Oct 20: Kuper at Library of Congress

October 8, 2015

Graphic Novelist Peter Kuper to Discuss and Sign New Work

Book Weaves Path of Its Characters with That of Monarch Butterfly

http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-181.html

"Ruins" ((Self-Made Hero, 2015), by Peter Kuper, follows the story of Samantha and George, a couple on sabbatical in the Mexican town of Oaxaca. For Samantha, it is an opportunity to revisit her past while writing her book. For George, it is an anxious step into the unknown. Woven into the story is the remarkable and arduous journey that a monarch butterfly makes on its annual migration from Canada to Mexico. This juxtaposition creates a parallel picture of the challenges of survival in an ever-changing world.

Kuper will discuss and sign his book on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at noon in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. This Books & beyond event is co-sponsored by the Library's Center for the Book and the Prints and Photographs Division. It is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

"Ruins" explores Mexico through its past and present as encountered by an array of characters. The real and surreal intermingle in this novel.

Peter Kuper is a cartoonist, illustrator, editor and educator. He is co-founder of the political graphics magazine "World War 3 Illustrated" and has written and drawn Mad Magazine's "Spy vs. Spy" comic for more than 18 years. Kuper has created more than a dozen graphic novels, including "The System," "Sticks and Stones" and an adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." He has been teaching comics courses for more than 25 years in New York City and is a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation's first-established federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions. Many of the Library's rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.

The Library's Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated state centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading-promotion partners and through the Library's Young Readers Center and the Poetry and Literature Center. For more information, visit www.Read.gov.

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PR 15-181
10/08/15
ISSN 0731-3527