​Back from the bonny old UK where our book events went very well. Nice to do a lecture in Cambridge University and continue the discussions in one of its famous pubs by the river with some very smart folk.
But this one in the Kurdish Community Center was the best. The Kurdish people were amazingly warm and welcoming to me. More than just about any group of people I have ever met anywhere in the world.
"As part of the global Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Days, a promotion meeting was held in London presenting the graphic novel ‘Freedom Shall Prevail: The Struggle of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish People’.
The promotion meeting organised by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Kurdish People's Assembly in Britain and the Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Movement Committee at the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC)..."

​https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/-75641

Off to Paris soon!

Myself and Japanese artist, Inko Ai Takita, will go to Paris give a presentation at the Guimet Museum, in the afternoon on February 24th. The evening before that we will do a talk and book signing in the publisher's own book shop, from 6pm Feb 23rd. Both are about our manga version of the classic The Tale of Genji.

The museum event is part of a big exhibition all about the Tale of Genji, with a lot of interesting related objects and events. Our event will also include the Japanese artist Harumo Sanazaki, the French ‘raguko’ performer Cyril Coppini, and our French publisher, Benoit Labayle.

Anyone in the area is welcome to come:
"Roman fondateur pour la culture japonaise, "Le Dit du Genji" continue d'inspirer des expressions artistiques contemporaines, comme les mangas, qui en réinterprètent les codes et les thèmes. Le plus célèbre est sans doute Asaki yume mishi de Waki Yamato (né en 1948). La récente édition de Sean Michael Wilson (2022), illustrée par Inko Ai Takita, sera présentée dans cette exposition. "
​
https://www.guimet.fr/fr/expositions/la-cour-du-prince-genji

​We had two pleasingly successful events in Paris over the weekend. in the @le.reve.du.papillon a very nice bookshop about 10 minutes down the road from Notre dame, with owners Benoit and Louise who are also the publisher of our Tale of Genji book in French Éditions Synchronique ...I just realised that half the folk in the bookshop photo looked pretty bored, but actually it was a lively event, with many good questions and a relaxed wine party after...by coincidence the TV series 'Emily in Paris' is set on the same street, and they were filming there just 10 minutes before our event started.
Then a well attended event in the auditorium of the 19thC Guimet Museum @museeguimet with the rakugo-ka, Cyril Coppini, who did a good job of being MC of the afternoon for me and japanese manga artists Sanazaki and Inko Ai Takita @inko_dokotei … speaking in French, Japanese and English, the clever laddie.

There were so many people queued up in the museum bookshop afterwards who bought our book and got it signed that it took almost one hour and a half to sign them all and have a wee chat with everyone… nice!
​
And thanks to Eric Mollet of the Francoise Japon Sasakawa Foundation and Luc Jondreville of the French Ministry of Finance for the support and the enjoyable drinks and chat afterwards about various aspects of France…though, as we can see from my face the next day in Montmartre I was very tired!

I have two new books coming out later this year (THIS year, the wan we are stannin in the noo!). And this book below is my 9th 'social issue' type book on aspects of history, society, politics etc...and likely to be the most controversial so far:  
 
"This wonderfully illustrated graphic novel is a collaboration between award-winning Scottish writer Sean Michael Wilson and Kurdish artist Keko, with backing and research help from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan—Peace in Kurdistan,” groups with long term and impassioned commitment to the cause of Öcalan and the Kurdish people’s freedom." 
 
Coming out in April from PM Press in English and later in the year in German, Turkish and the Kurdish language itself. Looking forward to seeing them all.  
 
https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1579 ​

Comics, post-capitalism and The Walker Brothers!
​
What could go wrong...

https://shepherd.com/bboy/2023/f/sean-michael-wilson​

A little piece by me about some of the troubling aspects of the manga industry which are almost never mentioned in the 'state of the industry' type reports and panels.

Key amongst them being: with the strong focus on diversity in comic books nowadays, why is there 99.9% no international diversity among creators in Japan itself? And no interest from Japanese people towards international comics? And why is this never mentioned by international manga fans or commentators?

https://giannisimone.substack.com/p/present-and-future-of-the-manga-industry-c03?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwAR1sGtO3AIAm2YOIEKWf_518gDeqYRdQHcXzT6vluMM23CnY5jf02f_5yNQ

New book from Hand Readers Press (my new self publishing thing):

Clear Away the Clichés: A Guide Book for Students about Communism, Capitalism, Anarchism and Post-Capitalism

“There are various very silly clichés and misunderstandings about anarchism, communism, socialism and capitalism. Many people have almost no idea what these systems are, or believe the most basically inaccurate things. Various studies have shown that only about 25% of people in the UK and USA can give a good explanation of these various systems. If we don't know what they really are, then how can we chose which is best? So, let's clear away the cliches!
This short and accessible book is an attempt to increase basic knowledge about what anarchism, communism, socialism and capitalism really are. And what a post-capitalist society could consist of. It does so by noting various common clichés and making clear what the views and approaches really are. Written in a plain style, and avoiding academic jargon, this book will be especially useful for students on course of economics, sociology, politics and cultural studies.”

July 2023, 114 pages and only $8 or £6 in the bonny old UK. ​