Image: Hélène Aldeguer, From Après le printemps: une jeunesse tunisienne.
Welcome to our thirteenth annual graphic novel issue. Reflecting our current combative era, the pieces here depict conflicts both personal and political, addressing a striking range of existential challenges shaping lives across the globe. Keum Suk Gendry-Kim shows a wrenching parental decision. Two years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia’s Hélène Aldeguer finds college students struggling with unemployment, instability, and disillusionment. The celebrated Czech duo of of Vojtěch Mašek and Džian Baban debut in English with a series of duels between an aspiring writer and a cynical publisher. Didier Kassaï chronicles the conflict raging in his native Central African Republic. And André Diniz is of two minds about a complicated longterm relationship. Elsewhere we present the first installment of a serialized novella by South Korea’s Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur.
Conflicting Stories: Our Graphic Issue
These works reflect a striking range of existential challenges shaping lives across the globe.
From After the Spring: A Tunisian Youth
He was 27! Just 27! Barely older than us!
Scenes from Schlechtfreund
At least five hundred pages, otherwise there's no point!
From “Grass”
I had no idea I wouldn't be coming back.
A Love-Hate Relationship
I prefer a Paulistano's frown over a Carioca's smile.
From City of Fear
The troops were led by poachers, tea-sellers, thrift store owners, and ex-convicts who'd turned into officers.
Book Reviews
In “HELL,” Alasdair Gray Creates a Celtic, Wind-lashed Translation of Dante’s “Inferno”
Reviewed by Jamie Mackay
By fusing a dialect-laden verse with knowledge and respect for Dante’s original, the Scottish writer and illustrator has built a bridge across borders and nations.
One-third Women, “The Milk Bowl of Feathers” Adds Provocative New Voices to the Surrealist Canon
Reviewed by Susan Aberth
Edited by Mary Ann Caws, this anthology delivers new insights into this radical movement and rectifies past omissions to its canon with more intellectually daring and provocative non-French and female voices.