James Albon is an award-winning author and illustrator from Scotland. His illustrations and stories explore his fascination with people, places, languages, and the dynamics of relationships. His graphic novels include The Delicacy, A Shining Beacon, and Her Bark & Her Bite. As an editorial illustrator he has worked with a wide range of clients, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, Liberation, the Paris Review, and the South China Morning Post. He has traveled all over the world and has lived in London, Hong Kong, Lyon, and Strasbourg. He currently lives in Edinburgh.
“James Albon’s decadent cartooning and delicate watercolors perfectly capture the beauty and loneliness of wandering through new places that are supposed to be your home, and the specific halting beauty of intense connections forged across language barriers. I'm especially charmed by Sarah and Ping's emoji-strewn text conversations and their sinuous overlapping word bubbles as they gain fluency with each other. I loved this book!” — Shing Yin Khor, author of The Legend of Auntie Po “Love Languages is beautiful to look at, highly original, inventive and full of sharp observation. James Albon’s vivid, flowing images tell the story of English Sarah and Cantonese Ping and how languages can connect, but also divide and how learning a foreign language can lead to intimacy…but also to muddle and misunderstanding.” — Posy Simmonds, author of Cassandra Darke “Opening with a painfully awkward multilingual friendship, this delightful graphic novel soon made me laugh out loud and even brought me to tears. A masterfully painted celebration of languages and love!” — Rumi Hara, author of Nori and The Peanutbutter Sisters “Albon’s sensuously painted pages reveal the unspoken way people communicate, small acts of devotion that transcend language barriers and cultural traditions... It’s a captivating cross-cultural queer love story.” — Publishers Weekly “Albon’s rich watercolors — saturated and sumptuous — of people, food and cities make for a gorgeous and emotionally tender read about two foreigners falling in love, obliviously at first and then with sudden speed.” — The Washington Post