Hermione Eyre

Serial genius

The graphic novelist talks to Hermione Eyre about Botox, Brexit faces and why she loves rubbish

issue 01 June 2019

‘It’s no use at all,’ says Posy Simmonds in mock despair, holding up her hands. ‘I can’t tell my left from my right.’ She is ambidextrous. ‘This hand [her right] writes and draws; and this hand [her left] cuts out, sharpens pencils, throws balls, plays tennis… I can’t drive. I’ve never taken a test. I’m always on the wrong side of the road.’

Looking at these wonderful hands, elegant and almost limp, one would never suppose they had created, over the past 50 years, such a large volume of intensely enjoyable and astute drawings. Reliably funny and wise, her work ranges from Fred (1988), about the secret rock-star life of a pet cat, to Cassandra Darke (2018), a graphic novel with an art dealer anti-heroine who is part Scrooge, part Clarissa Dickson-Wright.

Simmonds is being celebrated with a UK retrospective, at the House of Illustration in King’s Cross. ‘It feels very weird…’ she tells me.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in