1177 BC A Graphic History: Pre-Order Now!

Pre-Order now through your local bookstore (mine is Phoenix Books in Burlington) and they’ll know they need to stock the book.

After more than two years of drawing maps, ancient art, imagined scenes of cities, ships, and battles, I’m excited to share this book with the world. The Late Bronze Age has never been more alive and in full color as it will be in April 2024! Arriving together with Eric Cline’s sequel, After 1177 BC!

Praise: “This funny, beautiful book is a tour de force of visual storytelling. Glynnis Fawkes’s stunning graphic rendition of 1177 B.C. amplifies Eric Cline’s landmark work without simplifying the historical questions that remain. From the mysterious Sea Peoples to garrulous hippos, the Late Bronze Age comes alive on the page.”—Josephine Quinn, author of How the World Made the West: A 4,000-Year History

How a Librarian Created Community in a Pandemic

I drove to Westport, VT (about half hour from Burlington) and met writer Margaret Grayson and librarian Bree Drapa, to hear about what she’s done to keep the the community together over the past 10 months—which was a lot! I had 2 days to draw, ink, copyedit and color the story. Read it here and in the Dec 16 issue of SevenDays.

2020 As a Newborn in the New Yorker

Read the whole comic on The New Yorker. The anxieties of 2020 in one wailing bundle!

Charlotte Bronte Before Jane Eyre Review in the New York Times

This review in the New York Times one is the best yet! It appears in the print edition on Sunday Dec. 1st.

“This emotionally nuanced and visually stunning biography, illustrated in deft pencil strokes colored with moody shades of blue and featuring an insightful introduction written by Alison Bechdel, is the latest venture from the Center for Cartoon Stories…”

Vermont Arts Council Grant

I’m very pleased and grateful to have received a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant for $4000 to complete the book I’m working on now, a middle grade graphic novel about a family of artists set in Late Bronze Age Thera, Crete, Egypt, and Cyprus.

The New Yorker: Nineteenth-Century Novels, with Better Birth Control

If our fave literary heroines of the Nineteenth-Century had access to birth control, many of the plots are solved almost before they begin. Or maybe it’s the institution of marriage that is the problem? Read all ten panels on The New Yorker.

Interview on The Comics Journal

Sloane Leong interviewed a bunch of people who had residencies at La Maison des Auteurs in Angouleme for The Comics Journal— including me. I was there in 2015 and 2018, and though I’m not there now, I haven’t unsubscribed to the group messages (because being au fait to when residents are going out for coffee/beer helps me concentrate) and so when she appealed there for people to talk about their experiences at the MDA, I answered the call.

Read the Interview on The Comics Journal.

Thanks to Alan Francois for the photo!

Travel Anxieties Flow Chart of Popula

I drew this comic for Popula in June after a surprisingly eventless trip to the UK and Angouleme, France. Fortunately, I’ve had plenty of anxiety-inducing travels to draw upon for this—and I’m certainly not alone! See the whole thing here.

Meanwhile I’m finishing the book about Charlotte Brontë—I’m doing nothing else these days in order to get it done! It will be out in Sept 2019.

Aqualitt in the New Yorker

Several people have asked me if this European Literary water park is a real place.  There is a place sort of like it in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Water World Themed Water Park, where the slides have a Greek Mythology theme, such as "Drop to Atlantis," "Aeolos Whirlpool," "Fall of Icarus," "Quest of Herakles," and more. I started thinking of the slides they could add that would make the place too sinister to visit—who would go on “Scylla and Charybdis”, “Kronos’ Catapult,” “Medea’s Moshpit,” or “Cyclops’ Cavern”?  We went for Helen's 11th birthday, and she was thrown into conflict by her aversion to Greek Mythology and her enthusiasm for sliding.  

Review of Alle Ego on High-Low

Rob Clough reviewed Alle Ego on High-Low on August 29, 2018.

It's a blast from the past to read this thoughtful thorough review of a project that I was working on 3 years ago!   It's always in the back of my mind that I plan to edit, revise, and expand the book after this coming year--but I have several exciting projects to finish before I can get to it.   The themes of the book are still relevant, while my working methods, writing, and drawing, have evolved in the last few years.  Inshallah, I plan to return to working on Alle Ego with new eyes in 2019.  

Euripides' Helen

The week of March 20-25 is consumed by the production of Euripides' Helen at the Black Box Theatre at the Main Street Landing in Burlington, VT, and stars UVM students & affiliates.  The show is a unique mix of pathos and comedy, with new music, dance, costumes, and my projected images.  

The play began with John (Franklin)'s idea to honor Phil Ambrose (professor emeritus) and his desire to compose music for ancient songs.  Following the constraints of ancient rhythms and tunings, John creates songs that are both accurate to possiblilty and catchy.  He had an electrified lyre made especially for the occasion by Creston Guitars.  John and the other two musicians seem to be having a very good time with this music.

John asked me to design the costumes, sets, and to create projections that accompany three of the songs.  I hand-cut stencils and then painted trims that were sewn onto costumes for the chorus, Helen, Menelaos, the Dioscouri, and the orchestra. Rachel Cosgrove and very hard working student volunteers Zoe Anszperger, Eileen Parks, and Claire Wilcox made all the costumes with tremendous care and attention to detail.  The inspiration for the costumes comes from Greek vase painting, Minoan wall paintings of Santorini, and Egyptian art.  

On stage there is a 4-foot high fence of lotus flowers and the one prop, a bench with hieroglyphs, that I painted in our garage.  

I created around 80 images that are projected while the chorus sings the three Stasimon songs.  The effect of the chorus of seven women dancing and singing to a live band in front of the projections is magical--in a strange Ancient-Greece-in-Vermont kind of way! 

So many people have been involved in making this production happen--that alone is impressive for an extra-curricular event for all of us.  Many thanks to everyone for making this show possible.  

Dan Bolles wrote an article for SevenDaysVT about the play.

Demeter beside the deep roaring ocean

The Strumpet Launch

I'm excited to be a part of the launch of Strumpet #5 in New York.  There will be live comics readings, refreshments, great company, and fun.

Exhibition at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington DC

Landscapes of Myth and Memory

Paintings and Drawings by Glynnis Fawkes

Show Dates: November 15, 2017 – February 28, 2018 

Directions and Visitor Information

Overview

Beginning November 15, the Center for Hellenic Studies will showcase a series of paintings and drawings by artist Glynnis Fawkes that represent nearly 20 years of work relating to the landscapes of the Eastern Mediterranean. The exhibited pieces draw inspiration from both the archaeology and mythology of Greece and Cyprus.

Alassa, Cyprus

American Kids Abroad in The New Yorker

Here's a comic in The New Yorker that incapsulates a month in Cyprus (and some moments from last summer in Greece.) 

New to Patreon!

I've just created a Patreon account in order to post my Greek Diary project!   Every week I will post pages from diary comics I kept in Greece:  part about working as illustrator on an excavation, part about traveling to islands with my family.   I will post pages I drew while traveling and continue to create new pages that add context and memories of my first and many subsequent trips to Greece over nearly 20 years, especially Santorini, the site of the beginning of the romance with John 13 years ago.  This book is currently around 160 pages. I plan to add to this number over the next months.

This project feeds Alle Ego, another book (in progress) about friendship and romance on my first trip to Greece as a grad student.