‘Newport Rising’ NEWS
Chartism Redrawn and Beyond
streamed Wednesday 28th November
Host: MELINDA DROWLEY, the new chair of ‘Our Chartist Heritage’ since April 2020
The Illustrator, writer and producer team of Josh Cranton and Rhys D.W. Jones, entertained a combined audience from the Newport and Gwent Literary Club (NGLC) and the Newport Rising Festival.
The oldest literary society in Wales, and the youngest festival in Newport, had joined forces to present Chartism Redrawn and Beyond.
Josh and Rhys used their graphic novel Newport Rising: Chartism Redrawn and drew on their experience as animateurs of the project ‘Chartism Redrawn for Schools’ to share insights concerning their motivations, their creative processes and the impact of their work with young people.
The brief that they took on some three years ago for this project, was to make the Chartist story relevant to a new generation, while staying true to its heritage and values.
Their graphic novel retells in contemporary comic form the story of the 1839 Newport Rising. It was inspired but by no means fettered by historical events. It starts from the premise that the 1839 uprising never happened and the work of the Chartists is not yet done and urgently needed. Research into the lives and characters of the three Chartist leaders, John Frost, William Jones and Zephaniah Williams lends authenticity to the portrayal of the main protagonists and coherence to the narrative.
That said, the artists readily admitted there is scant historical evidence that the original Chartists were led by leather-clad, pierced and tattooed punks’!
Importantly, the project inspired over 400 Newport school students to reconnect with their history and heritage and develop powerful ideas and artwork of their own.
