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Edith Pritchett’s “An Artistic Odyssey” Wins 2018 Observer/Cape/Comica Contest

By | November 5th, 2018
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British newspaper The Observer, publisher Jonathan Cape, and Comica Festival have announced the winners of their joint 2018 graphic short story prize. Cartoonist Edith Pritchett’s “An Artistic Odyssey” took home the top prize, while Jac Clinch’s “Customer Complaint 40569” took second place.

In a Guardian article announcing the winners, judge Rachel Cooke said the Observer/Cape/Comica panel’s decision was unanimous, and that Pritchett’s entry stood out immediately.

“Not only did it look great,” said Cooke, “it also had a beginning, middle, and an end – a harder trick to pull off than you may think over the course of only four pages.”

Pritchett’s story, which you can read in full here, follows an art student’s attempt to find her muse and create quote-unquote important work, before eventually realizing that maybe muses and importance aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

“I think the cycles she goes through were true of myself and a lot of my peers,” Pritchett says. “A combination of intellectual inferiority and a very keen desire to be important and do something impressive. But I wanted also to try to be honest about my love for pop culture and internet quizzes, as well as my endless yearning for material goods.”

Pritchett is “ecstatic” to have won the prize, according to The Guardian, and hopes the £1,000 prize money and visibility might help her make a living cartooning in the future.

For second place, Jac Clinch won £250 and the chance to see his story featured online. You can read his runner-up story here.


Matthew Ledger

Matt's a professional writer who started comics with "Batman Adventures" and now reads just about anything. You can find more of his work at Matt Reads Comics, Matt Plays Magic, and the short story collection 500 x 50. He's on Twitter as @mat_ledge.

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