RALPH STEADMAN

Ralph Steadman was born in 1936. He started as a cartoonist and through the years diversified into many fields of creativity. He has illustrated such classics as Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island and Animal Farm.

His own books include the lives of Sigmund Freud and Leonardo da Vinci and The Big I Am, the story of God. With American writer Hunter S. Thompson he collaborated in the birth of GONZO journalism, the definitive book in the genre being Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was made into a feature film. He is also a printmaker. His prints include a series of etchings on writers from William Shakespeare to William Burroughs.

In 1989 he wrote the libretto for an eco-oratorio called “Plague and the Moonflower” which has been performed in five cathedrals in the UK and was the subject of a BBC 2 film in 1994. He has traveled the world’s vineyards and distilleries for Oddbins, which culminated in his two prize-winning books, The Grapes of Ralph and Still Life With Bottle. He has an Honorary D. Litt from the University of Kent.