• Mon. Dec 2nd, 2024

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The Trial of Roger Casement by Fionnuala Doran focuses on the life and struggles of the celebrated humanitarian and Irish revolutionary, Roger Casement.

Fionnuala is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and won the British Library’s Comics Unmasked competition in 2014.

She is a lecturer on the popular BA (Hons) Comics, Graphic Novels and Sequential Art offered by the University’s School of Arts & Media.

The degree is one of more than 80 new courses launched by Teesside University last year to respond to the latest industry developments and increased demand for graduates in specific sectors.

This year Teesside University has made Clearing simple and if you are still seeking a University place, you can call the University’s Clearing hotline on 0800 952 0226 or visit the Clearing websitehttp://www.tees.ac.uk/clearing.

Roger Casement is believed to have been an inspiration for Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

He first came to prominence for exposing the atrocities of Belgium’s King Leopold II in the Congo Free State in his 1904 Casement Report and was knighted for his services in 1911.

However, Casement became enamoured with the Irish independence movement and The Trial of Roger Casement focusses on his efforts to gain German support for an independent Ireland and his subsequent arrest in County Kerry.

Casement was publicly outed by the release and circulation of his private diaries – what became known as The Black Diaries – after his arrest.

The 120 page novel pictures his interrogation, his incarceration in the Tower of London and his time in the dock at the Old Bailey.

The 100th anniversary of his execution for treason is tomorrow (3 August).

The novel also highlights several other serious subject areas such as LGBT history, the struggle for acceptance and the treatment of the oppressed and disadvantaged by western powers.

Containing fantastic illustrations that bring the story of Roger Casement to life, the novel’s unique style will appeal to everyone from casual readers of comics to seasoned veterans.

Fionnuala said: “Roger Casement is a fascinating character, he was, in turn, a humanitarian, a revolutionary and then denounced as a traitor.

“He has now become an icon for LGBT Ireland following the gay marriage vote of 2015.

“The novel explores this multitude of themes which touched his life. Using both pictures and words helps to tell his story in a much more exciting way than using one medium alone.

“In the same way, the BA (Hons) Comics, Graphic Novels and Sequential Art teaches students how to master communication using words and pictures and is helping to produce a new breed of storytellers, each with their own individual voice.”

The Trial of Roger Casement will be published by SelfMadeHero in September. More details are available here.

For more information on the BA (Hons) Comics, Graphic Novels and Sequential Arts and other degrees offered by Teesside University’s School of Arts & Media visit tees.ac.uk/schools/sam

By admin