The Guy Fox Blog

#4. ‘History on the Sly’ Magazines (2000 to 2004) ‘Guy Fox History on the Sly’ was officially launched at the new Tate Modern on Friday 14 th July 2000. That sounds impressive, right? A launch event at Tate Modern!  And we s’pose it was. But it didn’t start out that way.  Let’s back up a bit.  Just before the first magazine went to press, Manjeet Edwards of the Peabody Trust called Kourtney and encouraged her to hold an event to celebrate the magazine.  Kourtney looked at her budget – the same one that had not stretched to meet the delivery costs (See Object #3 ). There was about £35 left, certainly not enough for a party! Food and drinks, maybe, but a venue? No way. Another ‘hmmmmm…’ moment (there’ve been a lot of those over the years).  And then a crazy idea (there’ve also been a lot of  those  over the years!): What if Tate Modern would allow us to hold a launch event?   The thought bubbles...

#2. Letter from Peabody Trust (March 23rd, 2000) With those sample cartoons ( Object #1 ), the rest was easy: Establish a charity, raise some money, recruit volunteers and start doing our work in the local community — and the rest is history!  Right? Wrong.  Not even close.  We took the ‘scenic route’. In fact, in 1998, Kourtney wasn’t thinking about charity work at all — just work! She put those cartoons in her portfolio and submitted Guy Fox to lots of London children’s publications. “Nope,” said Kids Time Out. “No, thank you,” said the Funday Times. The rejection letters piled up.   Kourtney even received a rejection from the New Statesman, which was bizarre because she hadn’t sent them anything! (But that’s another story.) Finally, there was a ‘Not-Quite-No’, from TwoCan Publications, who didn’t want the Guy Fox cartoons, but who offered Kourtney illustration work on their magazines. Kourtney settled into a routine as a freelance illustrator — wo...