Josh Neufeld, comix artist extraordinaire, will be talking about the graphic memoir tonight at Warning: Graphic Content. I’m psyched I get to meet the author of A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge. I read the book prepping for tonight and fell in love with the real-life stories of Hurricane Katrina survivors. In 2008 I visited NOLA and was shocked at both how much the city was thriving but how much work still needed to be accomplished post-Katrina. To visit New Orleans is to love New Orleans and I’ve felt a kinship and empathy towards the city ever since.


Here are the things I might talk to Josh about tonight, if I get the chance.


1) His upcoming collaboration with NPR’s “On the Media” co-host Brooke Gladstone. (Their book is tentatively titled The Influencing Machine and it’ll be a comic book about the media.)
2) His trip down to Philly from Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
3) If he’s still in touch with the people featured in A.D. and what they are up to now.
4) How he thinks the situation in New Orleans has improved since the storm and flooding.
5) Did he feel totally cool when MTV’s “Splash Page” blog called A.D. the best nonfiction comic of 2009?


Ok, maybe I’ll save face and refrain from asking him that last one.


Meet Josh, Jamar and Daniel tonight and ask them your own questions at BMFI.


-Karina Kacala

In anticipation of tomorrow’s Salon on graphic nonfiction, I asked around the FPA office to see which graphic nonfiction works are most popular. I discovered that Alison Bechdel could start a fan club amongst our staff and even Kanye West has gotten into the graphic memoir field.

Vicki Solot, Artistic Director… Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home

Tiffany Thwaites, Marketing Intern… Through the Wire (illustrations by Bill Plympton based on the music and lyrics of Kanye West)

Sarah Crawford, Intern to the Artistic Director… Craig Thompson’s Blankets

Dan Gasiewski, Managing Director… Stitches by David Small tied with Bechdel’s Fun Home

Nick Forrest, Administrative Coordinator… Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, with a caveat, “Although neither a memoir, nor nonfiction, per se, this graphic novel does an incredible job of capturing the feeling and politics of a particular time and place in history through small, personal stories that speak to much greater truths.”






As for me, my first foray into graphic nonfiction was Maus, so that will always hold a special place in my library. But I do think that Fun Home is my favorite. Bechdel created such sad intimacy in her work about her dysfunctional childhood; I can’t imagine reading it and not being affected.


Share YOUR favorite graphic nonfiction books in the comments section!


-Karina Kacala

In preparation for his appearance at our upcoming event, Warning: Graphic Content, I interviewed comic book and graphic novel illustrator Jamar Nicholas. He is currently in the process of adapting Geoffrey Canada’s memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun into a graphic novel, which is scheduled for release this October. Speaking with an artist after seeing their work is an interesting experience; the viewer formulates an idea of who the artist is and speculates about what might motivate their work. Having never before interviewed an artist in any official capacity, it was satisfying to have the opportunity to test these speculations in regards to Mr. Nicholas.


Fist Stick Knife Gun is a unique project for Jamar in that the author of the memoir is alive and available to critique Jamar’s work. The relationship has been extremely collaborative and Canada has made himself very accessible to Jamar. Yet it does raise the stakes for presenting an authentic account of Canada’s experience. This pressure is compounded by Jamar’s admiration for Canada’s novel, and by his dedication to setting the same tone as the original work.


This dedication seems to be one of the reasons Jamar was selected to adapt Fist Stick Knife Gun; another is the parallel between the backgrounds of Geoffrey and Jamar. When asking Nicholas how growing up in inner-city Philadelphia shaped his work, he said that Canada required the illustrator adapting his memoir to, like Canada himself, have grown up in inner-city New York. When Canada and Nicholas spoke for the first time, the similarities between the cultures of Philadelphia and New York became apparent. Jamar says that he sees himself in the memoir, and says that anyone who has grown up in the inner-city will be able to relate to it.


Jamar also made it clear that his work, and Fist Stick Knife Gun in particular, are not intended to be exclusively for an audience with this type of background. Jamar expressed that his work is not designed to alienate any audience. Any person who feels the need to see what growing up in an urban environment is like would be equally touched by this memoir as someone who is able to personally relate.


Nor is the appeal of the work strictly regional. Jamar said tightly packed communities across the world will likely share traits with the version of New York City depicted in Fist Stick Knife Gun. Most urban environments are subject to a hidden code that governs the actions of every member of the community- as children there are things you can and can’t do. Jamar said that even the nicest, most unassuming children are forced to become fighters and establish themselves in the neighborhood’s pecking order.


Another one of Jamar’s on-going projects relates to this urban environment in a manner completely different from Fist Stick Knife Gun. The web comic Detective Boogaloo is the story of an inner city b-boy cop with super powers, fighting to bring down his super-villain brother who has taken over the city. Jamar says that this seemingly simplistic comic can be read on multiple levels. It is in essence a Cain and Abel story reinterpreted to be fun and entertaining. Most importantly, Detective Boogaloo is intended to be a love letter to an era of hip-hop long past.


The nostalgia Jamar expressed for this vanishing era made it clear that the world depicted in Fist Stick Knife Gun is not wholly complete. Indeed it is vital to examine the reality of every era through the lens of multiple pieces of art. The fact that Jamar is presently doing so through different styles of work impresses on me his flexibility and vision as an artist. He is able to look at the urban environment of his past on multiple levels, and from varying viewpoints.


In the end, speculating on Jamar’s background and motivations seemed pointless when compared to the valuable insights I gained in speaking with him. Though our conversation satisfied my curiosity about his work, it will only lead me to further speculation in regards to the work of other artists. I eagerly anticipate seeing Jamar share his thoughts and work with a wider audience at the upcoming event, Warning: Graphic Content, and hope that this audience is able to benefit just as much from his unique insights and from his unique work.


-Sarah Crawford

First Personalities is a series on the First Person Arts Blog where we check up on and catch up with past Festival and Salon presenters and participants.

Perhaps you saw Daniel Heyman’s work last Fall during our Festival at the “Shelter” exhibit, or perhaps you’re planning on seeing him at our upcoming event with Philagrafika at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, “Warning: Graphic Content.” If you have seen him around town, you’ve likely caught just a glimpse, a blur, a zooming in your peripheral vision because, like so many of our artists, Daniel is always on the move, making and showing his art. (For a quick rundown of where else you might mind him and/or his art in March and April, from The University of the Arts to the Pennsylvania Fine Art Academy and more, check out his upcoming exhibition schedule here.)


If this is your first introduction to Daniel’s work, then welcome. From gallery installations to watercolors to gouache on nishinoushi paper, he is bound to have a medium and a body of work that appeals to you. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself transfixed by them all like I was. Often adding whimsically arranged text to his captivating and engaging portraits, he uses them to tell stories set against the backdrop of controversial world events, like our war in Iraq. Heartbreaking and fascinating, one can’t turn away from the stories he conveys; stories that would otherwise go untold.


See him in person next Tuesday at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Get your tickets here.

Tuesday, March 9th is a night of firsts for First Person Arts. It’s our first event in the 2010 Salon Series. And it’s our first event EVER on the Main Line. And while this is uncharted territory, our host for the evening, the legendary Bryn Mawr Film Institute, is making us feel very at home.


So join us at BMFI for Warning: Graphic Content. (Isn’t that a sexy title?) We are bringing together three awesome graphic artists – Daniel Heyman, Jamar Nicholas and Josh Neufeld – to talk about their graphic non-fiction work, which depicts the stories of Iraqi war prisoners, Hurricane Katrina survivors, Geoffrey Canada and personal travels across the globe. Stay tuned for more on these artists on the FPA blog. The evening concludes with a screening of Persepolis. It’s a Philagrafika and One Book, One Philadelphia event, too! Tickets are on sale now. ($15, $10 for FPA members.)