles Dickens). With her graphic novels, Posy Simmonds expanded the scope and subtlety of the graphic novel and established herself as one of the most modern and sophisticated contemporary comic authors. In conversation with Christian Gasser, the winner of the Special Award for an Outstanding Lifetime Achievement looks back on her long and eventful career and reflects on her understanding of graphic novels.