The Waiting Posted in: Books

Gendry-Kim (Grass) returns with an arresting portrayal of what happened to the families that were split apart during the frenzied migration of refugees from North to South Korea after WWII. Gendry-Kim’s considerable powers as a graphic storyteller breathe life into the tragic tale of Song Gwija, who grew up during the war in what would later become North Korea under constant threat from invading Japanese soldiers. Gwija, now in her old age, begs her adult…

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Taxi Posted in: Books

Stories from the Back Seat by Aimée de Jongh The conversations aren’t always easy to get off the ground and sometimes take surprising turns, but in the confidential atmosphere of a taxi, the driver and passenger discuss topics of life and death, family, friends, and how to carry on after a traumatic event. Yet, the tone of the book is not heavy: the reader is whisked away by the speed, humour and the artist’s keen…

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Guantanmo Kid Posted in: Books

Mohammad El Gharani left his native Saudi Arabia aged 13 or 14, to study Computer in Pakistan. In the aftermath of the twin towers tragedy he was captured by the Pakistani military and sold to the Americans as an Al-Quaeda operative and sent to the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, where he undergoes a barbaric series of interrogations and torture. This account of his time there, is as harrowing and upsetting as it…

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Coltrane by Paolo Parisi Posted in: Books

‘My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being…’ John Coltrane rose from a hard and impoverished childhood in North Carolina to become one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. From session musician to band member of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, his raw talent and passion for experimentation inaugurated a new movement in music. Positioned at the beating heart of the 50s and…

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El-Khaldiya by Milan Hulsing Posted in: Books, Translation

In 2006 Hulsing moved to Cairo for five years. Inspired by his daily experiences in the turbulent Egyptian capital, he decided to transform dissident author Mohamed el-Bisatie’s novella Al-Khaldiya (Over the Bridge) into a graphic novel. As it happened, Hulsing’s Stad van klei (City of Clay) ended up being published at the beginning of the Arab Spring, a few days before the uprising in Tahrir Square began. One of its themes is police corruption and brutality in Egypt. The…