Conversations at the Chapel: Clive Hicks-Jenkins

In conversation with Alastair Laurence.

Clive Hicks-Jenkins is an image maker who has enjoyed several close collaborations with poets, illustrating three books for the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and ten for the American poet and novelist Marly Youmans. In 2023 he illustrated Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf for the Folio Society, and this year for the Folio Society he has illustrated Emily Wilson’s acclaimed translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Clive was the recipient of the 2019 Owain Glyndwr Medal for his Contributions to the Arts in Wales, and in 2020 was the winner of the V&A Illustrated Book Award for Simon Armitage’s Hansel & Gretel: a Nightmare in Eight Scenes.

Clive has two exhibitions opening this Autumn. Hay Castle will be showing a retrospective of his work in the fields of illustration, and at Oriel Myrddin, Gwrach/Witch, an immersive exhibition examining more than a decade’s worth of his explorations on the theme of the fairy tale Hansel & Gretel.

Tickets available HERE

Gwrach/Witch is an Oriel Myrddin exhibition opening this Autumn (dates to be announced) of the artist’s explorations and projects of over a decade on the theme of the fairy tale Hansel & Gretel. It will contain original drawings made as illustrations for his V&A Award winning work on Hansel & Gretel : A Nightmare In Eight Scenes by Simon Armitage, puppets and model sets for the 2018 stage production which the artist directed, animations which were screened during the performances and many of the vintage toys used as props. There will be artworks made for the Hansel & Gretel Toy Theatre, commissioned by Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop in Covent Garden, and artworks from the Hansel & Gretel Picture Book published by St. Jude’s. The exhibition is curated and designed by Meriel Hunt and the Guest Curator is Simon Costin.

Born of Man and Woman

Clive Hicks-Jenkins has made seventeen illustrations and wraparound cover artwork for the forthcoming republication by Suntup Editions of Richard Matheson’s anthology of science-fiction and horror, Born of Man and Woman, first published in 1954.

Matheson's career spanned decades of writing weird fiction and producing screenplays, and he's probably best known as the author of the novel I am Legend, adapted for the screen three times, most recently with Will Smith starring. He wrote 16 episodes of The Twilight Zone and produced screenplays of several Edgar Allan Poe stories for Roger Corman and American International Pictures: House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror and The Raven. He adapted his 1971 short story Duel as a screenplay for Steven Spielberg. This new edition is currently on pre-order at the publisher’s website.