Pornokitsch

The breathtaking artwork from Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd's A Monster Calls is now available as a series of limited edition prints from artist Jim Kay. A Monster Calls won last year's Red Tentacle (and a zillion other, less-tentacular awards) and the cover was a finalist for the Inky, as well as the BSFA's art prize. The proof copies were on display briefly at Foyles and, speaking from first-hand experience, they're absolutely stunning.

During a talk, Mr. Kay spoke about the experience of illustrating A Monster Calls, and how he drew inspiration from anything and everything - including a beetle that had the good (or bad) fortune to walk across an unfinished piece, leave its tracks as part of the art. The work was created in Scotland, during the depths of winter, in an unheated home. Mr. Kay used to take breaks to go running (while wearing every layer he had) in order to thaw out.

Illustration by Jim Kay