Charles Vess (photo by David Grace)
The Friends of the Library and the Virginia Highlands Festival host a free event celebrating Charles Vess, fantasy artist and illustrator, and his friend Alix Harrow, fantasy novelist, Thursday, July 24, at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Martha Washington Inn and Spa, Abingdon, Virginia.
The two artists engage in a conversation about the lure of fantasy. Collectors and fans can purchase signed books, as well as memorabilia and posters.
Both artists also headline the opening event of Writers and Readers of the Virginia Highlands Festival at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Friday, July 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Harrow is the featured speaker at 9:15 a.m., discussing “The Lure of Fantasy.”
This is followed by a performance in which Vess will sketch live as Harrow reads aloud from one of her stories. Registration is required for all Writers & Readers events.
Vess is a world-renowned fantasy artist and illustrator, who has called Abingdon, Virginia, home for 40 years. Vess began his career in New York City drawing for major comic publishers including Marvel, where he worked on “Spider-Man,” and DC Comics, where he first collaborated with Neil Gaiman on “Sandman.” Over the years his relationship with Gaiman expanded to include work on the illustrated novel “Stardust,” later made into a major film and the children’s book “Blueberry Girl.” In addition to Gaiman, Vess has worked with a number of celebrated authors including Ursula K. LeGuin on “The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition;” various works by George R.R. Martin (“A Storm of Swords”), Joanne M. Harris (“Honeycomb”) and Charles de Lint (“The Cats of Tanglewood Forest,” “Seven Wild Sisters”). Vess’s artwork has also been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, and he has won several World Fantasy Awards and Hugo Awards for Best Artist.
Harrow is a Virginia writer who has emerged as one of the most acclaimed contemporary writers of fantasy, gothic and science fiction. Her first novel, “The Ten Thousand Doors of January,” was nominated for numerous awards including the Hugo Award and a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Vess illustrated a limited edition of this novel by Subterranean Press in 2022. A second novel, “The Once and Future Witches,” won a British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Her most recent novel, “Starling House,” was nominated for the People’s Choice Award at the Virginia Literary Awards from the Library of Virginia. Harrow’s new genre-defying novel, “The Everlasting,” comes out this fall.
For more information, visit www.vahighlandsfestival.com.
