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Amazing author and storyteller Neil Gaiman (who I love more than words can say) has written and directed a short film titled Statuesque which stars actor Bill Nighy and musician (and Gaiman girlfriend) Amanda Palmer. I understand the film debuted on UK television last week but has since made its way to the Internets so that the rest of us can check it out. Here are a few screencaps along with some deets about the film itself:

If you made a short list of the most important comic book writers of the last two decades, one of the names right near the top of that list would have to be Neil Gaiman, whose 75-issue run on “The Sandman” (1989-1996) stands as a towering achievement in graceful storytelling and genre ambition. He’s gone on to plenty of other great successes (“Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book” may actually live up to the overused and always suspicious term “instant classic”), and today we bring you a project that pulled him away from his familiar perch behind the writing desk. The whimsical short film “Statuesque” was written and directed by Gaiman and stars Bill Nighy and Amanda Palmer.

The film is only a little over 8 minutes long and features no dialogue at all but it very clearly and lovingly tells a Gaiman story (that may or may not have one of those clever twists he so famously weaves into his work) that fans both new and old will, I think, love immensely. After the jump, watch Statuesque by Neil Gaiman in full …

Each year the Hugo Awards, named in honor of Hugo Gernsback — the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, present awards to deserving artists who excel in science fiction or fantasy works and achievements (kind of like the “nerd Pulitzers“) and this year, those awards were handed out at a ceremony in Montreal, Canada over the weekend. My fave contemporary author, Neil Gaiman, took home his 4th Hugo Award — this time for his novel The Graveyard Book — and Buffyverse maestro Joss Whedon took home an award for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. Here are a couple photos of Gaiman at the Hugo Awards this weekend with his newest trophy (Whedon was not in attendance) and some deets about Neil‘s much-deserved win:

Twin Cities-area writer Neil Gaiman added to his steadily growing collection of awards, picking up a Hugo Award for best novel for “The Graveyard Book” Sunday night in Montreal. This is Gaiman’s fourth Hugo, and the second major award for “The Graveyard Book,” which won the Newbery Medal in January. It is the first time a book has won both the Hugo, awarded for science fiction and fantasy, and the Newbery, which is the highest honor for children’s literature. “It’s wonderful seeing two such different worlds embracing the same book,” said his publicist, Elyse Marshall of HarperCollins. Gaiman had confessed on his blog last winter that when he won the Newbery he had to tell himself not to swear like he did when he got the Hugo. Marshall said he did not swear at the podium Sunday, “although he did swear on Twitter.” (His Twitter message from Montreal is just three words. The second and third words are, “It won!”) Gaiman, who started out writing comic books and fantasy, is a prolific author who lately has concentrated on children’s books. He has three books out in 2009 — “Blueberry Girl,” published in March; “Crazy Hair,” in May, illustrated by Dave McKean, who also worked with Gaiman on “Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book”; and “Odd and the Frost Giants,” due in September and already nominated for a World Fantasy Award. (It was published last year in Great Britain.) “Coraline” was made into a hit movie this year, and “The Graveyard Book” is being made into a movie to be written and directed by Neil Jordan. It is the story of a little boy named Nobody Owens, whose entire family is murdered. Nobody escapes as a baby and makes it to the graveyard, where he is raised by ghosts.

Much love and congrats to Neil and to Joss (who won the award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form) on their respective wins. I was NOT aware that The Graveyard Book was being written and directed by Neil Jordan (of The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire fame) … that should make for a very interesting movie. If you are interested, you can click HERE to see the full list of Hugo Award winners this year!

[Source, Source]

Many years ago (as the story goes), while singer Tori Amos was still pregs with her first child, the amazing author (and personal friend of Tori) Neil Gaiman composed a poem/prayer for her “bump” that Tori and her husband Mark Hawley said looked like a blueberry (or something along those lines). Tori loved the poem/prayer so much that she allowed Neil to use it to raise money for various charities in the years since the birth of her daughter Natashya Tash Lórien Hawley in September of 2000. Now, 9 years later, the poem/prayer Blueberry Girl is being made available as a children’s picture book illustrated by the amazingly talented Charles Vess. Here are a few screencaps from a just released promo video that features Neil reading the poem and some animated images of Charles‘s illustrations:

Longtime fans of Tori Amos know what this poem/prayer means to her and I, for one, am thrilled that it is finally being made available to us. I was VERY fortunate to get to hear Neil read Blueberry Girl aloud at a book reading he did here in SoCal late last year. You can click HERE to watch my video of Neil‘s reading of the poem back then — or you can click below to see the new promo video for Blueberry Girl that has just been released to the Internets …

Last night I was very fortunate enough to attend Neil Gaiman‘s sole SoCal stop on his new book tour for his latest work The Graveyard Book. As I mentioned before, Gaiman is touring the country reading chapters from his new book in lieu of his traditional book signing tours — the readings are then posted online HERE so that everyone can enjoy them. It turns out that Neil suffered a broken finger and cannot endure his usual 5-hour booksigning regimen but this book reading tour is, IMHO, vastly more entertaining. There was a nice crowd of folks already in line when I showed up at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, CA (where last night’s reading took place). In addition to hearing Neil read from his new book, we were also treated to preview video footage from the animated version of his book Coraline, that will be released in theaters next February. It was directed by Henry Selick, the same man who directed Tim Burton‘s The Nightmare Before Christmas and features the voices of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. We were also treated to a Q&A and a special reading of his soon-to-be released picturebook Blueberry Girl (illustrated by Charles Vess), which features the prayer/poem that Neil wrote for Tori Amos‘s unborn daughter back in 2000. Here are a few pics from last night’s reading and a bunch of great info from the event:

Before the reading, Neil‘s book publicist Elise brought me backstage to say hello to Neil before he was to take the stage. Randomly Emmy Rossum was with him backstage helping him sort thru audience questions for the Q&A portion of the night. I got to hang out with them both for about 15 minutes … it was then that Neil allowed me to see, hold and read (for the first time) the Blueberry Girl picturebook which hasn’t been published yet — he had with him the unbound galley version of the book. Neil read half of Chapter 7 of The Graveyard Book (because it is the longest chapter in the book it had to be spilt between two readings) and it can already be seen online HERE. After the jump, read about some of the questions he answered from the audience, check out the cover artwork for Blueberry Girl (which Neil allowed me to photograph for sharing) and watch video of Neil reading the Blueberry Girl poem himself …

Pink reader Fanny gave me the head’s up that one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, has embarked on a 9-city book tour where he is reading one full chapter of his new kids book The Graveyard Book in each city. Each in-person reading is being videoed for posting online so that everyone can get in on the fun:

From Neil‘s official website: Watch Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book on a 9-city video tour. At each stop on the tour, Neil will read one chapter from The Graveyard Book. Beginning on October 1st, we will post the video readings daily. By the end of the tour, on October 9th, you will be able to watch the master storyteller himself read The Graveyard Book in its entirety right HERE.

Already, you can watch Neil reading chapters 1-4 online NOW. I gotta say, Neil Gaiman rules the world. Not only is he a master writer and storyteller but his ability to connect with his fans is unsurpassed. This is absolutely a wonderful way for everyone unable to see him on this brief tour to partake of the fun. I understand that Neil, at his Seattle, WA stop last night, also read aloud his poem Blueberry Girl which was written for the birth of Tori Amos‘s daughter Natashya Lórien (who was born on September 5, 2000). Tori fans know that Neil wrote this poem/prayer for her unborn daughter and it has never been released to the public (tho, it’s been reported that it will eventually be available for sale to raise funds for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). I would DIE if I ever got to hear Neil read that poem aloud. I am planning on attending Neil‘s LA stop on this book tour on Monday night, so mebbe I’ll run into any of you Gaiman fans who are able to make it out for the event. I’ve yet to pick up my copy of The Graveyard Book because I’m waiting to purchase my copy at the upcoming book reading. Those of you who are unfamiliar with Gaiman‘s work should really seek him out … he’s really one of my fave contemporary authors. If you’re lookin’ for suggestions, shoot me an email ;)

[Source, thanks Fanny]