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"After a handful of contributions to his name, cartoonist Will Morris released his debut graphic novel The Silver Darlings late last year. The tale of a young man spending his last summer before university helping his family aboard their fishing boat rightly won him critical acclaim. Last weekend, it also helped to bag Morris the &amp;#039;Emerging Talent&amp;#039; honour at the British Comic Awards. Digital Spy caught up with him to discuss his win, his book and his upcoming projects: How does it feel to have been named Emerging Talent at the British Comic Awards? &amp;quot;Absolutely brilliant. I really admire the work of the other nominees - Isabel Greenberg, Dilraj Mann, Jade Sarson, Lizzy Stewart - so I was happy enough to have rubbed shoulders with them on the shortlist. My ambling acceptance speech was proof of the fact that I hadn&amp;#039;t expected to win. I just hope that the crumbs from the BCA-branded biscuit I&amp;#039;d eaten beforehand weren&amp;#039;t too visible on my jumper.&amp;quot;  Do you think that the UK comics scene is experiencing something of a renaissance? &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t witness the glory days first hand, so I don&amp;#039;t know about a renaissance, but it&amp;#039;s certainly an exciting time. Between Blank Slate, Jonathan Cape, Self Made Hero, NOBROW, Myriad Editions (to name just a few) and the wealth of self-published work, you don&amp;#039;t have to look far for excellent UK comics.&amp;quot; How much did you know about herring fishing before you began The Silver Darlings? How did you research the fishing practices and visuals of life on the open sea? &amp;quot;I knew very little about herring fishing other than that which I&amp;#039;d gleaned from an information board in a small fishing village. As best as possible I was keen not to do a disservice to the fishing community past and present, but no amount of research can match up to first hand experience.  &amp;quot;I pored over numerous books (Angus Martin&amp;#039;s books and Redmond O&amp;#039;Hanlon&amp;#039;s Trawler were especially useful), asked questions on fishing forums, probed the archives of Ayrshire council for audio testimony and drew what I could from day fishing trips. If I had my time again I&amp;#039;d try to get out on a working boat. Finding someone that would have me would be a very different question though.&amp;quot; Do you consider yourself superstitious? What sort of role do you think superstitions play in people&amp;#039;s everyday lives? &amp;quot;Yes, I suppose I do, but in a very personal way. I don&amp;#039;t worry about avoiding ladders or side-stepping rows of three manhole covers, but I do often feel that my thoughts or actions will have an effect upon future events even when there is no tangible link. I suspect it&amp;#039;s a natural response to an often uncertain world to create rituals or frameworks that offer a sense of order or comfort.&amp;quot;  How much of your own personality went into the central character, Danny? &amp;quot;Ha! I&amp;#039;ve not been asked that before. More of my personality went in than I&amp;#039;d like to admit, especially regarding the high value he places upon his perception of the world. I&amp;#039;ve been proven wrong so often and in so many ways since I was Danny&amp;#039;s age that I&amp;#039;ve come to have a fairly grounded sense of myself.&amp;quot; The washes you use in your work are very distinctive. How did you develop your style? &amp;quot;By having ambitions that outweighed my ability. I don&amp;#039;t remember developing a style as such, just ploughing headlong into the drawing with a lack of fear that now surprises me. It sounds obvious, but I really believe that the more you read and draw the better you&amp;#039;ll become. I was very inspired by Gipi&amp;#039;s book, Notes for a War Story.&amp;quot;  Did your work on The Silver Darlings have anything to do with your move to Edinburgh? &amp;quot;No, that came a long time after it was finished. That said, it was inspired by a trip to Dunure, a fishing village in Ayrshire. Also my girlfriend&amp;#039;s a Scot, so she helped with the dialect.&amp;quot; What are you working on now? &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve just finished a short strip for the Christmas edition of Belgian comic, Spriou, which was written by Etienne Gilfilan. I have a couple of comics projects in the works and then hope to start thinking about another book.&amp;quot; Will Morris&amp;#039;s The Silver Darlings is available now from Blank Slate Books. His work can also be seen in the award-winning Nelson graphic novel. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/interviews/a534729/will-morris-british-comic-award-winner-on-silver-darlings-interview/>