Join us on Friday 15^th February at Soho’s Gosh! Comics for an evening to celebrate the launch of Will Morris’ debut graphic novel and Blank Slate Book’s first official release of the year, The Silver Darlings.

Will will be signing and sketching your books throughout the evening and many of the original ink-washed pages from the book will be on show in the shop. The evening will be lent a salty air by Hackney’s own City Shanty Band and given a Scottish flavour by Tunnocks, who will kindly supply everyone with a delicious Caramel Log.

Find more details on the Facebook event page – we’re looking forward to sharing a wee swally (drink) with you on the night. Slange!

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed The Silver Darlings creeping into harbour late in 2012, available in a very select number of comic stores. Will Morris’ debut graphic novel charts a week aboard a herring fishing boat for a young man with big ideas and scant experience and has already gathered praise from many quarters, including Nottingham’s excellent Page 45.

The book launches officially on 15th February (more of that shortly), but those of you who can’t wait until then the book is available at our shop. What’s more, everyone that buys the book through our shop before the launch date, including all the eager fans who have already picked it up, will have the chance to win an original piece of artwork from Will (pictured above). Painted in watercolour on hot-pressed paper, it would be the perfect addition to any room, wheelhouse or cabin.The winner will be drawn at random on 22nd February.

For a chance to win this exclusive Silver Darlings painting, just buy a copy of the book from our store before 15th February 2013.

We’re excited to be jumping in the Blank Slate tour bus this weekend and heading to Hay Festival with Nelson contributors Rob Davis, Woodrow Phoenix, Sarah McIntyre, Gary Northfield, Kristyna Baczynski and Will Morris.

Be sure to catch the superlative six in conversation with Telegraph film critic David Gritten on Sunday 3rd June night at 8.30PM on the Starlight Stage. For more info, and to book (it’s free), please visit the event’s page on the Hay Festival site here.

From the Festival website:

Join the editors and a selection of artists from behind this beautifully-rendered, Eisner nominated, graphic novel.Nelson tells the story of one woman’s life from birth in 1968 to the present day. Each creator individually details a single event or moment of protagonist Nel Baker’s life before handing over to the next artist, resulting in a vast narrative told via yearly snapshots. Part exquisite corpse, part relay race, Nelson spans decades of British history and combines a myriad of stylistic approaches in a single, compelling graphic novel.

Those eagle-eyed Blank Slate fans who follow us on Flickr may have noticed the above image appear at the tail end of last week. After much speculation from readers on Twitter as to why Will Morris’ The Silver Darlings disappeared from the Chalk Marks earlier this year, we’re excited to announce that the book will now be being released in Summer in hardback.

This will come as no surprise to those of you that keep up to date with Will Morris via his blog. The first half of the book appeared in a handsome cloth-spined hardcover for his MA show at Camberwell.

Head on over to the book’s official page here on the Blank Slate site for an all-new expanded preview of images from the book.

Over on his social network accounts, Kenny (Twitter / Facebook) makes his argument for voting for Blank Slate in this year’s Eagle Awards:

“‘I’ve just looked over our list for 2012 and we have an improbable 20 books scheduled. 16 of them by UK creators, 7 for whom it will be their first printed titles. We would appreciate any support for Blank Slate in the Eagle awards that you can give. an award would help us become better known, the better known we are the more cartoonists we can support in getting their work public. We are nominated in a number of categories and vote for us is a vote happily received.”

Punching way above our weight in 2011, 2012 is set to be even greater for readers, with an even bigger and more diverse selection of books. If you enjoyed our work in 2011, head on over to The Eagle Awards site where you can vote for an increasingly stacked list of nominations, including:

Favourite Publisher: Blank Slate
Favourite British Comic (colour): Nelson
Favourite Original Graphic Novel: Nelson
Favourite 2011 single story: Nelson
Favourite cover: Nelson
Favourite Newcomer Artist: Will Morris (of the upcoming The Silver Darlings)
Favourite Artist (pencils): Nick Edwards (check out Nick’s Dinopopolous here)
Favourite Editor: Rob Davis and Woodrow Phoenix (check out Nelson here)
Favoutite Letterer: Woodrow Phoenix (check out Nelson here)