The Compleat Angler Launch Party With Gareth Brookes

Gosh! is pleased to host a true innovator of the comic form, Gareth Brookes, for the launch event of his latest formal odyssey, The Compleat Angler, on Thursday 19th June 2025 between 7-9pm. Here’s what publishers SelfMadeHero have to say about the book: 

A foundational environmentalist text centuries ahead of its time, The Compleat Angler is one of the most reprinted books in the English language. From the ruins of the English Civil War to the challenges we all face today, Gareth Brookes’ highly original multimedia adaptation of Izaak Walton’s classic focuses on its instructional aspects, highlights its eccentricities and contemplative themes of nature and friendship, and draws parallels between today’s politically divided and ecologically endangered England and that of the 17th century.

Following Brookes’ similarly ambitious The Dancing Plague, this adaptation is lovingly rendered in both linocut engraving and hand-drawn pen-and-ink to contrast the meditative and the instructional in Walton’s writing. As a guidebook on how to fish, this 350-year-old manual makes the perfect gift for any angling enthusiast, and its reflective writing connects with post-pandemic desires for calm, mindful pursuits and a return to nature.

Meet Gareth and grab a copy of the book on Thursday 19th June, from 7pm. Gareth has produced us some lovely linocut bookplates to accompany the book too! They're signed and exclusive to us, available to pre-order by clicking the link here.

Keep up to date with all news over on our Facebook event page.