2023 Arlington Reads: Get Graphic
Arlington Public Library’s long-running signature author talk program Arlington Reads turns the page to the next chapter “Get Graphic.”
The year-long series will feature a diverse lineup of five award-winning and New York Times bestselling graphic novel authors: Alison Bechdel (Mar. 9), Jerry Craft (Apr. 27), Gene Luen Yang (May 4), Art Spiegelman (Sep. 21) and Liana Finck (Oct. 19).
Each of these authors will focus on a character’s experiences intersected with social commentary, history, identity and self-discovery using the graphic novel format to challenge our societal norms and invite us to discover uncomfortable truths and new ways of seeing.
In Bechdel’s autobiography "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" the author and cartoonist combines two genres— comics and memoir— to a illustrate a lush and intimate story about a daughter trying to understand her father through the common and unspoken bond of their homosexuality.
The graphic novel “New Kid,” tells the story of a young black child who tries to fit in at a new private school that is lacking in diversity. Craft’s heartbreakingly accurate middle-grade tale is a coming-of-age story layered with race, class and the quest for self-identity.
Yang takes on prejudices toward Asian Americans in his action-packed, modern fable “American Born Chinese,” which tells the story of Jin Wang who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he is the only Chinese-American student at his new school.
The fall line-up of “Get Graphic” invites audiences to better understand the horrors of the Holocaust, survival and to re-imagine the world from a women’s perspective.
In “Maus,” world renowned illustrator and graphic novelist Spiegelman interviews his father about his chilling experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor drawing Jews as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats. Spiegelman blends the stories of the author's trying relationship with his aging father and a horrifying tale of Auschwitz, as seen through his father's eyes. An astonishing account of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies and a story of survival and the legacy of trauma.
Fink’s graphic novel "Let There Be Light" is both a work of biblical interpretation in comic book format and reimagines the world from a woman’s perspective. Fink retells the Book of Genesis starring a woman as God and proves that old stories can live forever, whether as ancient scripture or as a series of profound and enchanting cartoons looking for humanity.
All five author talks will be livestreamed, followed by audience Q&A. Books will be available for purchase during the event, courtesy of One More Page Books.
Arlington Reads brings authors and readers together to talk about the important topics of our time.
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Arlington Reads, a community engagement program of Arlington Public Library, promotes literacy, the joy of reading and intergenerational participation.
“The program brings together people to talk about books and the important topics of our time,” said Library Director Diane Kresh.
Since its inception in 2006, Arlington Reads has featured both national and international fiction and nonfiction authors and cultural icons, such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wendell Berry, Katherine Boo, Matthew Desmond, Anthony Doerr, Richard Ford, Roxane Gay, Colum McCann, Tim O’Brien, Ann Patchett, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Elizabeth Strout, Zadie Smith and Colson Whitehead.
Arlington Reads is made possible in part through the generous support of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library.
