Hospi-Tales: A Year of Stories from Alder Hey is the first comic anthology book released from the team at Marginal Publishing CIO (run by Comics Youth CIC). This comic was created in partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Hospi-Tales:

A

Year of Stories from

Alder Hey

Beautiful hardback copies of the first edition of Hospi-Tales: A Year of Stories from Alder Hey are available for pre-order from our store https://www.marginalpublishing.co.uk/store from 29th April 2022 and will be on general release from 12th May 2022.

Comics Youth worked with Alder Hey’s Art for Health programme and with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to provide fun, creative weekly sessions for the young people who found themselves at Alder Hey for a variety of reasons.

Our Graphic Medicine team at Comics Youth spent a year visiting the wards with the aim of raising the confidence and voices of young people with lived experiences of acute, chronic or terminal physical and mental ill health and help them to tell their stories through the medium of comics.

Vicky Charnock Alder Hey’s Art for Health Coordinator had this to say about the project and the book.

“Comics Youth’s patient led, and patient centred approach to working with the young people drew out the best in them, they developed skills and confidence to express themselves creatively through comics, illustrations and creative writing.

Patients told their heartfelt stories of being in hospital and the results captured in this anthology are funny, moving, uplifting, sad and real. Their stories are a testimony to the resilience and creativity of these young people who face so many challenges in their lives”

After our time on the wards the Comics Youth team of illustrators then lovingly crafted each young people’s stories into the variety of exciting styles and stunning full colour comics that appear in this book.

One of the fantastic young people we worked with is Emma (13) and has been treated at Alder Hey for cerebral palsy, she said:

“We did drawing and making comics which was really fun. I thought I couldn’t draw at all but thanks to Comics Youth, I've become a lot more confident with my drawing and writing and having one of my stories featured in Hospi-Tales: A Year of Stories from Alder Hey feels really good, especially since my family found it funny.”

Collage of 3 pictures of Emma. The first her showing off the book, the second reading it and in the third she is pointing at her comic inside the book.

Another amazing young person we had the pleasure of working with was Joey (13) also known as ‘Joey the legend’. Joey had a stroke 3 years ago and was taken to Alder Hey, he said this about his time working with Comics Youth:

“Since it was my right hand that was affected by my stroke I couldn’t really draw because it was my dominant hand before, [Comics Youth] taught me to draw and did comics with me and stuff. It made me feel dead happy because I could draw again and bring out my creative side.”

2 images of Joey. The first is a pic collage of the book, next to a picture of Joey and a picture of Joey’s comic in the book. The second image is Joey holding his copy of the book.

As well as all the superb comics in this anthology, the book includes a wonderful foreword written by Dr. Ronx (They/Them) from CBBC’s Operation Ouch that centres around the importance of using art as self-care and a communication tool, here’s a short snippet from that foreword.

“Art is a very important outlet for people of all ages.  Sometimes we don’t feel able to communicate our feelings or needs. Maybe we are scared or upset and do not want to talk.  Sometimes for physical or mental health reasons people are unable to hear or communicate with words.  Art can help bridge that communication gap.  Doctors often need to describe body parts and procedures and I regularly draw pictures to help kids and young people understand what I am saying.”

A picture of Dr Ronx. They are wearing purple scrubs and standing in front of an ambulance.

We shared sneak peeks of the book with some comic authors far and wide got some absolutely lovely cover quote endorsements from them. Here’s some extra bits from what they have to say about the book.

“Comics are an incredible medium for telling stories, and Hospi-Tales is an absolute testament to that. What a fantastic project. What a remarkable comic! Just amazing.”

- Jamie Smart – Author of Bunny vs Monkey

“[CY] have managed to catch lightning in a bottle, to get these incredible stories down on paper and bring them to life.”

- Leah Moore-Reppion – Author of Conspiracy of Ravens

“This is an absolutely outstanding graphic novel. What the young people at Alder Hey, along with the team at Comics Youth CIC, have produced is an incredibly funny, moving and profound look into both the physical and emotional lives of the young people undergoing treatment at the Alder Hey.”

- Mark Bradley - Author of Bumble and Snug

Creating this book was a joy from start to finish and we can’t wait to share all the amazing stories and comics within.

The book is 100% non-profit, and all proceeds will be going back into Comics Youth CIC and their future work with Alder Hey.

Beautiful hardback copies of the first edition of Hospi-Tales: A Year of Stories from Alder Hey are available for pre-order from our store https://www.marginalpublishing.co.uk/store from 29th April 2022 and will be on general release from 12th May 2022.

Copies will also be sold on the Alder Hey Charity website here: https://shop.alderheycharity.org/products/hospi-tales-a-year-of-stories-from-alder-hey

and they will also be available to buy from the charity shop in Alder Hey Children’s hospital and their charity shops in the community, located in Old Swan and Huyton, Liverpool.

Go and grab yourself a copy now! You won’t be disappointed x

Book launch!! - Hospi-Tales: A Year of Stories from Alder Hey