Wes Funk, Saskatchewan author with rural roots from Mayfair, is gearing up for the launch of his illustrated version of Dead Rock Stars on March 10.
“There will be local rock stars participating in the readings, cosplayers and Saskatoon celebrities,” explained Funk adding that popular radio personality Shauna Foster will emcee the event.
To Funk, writing is a fun and natural part of who he is, so it comes as no surprise when he creates exciting ways to make the illustrated version’s book launch fun and memorable.
“The new illustrated version is a compilation of numerous talents,” commented Funk, explaining the foreword was written by Jay Semko of the Northern Pikes, the cover was designed by artist Chris Fischer and well-known, established Saskatoon illustrator and artist, Kevin Hastings, created a series of illustrations for each chapter title.
Funk recruited Hastings, who specializes in drawing wildlife, sports figures and pop culture subjects, to capture his literary subject matter in Dead Rock Stars by creating realistic illustrations. These charcoal images are a striking resemblance to the identified rock stars in Funk’s book, making the illustrations a magnificent complement to the publication.
Funk does a superb job in capturing the essence of small-town Saskatchewan as he writes about real life, sibling rivalry, acts of forgiveness and growing up gay on the Canadian Prairies. The inclusion of mainstream rock stars and their lyrics is indicative of Funk’s generation yet is significant as each chapter title is named after iconic rock songs.
The series of completed illustrations were unveiled and displayed in June 2014 at Saskatoon’s Frances Morrison Library. The completed drawings include Aerosmith, The Beatles, Karen Carpenter, Joni Mitchell, Kiss, Police, The Who and Waylon Jennings.
Dead Rock Stars, self-published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing in 2008, is a short easy-to-relate-to fictional novel that reads like a biography. As one critic stated, “this personalized fictional story teases us with anecdotes about growing up as a gay pop-culture-infatuated youth in a small Saskatchewan town.”
Funk is a man full of character, style, humour and wit, which is very reflective in all his published works including his most recent release, Wes Side Story. Funk has the unique talent of retrieving his vivid recollection of his youth and portraying it in a descriptive manner enabling his readers to get drawn into the story.
Funk continues his writing career from Saskatoon where he also hosts a Saskatchewan-based literary-themed television program Lit Happens.
Dead Rock Stars was shortlisted in the Readers’ Choice category of the Saskatchewan Book Awards and received an Honourable Mention in Writers’ Digest’s International Self-Published Book Competition. Currently in its fifth printing, the book has now sold close to 2,000 copies and has been incorporated into school curricula.
His popular novel Cherry Blossoms won the CBC Bookie Award.
