Ace Jet 170

King

I See The Promised Land is the graphic-novelisation of the life of Martin Luther King JR and is published by South Indian independent press Tara Books. With prose from African American writer and griot Arthur Flowers and beautifully illustrated by Patua scroll artist Manu Chitrakar, the comic-like format does nothing to undermine this harrowing account of the Civil Rights Movement's rise.

In fact, the colliding traditions – the relatively modern graphic novel format and the ancient African form of oral storytelling – bring the story to life in a way that feels new and relevant.

Found Type Friday #102

Forgotten summer type. From that day in Italy when we took the train from Lucca to Florence and we all sat down in our seats and Karen turned to me and said, "I'm feeling a bit peckish", expecting me to pull out a snack when in fact I hadn't earlier shouted, from one to room to another, that, "yes, I have packed the crackers", but had in fact said, "yes, I have packed the plasters", and we all looked at each other and our four stomachs rumbled in unison as the train rattled along the tracks – the city and its snacks an hour or so ahead of us. 

Rumble, rattle, rumble, rattle.

Library Rules

The new library in Birmingham opened in September. It looks pretty good. Loads of photos here. And there's a thing from BBC Radio 4 here featuring the architect. The old one (pictured here) was famously described by Prince Charles as looking more like a place to burn books than read them. I can remember loving that place. It felt special. It felt important. There's talk of tearing it down now but not everyone sees the necessity; there are other people that love that brutal building. A lot of them can be found hanging around here or on Twitter at @keeptheziggurat.

If you're a fan of architectural brutalism show your support.

Business As Usual

And you don't get more "normal" than a Penguin cover from Alan Aldridge.

Normal Services…

…will be resumed shortly.