Image: Thomas Humeau, from "Black Spring"
February brings our annual showcase of the international graphic novel. In sober reportage and whimsical speculation, whether transcribing a genocide survivor’s testimony or recreating a Colombian master’s moment of inspiration, these artists delineate character and plot in their singular styles. Veteran newsman and Rwanda authority Patrick de St-Exupery returns to Kigali, this time with the artist Hippolyte, and Spanish artist Soulman teams with French writer Maximilien le Roy to produce a sorrowful memoir of loss and reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From France, Maxence Emery and Thomas Humeau give voice to an exiled, and disillusioned, Cuban revolutionary and political prisoner. Manfredi Giffone, Fabrizio Longo, and Alessandro Parodi listen in on the damning testimony of a Cosa Nostra “man of honor,” while South Korea’s Kim Han-min delivers a searing indictment of immigration policy. And in two looks at creative genius, Paolo Bacilieri clues us in on the origins of the crossword puzzle, and Oscar Pantoja, Miguel Bustos, Felipe Camargo, and Tatiana Córdoba reveal the source of García Márquez’s most famous novel. Also this month, we present new Slovak women’s writing by Jaroslava Blažková, Monika Kompaníková, Uršuľa Kovalyk, and Svetlana Žuchová, edited and introduced by noted Czech and Slovak translator Julia Sherwood.
Black Spring
After Batista’s dictatorship, Castro had the support of an entire people.
A Whim of the Gods
Dump trucks from the Department of Public Works came for the bodies.
Fun
In hindsight, it couldn't have happened anywhere but here.
Osama
"You let Jews into your home? The people who killed your brother!"
Tell Me Where to Go
Why hasn't anyone invented a country for those who don't belong anywhere?
A Human Act
For very important murders, the consent of the commission is required.
Gabo: A Magical Life
Gabo saw a shattered landscape, aged, forgotten by its people.
Book Reviews
Park Min-gyu’s “Pavane for a Dead Princess”
Reviewed by Carla Baricz
Fuminori Nakamura’s “Last Winter, We Parted”
Reviewed by Ethan Alexander Perets
Lee Si-young’s “Patterns”
Reviewed by John W. W. Zeiser
The language is often serene, and bound to nature.
Diego De Silva’s “My Mother-in-Law Drinks”
Reviewed by Emma Garman
The latest novel in translation by Italian author, playwright, and screenwriter Diego De Silva at first glance belongs to the swelling genre of paternalistic parables for the digital age.