Dundalk illustrator At It Again
THE ‘Romping Through Literature’ series of pocket books brings the work of some of Ireland’s greatest writers to life, thanks to the imagination of Dundalk-born illustrator Niall Laverty and his German born partner Maite Lopez.
Inspiration for the project came in the run-up to Bloomsday a few years ago, when the couple realised that while lots of people have a copy of Jame Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ sitting on their bookshelves, many won’t have succeeded in reading it.
So they set about creating a guide for readers which would take them on Leopold Bloom’s adventures around Dublin on June 16th and thus ‘ Romping Through Literature’ was born,
Having previously taken part in some Bloomsday events, Niall says that they wanted to bring Joyce’s famous novel to a wider audience.
‘We came up with the idea of a pocket guide to Ulysses, Joyce and the city of Dublin as Dublin is really the central character of the book,’ explains Niall. ‘Ulysses’ is a very challenging book for anyone in any language and we wanted to make it more accessible, not just for visitors but for Irish people and younger readers as well.’
‘We wanted to let the reader walk the footsteps of the characters and find out more about the life of the author,’ says Niall.
The first print run of ‘Romping Through Ulysses’ which was produced to coincide with Bloomsday 2015 sold out and since then they re-issued it and have added other ‘Romps’ which introduce readers to the works of Irish writers Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Jonathan Swift.
These literary guides are not just ordinary pocket books but works of art in themselves, which makes them very popular sovenier or gifts.
‘People can use them to self guide their way through the location of the books,’ says Niall, explaining that the books include maps and tips about what to do and see.
‘We have worked to bring out the humour in the books as we want to put a smile on people’s faces.’
Niall, a past pupil of the CBS primary and post-primary schools, trained as an animator. ‘I worked in the industry for 16 or 17 years, in Ireland, the United States and Germany.’
During that time he worked with major studios include Don Bluth and 20th Century Fox, where he worked on projects including ‘Anastasia’ and ‘All Dogs go to Heaven.’
However, as technology changed the industry, Niall found that his love affair with animation was ending and he embarked on a career change, working as a part-time lecturer in Dun Laoighaire Institute of Art and Design, as well as doing free-lance work aboard in London, Paris and Germany.
It’s this background in draw- ing and illustration along with his love of literature which lead to the founding of ‘At It Again’ with Maite, who shares his interest in books and art.
‘We followed ‘Ulysses’ with Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ which is one of the most popular books of the 20th century although a lot of people aren’t aware that it was written by an Irishman,’ continues Nialls. It was then the turn of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Portrait of Dorian Gray’ to get the ‘Romping Through’ treatment before the At It Again team turned their attention again to Joyce and his short stories ‘Dubliners’.
‘Our latest edition is ‘Romping Through Gulliver’s Travels’ which was timely as last year was the 350th anniversary of Swift’s birth,’ says Niall.
‘Each book has inspired us to do a series of notebooks, prints and greeting cards,’ says Niall, who is bringing their work to ‘Showcase’ in the RDS this week.
The books, cards and prints are all created and printed in Dublin. ‘We work with Plus Print in Glasnevin who are creatives themselves,’ says Niall. ‘ The books are printed on eco craft papers and have rounded corners to fit in your back pockets.’
At It Again operates out of the Block T studio in Dublin 8 near to the Guinness brewery and are members of the Design Council of Ireland.