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Raymond Briggs talks to Rachel Pegg about growing older, his technophobia and why he hates Christmas

Your stories don’t hold back and they don’t have happy endings, do you think that appeals to children?
Probably, I don’t know, I’m no expert on children, I’ve not had any myself and I never taught in schools so I’ve had very little to do with them. I don’t take that into account. I do what I do and it appeals to the people it does.

Are you writing for all ages?
Oh yes, unless you’re doing a Cat Sat on the Mat book for under fives which I don’t really do, you just do the idea and sometimes you’re not all that sure whether it’s a children’s book or not until you get to the end. Sometimes you think you’ve done a children’s book and it appeals to adults. I once did an adult book and when it got to the shop floor they stuck it in the children’s section. I got a lot of irate letters about that.
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Stiliana Alexieva

Paresh Nrshinga

Art At Five, Brighton’s foremost contemporary art gallery, are celebrating their fifth anniversary this month.

Under gallery owner Paola Calise’s direction, Art At Five has introduced some excellent modern artists to the city and a special anniversary exhibition has been devised, showcasing new collections by five of the gallery’s previous exhibitors; Paresh Nrshinga, Caia Matheson, Stiliana Alexieva, Yvonne Coomber and Philippe Aird.

Five at Five, Art at Five, 5 Bartholomews, until 26 October

What is it good for?

Iraq: A Process of Resistance is an inspiring documentation of visual protest against the invasion of Iraq and the obliteration of civilian life from 2002-08. Using media images re-contextualised through the processes of art, the show offers an alternative view of the construction of war.

Peter Kennard and Cat Picton Phillipps began their collaborative work as a means to express their revulsion at the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, and their work can be used as a resource by anyone protesting against the war, including magazines and newspapers.

This is a Brighton Photo Biennial exhibition.

Iraq: A Process of Resistance, Ink_d Gallery, North Road, Brighton, until 25 October

An explosion rocks a building in Saddam Hussein’s palace complex in Baghdad, March 21, 2003… © Franco Pagetti / VII. Photo by Franco Pagetti.

Quynh Lan, 11-years-old, at her home in A Luoi, Vietnam. Her father was sprayed many times with Agent Orange. © Philip Jones Griffiths / Magnum Photos

The Brighton Photo Biennial 2008, entitled, ‘Memory of Fire: The War of Images and the Images of War‘, is curated by Julian Stallabrass and explores photographic images of war, their making, use and circulation, and their currency in contemporary society.

For the third edition, the Biennial extends its geographic boundaries to include nine venues across the South east coast from Bexhill-on-Sea to Portsmouth with three venues in Brighton.

Among the exhibitors include outstanding and world class photographers such as Philip Jones Griffiths, Don McCullin and Sebastiao Salgado.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2008, Friday 3 October–16 November.
www.bpb.org.uk