Sophie Burrows Sells Crushing Graphic Novel To David Fickling Press

In 2019, Sophie Burrows won Student Illustrator of the Year at the V&A Illustration Awards for her graphic novel, Crushing. A worldless self-published graphic novel that has drawn comparison to the works of Raymond Briggs and Posy Simmonds, she describes it as a story that "explores the ups and downs of romantic interaction, lust and longing. Born from an interest in interwoven stories within a crowd, I wanted to explore the romantic trope of eyes meeting in a crowded room, and the expectations, interpretations and misunderstandings that can arise from a glance between two people."

She's lonely and searching for connection. He's lonely and afraid to reach out. Life in the big city means being surrounded by connections—making them, missing them, and longing for them. But is finding someone else really the answer to their problems? Crushing, the stunning debut graphic novel from Sophie Burrows, is a story told in silence; a story without words but bursting with meaning; a story about loneliness and love. Achingly beautiful, quietly defiant, and full of subtle wit and wisdom, Crushing is a unique meditation on the human condition in the twenty-first century, and a timely examination of young adult life in an age of isolation.

It has now been picked up by David Fickling Books, courtesy of commissioning editor Rosie Fickling, publishers of the Phoenix Comics Weekly, and of her previous children's book Ig Pig and Og Frog! Burrows' agent is Claire Cartey at Holroyde Cartey Ltd. International.

Expanded and concluded during the pandemic, DFB states "it will focus on isolation and loneliness in the 21st century and will resonate all the more given the dramatic drop in social contact we have all experienced during lockdown.

Crushing will be published in the UK in November 2021, and rights have been sold in the US, Italy, France and China by DFB rights director Bronwen Bennie.