London-based Filipino author Candy Gourlay was recently named runner-up in the 2023 Observer/Faber Graphic Short Story Prize. Her entry, Safe Passage, tells the story of a mother escaping with her young children to the countryside during World War II when Japan invaded the Philippines.
In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Gourlay shared that she has long nurtured dreams of being a cartoonist. Her latest book, Wild Song, was The Bookseller’s Book of the Month in 2022. It is the sequel to Bone Talk which was shortlisted for Carnegie Medal and Costa Award.
“When I finished my latest passion project last year [Wild Song, a tale of twins, set in 1904], I suddenly felt aware of a clock ticking. I’m 61. Time is running out. I decided that this year would be all about comics, and so I drew Safe Passage, which is based on a story about ant hills and magic and superstition that my father told us – he was eight when the war broke out, and his mother fled the Japanese with all of her children – but which is really about fear of the unknown,” she told The Guardian.
Ms Gourlay has given Tinig UK permission to publish Safe Passage.
