Nick Bantock is most famous for the phenomenon that was Griffin & Sabine. Born and raised in England, he now lives in Vancouver. A frequent speaker, he also holds an annual creativity workshop in Spain and classes elsewhere. His books have sold in 13 languages and range from fiction to, most recently, his book with Penguin, The Trickster’s Hat, which focuses on how to be a better creator. His art is publicly and privately collected.
" Visually it's as decorative as the others, and constructed in the
same multimedia manner: with letters that have to be plucked from
their envelopes - a canny literary ploy that offers the reader a
voyeuristic thrill."
-Sydney Morning Herald
"Griffin Sabine, by the Canada-based British artist Nick Bantock,
seemed to have no precedent. It was as marvellous and mysterious as
the story it contained. . . .For the reader, opening the envelopes
is both a tactile pleasure and a voyeuristic one. The Pharos Gate,
which presents itself as "the lost correspondence" between the
first trilogy and the much later one, is full of beautiful letters
and cards."
-The Telegraph (UK)
"Continues the love story of Griffin and Sabine, inventively told
through illustrated postcards and removable letters."
-USA Today
"Each page is fashioned with a careful, adept hand that seeks to
draw the character's souls through the marriage of art and words,
weaving them together across the continents and oceans. By the time
Griffin and Sabine reach The Pharos Gate, you'll be right there
alongside them, clutching their love letters in your hands and
gazing open mouthed at the beauty of a conclusion that has always
been as inevitable as their unlikely love story."
-BoingBoing/Wink Books
"In this final, stunning volume of the Griffin Sabine saga, author
and artist Bantock completes the inspiring story of two lovers who
developed an epistolary relationship without ever meeting in the
flesh. Each page of the book presents an intricately painted or
drawn postcard on one side and the continued handwritten
correspondence among Griffin, Sabine, and a few other characters on
the other, or in some cases, actual envelopes that the reader will
pull folded letters from. The artwork tells an ethereal story of
its own, and as Griffin travels from England and Sabine journeys
from the South Pacific to finally come together for the first time
in Alexandria at the fabled Pharos Gate, the obstacles they each
encounter take a mystical turn. The immersive experience of this
book can be enjoyed on its own or in conjunction with the six other
books in the series. However it is read, Bantock's conclusion to
the epistolary epic is beautiful and truly singular."
-Publisher's Weekly
"It all makes for a dazzling conclusion to the pair's long 'search
for [their] equal opposites, ' their desire to 'step beyond the
mortal realm.' Maybe, once there, they'll send a postcard
home."
-Hyperallergic
"It is every bit as beautiful as its predecessors; the gorgeous
mixture of art styles and stationary, the echoing of a letter or
postcard's contents, the delightful tactility of carefully removing
a letter from an envelope affixed to the inside of a page and
finding different styles of hand-writing in evidence. But more than
its preceding volumes, The Pharos Gate addresses letter-writing as
a magical act that can bridge worlds, resist the limits of space
and time in order to connect one loving heart to another."
National Public Radio (NPR)
"It's been 25 years since Nick Bantock introduced readers to two
unlikely lovers, Griffin and Sabine, with a series of books that
told their tale through letters and postcards to each other. This
edition of the lavishly illustrated book, complete with actual
letters to unfold and read, celebrates the anniversary and treats
us to yet another chapter in their story."
-Parade
"The Pharos Gate is a powerful read, and is, as one would expect,
well-supported by Bantock's art."
-The Vancouver Sun
"There is one moment of great beauty at the end that will be worth
the price of admission for any reader who loves these
characters....Although the love letter seems to be a vanishing art,
these books rejoice in the physicality and longing such letters
embody. The books themselves are insistently physical, too, full of
envelopes and notes, like wrapped presents on each page...These are
enjoyable, lovely books that appeal to incurable romantics and
people who like to open mail. How delightful it is to have this new
one. Hurrah!"
-The Washington Post
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