Thursday, November 21, 2024

Submissions Open for 2025 Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Book and Journalism Awards







"The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country."

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, 1968


Championing Truth: Journalism and Storytelling When It Matters Most

We're excited to announce that entries are now open for the 2025 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book and Journalism Awards! To be eligible, submissions must have been published, aired, or broadcast in 2024. The deadline for all categories is January 31, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET.

This prestigious competition honors exceptional student and professional work across book, print, broadcast, photo, and nontraditional media categories, spotlighting critical issues of human rights, social justice, and the transformative power of individual action.

To submit, click here.


**Please note that the Criminal Justice category has been renamed to "Reporting on Incarceration and Criminalization".**


Winners will be announced in early May. All winners receive a bust of Robert F. Kennedy along with a cash prize: 

  • $2,500 for the Book Award winner

  • $1,000 for each of the professional journalism award categories

  • $500 for student award winners


Please reach out to Hoffman@rfkhumanrights.org with any questions. We look forward to reading your submission(s) and thank you for continuing to report, investigate, and share the world's stories. 


With Enormous Gratitude, 

RFK Human Rights Book and Journalism Team

301-514-0925



Kindly,
Kara Hoffman
Consultant for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
hoffman@rfkhumanrights.org | 864-918-8322 | 301-514-0925

About Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

We are a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues—championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice.

Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 11/20/2024

 

Interview and Exclusive Preview: Cliff Secord must escape Alcatraz in ROCKETEER: BREAKS FREE finale

Taimur Dar on 11/20/2024

https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-exclusive-preview-the-rocketeer-breaks-free/

 

DC Claims Absolute Batman #1 is 2024's Best-Selling Comic, But Is It?

19 Nov 2024 by Rich Johnston  https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-claims-absolute-batman-1-is-2024s-best-selling-comic-but-is-it/

 

Larry Johnson – RIP

D. D. Degg

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2024/11/19/larry-johnson-rip/

 

DAVID WASTING PAPER September 22, 2010

Larry Johnson - Cartoonist Survey #167

http://david-wasting-paper.blogspot.com/2010/09/larry-johnson-cartoonist-survey-167.html

 

Larry C. Johnson October 12, 1949 — November 15, 2024

Farley Funeral Home (Nov 2024): https://www.farleyfh.com/obituaries/larry-johnson

 

Martin, Justin F. and Kapoor, Hansika (2024) "It's Worse If Superman Does It: Perceptions of Moral Transgressions Committed by Superheroes and Supervillains,"

Heroism Science: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 7.

DOI: 10.26736/hs.2024.01.08

Available at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science/vol9/iss1/7 and file:///C:/Users/michael.rhode/Downloads/Martin%20and%20Kapoor%20(2024)%20-%20Supers%20and%20Morality.pdf

 

'Star Wars: Visions' Renewed for Season 3 at Disney+

Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed there will be a third volume of the popular animated anthology series.

Abid Rahman

November 19, 2024

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/star-wars-visions-season-3-disney-lucasfilm-1236067127/

 

Painting timelapse of a Wallace the Brave comic

Will Henry November 19 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr8-oueeerc

 

"Big Jim and the White Boy" is a fascinating re-telling of Huck Finn

Thom Dunn 

Nov 20, 2024

https://boingboing.net/2024/11/20/big-jim-and-the-white-boy-is-a-fascinating-re-telling-of-huck-finn.html

 

When Your Dating Pool Includes Elves and Mages

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the latest video game to lean into relationships between fellow adventurers that grow into something more.

Annie Aguiar

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 18, 2024, Section C, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Programming For Romance Amid Battles.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/02/arts/dragon-age-the-veilguard-bioware-romance.html

 

Adulting, nerdiness and the importance of single-panel comics

Author cites 'The Far Side' as one comic that broke barriers

Jeff Grabmeier

Ohio State News Nov 19, 2024

https://news.osu.edu/adulting-nerdiness-and-the-importance-of-single-panel-comics/

 

Moana Makes a Splash in New Ocean Conservation Campaign

Animation Magazine November 19, 2024

https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/11/moana-makes-a-splash-in-new-ocean-conservation-campaign/

 

DC Launches Vertical-Scroll Webtoon Series, DC GO

By Brigid Alverson | Nov 20, 2024

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/96545-dc-launches-vertical-scroll-webtoon-series-dc-go.html

 

First Graphic Novel Award 2025 launches

By John Freeman on November 19, 2024

https://downthetubes.net/first-graphic-novel-award-2025-launches/

 

[" It is with deep and profound sadness that we announce the passing of Clydene Nee. " San Diego Comic-Con volunteer]

Comic-Con International  November 20 2024

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=964406672389913&id=100064617677259&mibextid=WC7FNe&rdid=lR4Sw6mjrQUNwN2G

 

You think you know 'Peanuts'? Our new 'untold stories' podcast about Charles Schulz's comic strip will surprise you

"You Don't Know Peanuts: The Untold Stories," a new podcast from The Press Democrat, produced with Peanuts Worldwide LLC, is live.

DAVID TEMPLETON

ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

November 19, 2024,

https://www.petaluma360.com/article/entertainment/peanuts-official-podcast-untold-stories/

 

RETAILER HELPS RECOVER STOLEN CARDS, MILE HIGH COMICS CELEBRATES 50 YEARS, BROOKLYN COMIC SHOP TO CLOSE

Shop Talk, November 2024

Brigid Alverson on November 19, 2024

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/58302/retailer-helps-recover-stolen-cards-mile-high-comics-celebrates-50-years-brooklyn-comic-shop-close

 

Cindy Crushes Programming: Anime Club, by Teen Librarian Cindy Shutts

November 20, 2024 by Cindy Shutts

https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2024/11/20/cindy-crushes-programming-anime-club-by-teen-librarian-cindy-shutts/

 

How a Graphic Novel of North Korean Refugees Can Help Students Today, a guest post by Tina Cho

November 19, 2024

https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2024/11/19/how-a-graphic-novel-of-north-korean-refugees-can-help-students-today-a-guest-post-by-tina-cho/

 

50 years of Mile High Comics

by Jacqui Somen - Special to Colorado Community Media November 16, 2024      

    https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/2024/11/16/50-years-of-mile-high-comics/

 

Beloved West Valley comic shop forced to move after flooding

Move comes ahead of holiday shopping season

By: Stephen Romney

  , Nov 10, 2024

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/northern-utah/beloved-west-valley-comic-shop-forced-to-move-after-flooding

 

November 19, 2024 by Gil Roth

Frances Jetter

Virtual Memories Show 613:

https://chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-613-frances-jetter

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/virtualmemories/Episode_613_-_Frances_Jetter.mp3

 

How a Gen X Graphic Novelist Reinvented the Romance Comic [Charles Burns]

Sam Thielman

Nov. 15, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/18/books/review/charles-burns-final-cut.html

 

Spark Squad: US launches comic book to educate kids about nuclear power

The DOE aims to spark interest in nuclear energy and STEM fields with a comprehensive toolkit that includes ready-to-use activities for educators.

 Oct 23, 2024  

Sujita Sinha

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/us-spark-squad-comic-to-teach-nuclear-energy

 

Department of Energy Goes Nuclear with New Comic Book

Melinda Higgins

October 21, 2024

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/department-energy-goes-nuclear-new-comic-book

 

Immersive Smurf Experience returns to Brussels

23 October 2024

https://www.belganewsagency.eu/immersive-smurf-experience-returns-to-brussels

 

They wanted to celebrate the Jewish contributions to comics — so they created their own comic con

"Superheroes are a Jewish invention, and it's this amazing chapter of American history that's been overlooked," Roy Schwartz said. [JewCE]

By Elizabeth Karpen

Oct 22 2024

https://jewishunpacked.com/they-wanted-to-celebrate-the-jewish-contributions-to-comics-so-they-created-their-own-comic-con/

 

Report: SONY looking to buy KADOKAWA [anime]

By D. Morris on 11/20/2024 https://www.comicsbeat.com/report-sony-looking-to-buy-kadokawa/

 

Exclusive: Sony is in talks to buy media powerhouse behind 'Elden Ring'

By Anirban Sen and Sam Nussey

November 19, 2024

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/sony-talks-buy-media-powerhouse-behind-elden-ring-sources-say-2024-11-19/


INTERVIEW: Kenny Meyers on their new comic marketing app, BINDINGS!
Diego Higuera on 11/20/2024 https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-kenny-meyers-on-their-new-comic-marketing-app-bindings/

Paul Levitz
[" We lost one of the quiet forces that helped make innumerable San Diego Comic-Cons a great experience: Clydene Née..."]
November 20 2024
https://www.facebook.com/100000547972338/posts/9425776127450559/?rdid=Von2tW8M4cT38o5a

David Scroggy
[" RIP: Clydene Nee"]
https://www.facebook.com/100000547972338/posts/9425776127450559/?rdid=Von2tW8M4cT38o5a

IDEAS DON'T BLEED episode one hundred fourteen | Nick Spencer, part two
Nov 20, 2024
https://ashcanpress.substack.com/p/i-see-sir-luke

DENYS COWAN Talks Comics, Founding MILESTONE and His FIRST ART BOOK! | Graphic Samurai
Comics Are Dope
Nov 20, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hTorfpb9T4

Alex Segura - Writer of Secret Identity, Alter Ego
Justin Soderberg
Nov 20, 2024 Capes and Tights Podcast #198:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x1vDoFYC7Q

Never fear, true believers: Netflix's Daredevil is canon
A weary nation breathes a sigh of relief as Daredevil star Charlie Cox assures fans those seasons are still in play.
By Matt Schimkowitz  |  November 19, 2024
https://www.avclub.com/daredevil-born-again-netflix-canon-charlie-cox

Pamela Hayden, voice of Milhouse van Houten and more, sets last Simpsons episode
Fear not; there will be a new voice of Milhouse in the future.
By Drew Gillis  |  November 20, 2024
https://www.avclub.com/pamela-hayden-milhouse-leaving-the-simpsons

Thank You, Pamela Hayden, For 35 Phenomenal Years Of Milhouse! | The Simpsons
AniDom Oct 1, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8lV_SzjXec

The Art of Comic Artist Mike Vosburg Interview and Art Sale
Comic Art Live  November 20 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXuK3PGERWo

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Some comics ephemera - postcards

Bought at the last Civitan flea market in Arlington, these are being donated to the Library of Congress.

 

RCA Radio and TV Tubes 3 F-44
scan of reverse coming soon


 

Looking with Luke ink blotter from Yellow Pages


Strange that the horses don't kick!


RCA Tubes 3 F-47
 



Amazing Good Judgement by Daniel Boris


Little Russian Madman by Daniel Boris


Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 11/19/2024

 

Happy Seventy-First Birthday, Alan Moore

Rich Johnston 18 Nov 2024 

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/happy-seventieth-birthday-alan-moore/

 

Diamond And Hachette/Abrams/Yen Press Appear To Resolve Their Issues

18 Nov 2024 by Rich Johnston   https://bleedingcool.com/comics/diamond-and-hachette-abrams-yen-press-appear-to-resolve-their-issues/

 

Scout Comics Dropped By Lunar Over New Lateness Policy

by Rich Johnston 18 Nov 2024

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/scout-comics-dropped-by-lunar-over-new-lateness-policy/

 

James Gunn: "Everything" Not New DCU is "Elseworlds" (Including Us)

18 Nov 2024   by Ray Flook

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/james-gunn-everything-not-new-dcu-is-elseworlds-including-us/

 

Chapter 1 - Gods and Monsters | DC Studios | DC

James Gunn

DC Jan 31, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY8XcmrIujE

 

James Gunn Creature Commandos Panel at NYCC 2024 with Cast and Crew Interview DCU

Oct 19, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If-99KCDADo

 

Interview: Showrunner Dean Lorey teases comic book and musical cameos in CREATURE COMMANDOS

Taimur Dar on 11/19/2024 https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-dean-lorey-creature-commandos/

 

CREATURE COMMANDOS showrunner teases comic book and musical cameos

Taimur Dar

Comics Beat

Nov 19, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9e9yIU81RE

 

A PATH HOME: Graphic novel on 'Naga Repatriation' released

  18th February 2023

Morung Express News

https://morungexpress.com/a-path-home-graphic-novel-on-naga-repatriation-released

 

A Path Home: A Graphic Novel on Naga Repatriation

Arkotong Longkumer, Meren Imchen (Illustrator)

University of Edinburgh 2023

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/a-path-home-a-graphic-novel-on-naga-repatriation

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/files/327873563/LongkumerAImchenM2023APathHome.pdf

 

"I Could Die Happy" - Gerry Duggan Teases New Directions for Image Comics' Falling in Love on the Path to Hell

Sam Stone

Oct 30, 2024  https://www.cbr.com/falling-in-love-on-the-path-to-hell-gerry-duggan-interview/

 

"We Need Finality in Our Stories so We Can Fully Enjoy Them": Daniel Warren Johnson and Riley Rossmo Discuss The Moon is Following Us

Brian Cronin

Oct 26, 2024

https://www.cbr.com/daniel-warren-johnson-riley-rossmo-discuss-moon-following-us-interview/

 

Riley Rossmo Celebrates "Dia De Los Muertos"

TJ Diestch

Nov 20, 2012

https://www.cbr.com/riley-rossmo-celebrates-dia-de-los-muertos/

 

"I Should Probably Do It." - Daniel Warren Johnson on Skybound's Transformers & His Upcoming Comics

C. M. Ramsburg

Aug 2, 2024

https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-2024-daniel-warren-johnson-interview/

 

Charles Schulz's Funny Things: An interview with Francesco Matteuzzi and Luca Debus

Valerio Stivé | November 19, 2024 https://www.tcj.com/charles-schulzs-funny-things-an-interview-with-francesco-matteuzzi-and-luca-debus/

 

Shuntaro Tanikawa, Howl's Moving Castle Song Writer, Dies at 92

Chike Nwaenie

November 18 2024

https://www.cbr.com/shuntaro-tanikawa-dead/

 

Renowned poet Tanikawa Shuntaro dies at 92 [anime music; Peanuts translator]

November 19 2024

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20241119_04/

 

In Memoriam: Raymond Wergan, the man behind the early success of "Marvel UK"

By downthetubes

November 18, 2024 

Rob Kirby pays tribute to the man who was instrumental in the founding of Marvel UK…

https://downthetubes.net/in-memoriam-raymond-wergan-the-man-behind-the-early-success-of-marvel-uk/

 

Animator Spotlight: Fred Moore

By Vincent Alexander | 11/15/2024 https://www.cartoonbrew.com/animator-spotlight/animator-spotlight-fred-moore-243772.html

 

Epic Storyworlds Adapts 'Guiby the Super Baby' to Animation

Mercedes Milligan

November 18, 2024

https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/11/epic-storyworlds-adapts-guiby-the-super-baby-to-animation/

 

'The Brown Dog' Directors Take Us Along the Creative Journey of Their Award-Winning Short

Ramin Zahed

November 18, 2024

https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/11/the-brown-dog-directors-take-us-along-the-creative-journey-of-their-award-winning-short/

 

Matt Braly, Owen Dennis Speak Up for TAG as Animation Workers Deliver Petition to Warner

Animation Magazine

November 18, 2024

https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/11/matt-braly-owen-dennis-speak-up-for-tag-as-animation-workers-deliver-petition-to-warner/

 

Dennis Draughon & Bai Yi Share EPPY Award

D. D. Degg          

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2024/11/18/dennis-draughon-bai-yi-share-eppy-award/


Meet Sarah Firth of Australia - A Post-SPX Interview
by Mike Rhode
ComicsDC blog (November 19, 2024): https://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2024/11/meet-sarah-firth-of-australia-post-spx.html

Flow doesn't need words to craft an engrossing survival fable
Like Homeward Bound through the apocalypse, as majestic and (sometimes) hokey as that sounds. [Latvia]
By Jacob Oller  |  November 19, 2024
https://www.avclub.com/flow-review

Zander Cannon Talks Sleep: Like Jekyll and Hyde, but Only His Waking Hours
The Comics Cube with Duy Tano
Nov 19 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU_oCLTopI8

Pop Culture SquadCast - Live - Episode #066: With Special Guest Chip Mosher [DSTLRY]
Pop Culture Squad Nov 19 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mc99P9bHVA

ANIME NYC expands event from 3 days to 4 for summer 2025
Justin Guerrero on 11/19/2024  https://www.comicsbeat.com/anime-nyc-expands-event-from-3-days-to-4-for-summer-2025/

Class action suit against Action Lab Entertainment dismissed by judge
Heidi MacDonald on 11/19/2024
https://www.comicsbeat.com/class-action-suit-against-action-lab-entertainment-dismissed-by-judge/

A Visit to Planet Koren
A new exhibition celebrates the work of the late cartoonist Edward Koren.
By Paul Karasik
November 19, 2024
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-visit-to-planet-koren

Best Manga 2024 | SLJ Best Books
by Jasmine Amiri, Rachel Forbes, Joe Pascullo, Lisa Rowland, Sara Smith
Nov 19, 2024
https://www.slj.com/story/best-manga-2024-slj-best-books

Book ban proposal sparks heated debate at Sargent Central Schools
Sargent Central Schools debated keeping "Heartstopper" on library shelves, as parents labeled it inappropriate, while students staunchly defended its content.
By Isak Dinesen
WDAY-TV November 13, 2024
https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/book-ban-proposal-sparks-heated-debate-at-sargent-central-schools

Parents push Northern Michigan library to restrict book over 'sexual content' [Heartstopper]
Rose White
mlive.com Nov. 14, 2024, https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2024/11/parents-push-northern-michigan-library-to-restrict-book-over-sexual-content.html

Welcome to this month's CartoonStock caption contest by Tom Toro.
Bob Mankoff, Lawrence Wood, Trevor Hoey, Joel Mishon and Tom Toro
CartoonStock, a Cartoon Collections Co.
 Nov 15, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koTrFY4idjw

"Adam and Eve and the Leaves" Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
November 18, 2024 by Lawrence Wood
https://www.cartoonstock.com/blog/adam-eve-leaves-caption-contest-commentary-with-lawrence-wood/


The Batman Universe Is Called the 'Batman Epic Crime Saga'
After The Penguin, what else?
 Wesley Yin-Poole
Updated: Jul 24, 2024
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-batman-universe-is-called-the-batman-epic-crime-saga


The second annual Jewish Comics Experience (JewCE) in NYC
Ruben Bolling  Nov 16, 2024
https://boingboing.net/2024/11/16/the-second-annual-jewish-comics-experience-jewce-in-nyc.html

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Meet Sarah Firth of Australia - A Post-SPX Interview

For some reason she wanted me in her author photo

by Mike Rhode

 I briefly met Sarah Firth while she was signing her book at the Small Press Expo this fall. She continued on her US tour after selling out of her book that weekend. We reconnected via email after she returned home and here is the interview.

 But first, here's info about her and the book, lifted from her press release :

Sarah Firth (she/her) is an artist, writer, cartoonist and graphic recorder based in Wurundjeri Country, Melbourne, Australia. Sarah has received a Talking Difference Fellowship from the Immigration Museum, was a finalist in the Incinerator Gallery Award For Social Change and her comics have appeared in Eisner Award-winning and Ignatz-nominated anthologies.

Her debut graphic novel, Eventually Everything Connects Eight Essays on Uncertainty was The Age’s Non-Fiction Pick of The Week, shortlisted for The Prime Minister’s Literary Award and listed as ‘One of The Best Graphic Novels Ever’ by Refinery29.

Eventually Everything Connects is Sarah Firth’s debut graphic novel, a collection of interconnected visual essays created over eight years. Sarah invites you into her wild mind as she explores ways to see with fresh eyes, to face the inevitability of change, and to find freedom in sensuality.

With raw honesty and vulnerability, Firth reminds us that the profane and the sacred, the tender and the cruel, the rigorous and the silly, all coexist in dynamic tension. This book is a delicious mix of daily life, science, philosophy and irreverent humour that is comforting, confronting and mind-expanding in equal measure.


What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I like to play and make all kinds of things, from comedic and gag comics, to slice of life and memoir pieces, academic comics, non-fiction essays and thought pieces all the way to fiction. I love thinking, exploring and making and my creative practice is very responsive to living.

I also work professionally as a graphic recorder, graphic facilitator, strategic visualiser and educator/trainer at workshops and live events. I utilize a lot of the comics making skill set in this work, but it is done live, fast and in response to or in co-design with the group as a facilitation tool. In real time it is more about listening, but the end product looks a lot like comics - though usually more like a spatial infographic or mind map. I use panels sometimes! It’s very emergent.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I work across mediums. Ink and watercolour on paper, to digital with Procreate on my iPad.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I’m an elder Millennial.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

 I have always drawn and been creative. I’ve also always written journals. I was classically trained as a sculptor, but a car accident changed that career path, and I turned to comics and animations as a creative outlet when I was injured. It’s a lot cheaper and faster than sculpture! I still don’t feel like much of a writer and have no formal training. I’ve mainly learned how to draw and write comics by reading them and work-shopping with other comics makers, particularly through The Comic Arts Workshop here in Australia. I work-shopped my debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects with them. And honestly, I couldn’t have made it without this community of talented, generous peers!

Who are your influences?

I have so many influences! I read very promiscuously. I love science communication writers like Ed Yong and Merlin Sheldrake. I like theory from James Carce such as Finite and Infinite Games, the works of Donna Haraway, Tyson Yunkaporta, Iain McGilchrist and Jack Halberstam. Hybrid works like Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills make me feel like my work is possible. Comics-wise I love Lynda Barry, Sam Wallman, Joe Sacco, Lee Lai, Kevin Huizenga, Tara Booth, Rachel Ang, Eleri Mai Harris, Claudia Chinyere Akole and so many more!

What work are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of my debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects. It took 8 years of love and struggle. That’s the longest comics project I’ve ever done. 

So what is your new book about, beyond the PR blurb quoted above?


These interconnected graphic essays are one meta work that explores questions of living, of being in community, of loving and trying to make some sense of living in our hyper complex world where crises and destruction keep coming. It is part memoir, non-fiction, autotheory, science communication and a work of philosophy. Which sounds a bit wanky, but while the book chews on hard questions it is buoyed along with a lot of humour and enjoyable silliness too.

So far the responses to the book have been amazing with lots of readers getting in touch with me to say that the book has been a real tonic and balm to their existential dread and weariness. Helping them feel that they are not alone and that the world is still wild and wonderful in all kinds of ways. The horrors persist, but it so do I, that sort of thing.

Were these essays commissioned for a publication, or did you do them on your own?

I wrote and drew all of these from my free will, if it exists. I have submitted a few excerpts to online and printed journals and writing prizes.

How did you find a publisher?

It’s been a long road - especially given that my book doesn’t fit neatly into a genre. From 2019 - 2020 I submitted the work directly to publishers and got rejections. Then I eventually got approached by my Australian agent Jacinta Di Mase in 2021 and they submitted my book to publishers in 2022. More rejections came. I got to a point where I thought this book just wasn’t going to find a home. 

I was sad and stressed, so went off to the forest to chop wood and seriously think about letting the book go. I got to a point of being ready to let it die. I was chopping wood and burning pages when my agent called to excitedly tell me that Joan Press of Allen & Unwin wanted to acquire it. What a turn around!

The Aus/NZ edition came out in 2023. And then I got a US agent Dan Lazar of Writer’s House and he sold the international English rights to Graphic Mundi. The US edition came out in 2024.




How did you get to do a tour of America for the book?

I applied for multiple travel grants and luckily got two. One from Creative Australia and The Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund from Writers Victoria.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I want to keep on playing, collaborating on cool projects, making my own projects, drawing, writing and thinking, and see what emerges.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I often work on multiple projects at once so I can keep momentum and switch between them if I get stuck.

I also mainly work from home and find doing mundane tasks like washing, cleaning and gardening helpful for processing things unconsciously which can help break through blocks.

Other times I call a friend, journal, hike, walk and type on my phone, dance, move and exercise. Changing my thinking and body movement can really help with problem solving.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

At the moment in Australia, the appetite and recognition of graphic novels in all genres is growing. And more graphic novels are being made. Who knows where this will go, but it’s a very positive signal.

What cons do you attend besides The Small Press Expo? Any comments about attending them?

As a neurodivergent person I actually find conventions really hard! So I only do them very irregularly. They are so amazing for connecting and community building, but I get overwhelmed by the noise, movement and visual stimulus really quickly.

That said my SPX experience was amazing because I worked in tandem with my publisher Graphic Mundi, who sold my books all day, and I just had two booksigning windows and a panel over the two days. I cope way better when I have shorter time bound activities with a clear goal. And then I can go and rest in the quiet room or touch some grass outside. And then slowly make my way around to other people’s tables and panels.

Do you have a website or blog?

Website: http://www.sarahthefirth.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahthefirth/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahTheFirthCreativeServices
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahthefirth
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahthefirth
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahthefirth/

How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?

Oh man, it totally gutted my work at first. As a professional graphic recorder, graphic facilitator, strategic visualiser and educator I mainly work in-person workshops and events. And they all got cancelled. It was panic stations for 6 months. Luckily in Australia we had some meager small business COVID relief grants that helped to keep me going. Eventually things migrated online, so luckily I could find work virtually, especially to help make online events less dull.

Here in Melbourne, Australia we had some of the longest and strictest COVID lockdowns. Luckily I had my partner, my cat and a stable home. We could both work remotely and isolate. Making comics, cartoons and working on my book were actually a key way I managed the stress, fear and isolation of those few years.