February brings our annual showcase of the international graphic novel. From time travel in Buenos Aires to rebirth in postwar Beirut, starvation in Mao's China and assimilation in 1950s Paris, these artist-writers delineate character and plot with their singular styles. See how Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz and Grzegorz Janusz, Mazen Kerbaj, Li Kunwu and Philippe Ôtié, Nawel Louerrad, Héctor G. Oesterheld and Solano Lopez, Roannie and Oko,and Jérôme Ruillier make every picture tell a story. WWB contributor Rutu Modan talks with Meg Storey about writing comics in Israel. Elsewhere, we present seven new poems by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, winner of the 2011 Prix Goncourt de poésie.
In the second installment of our World Through the Eyes of Writers column, in which established writers recommend new and emerging international authors, Korean writer Jo Kyung Ran introduces Hye-Young Pyun's "O Cuniculi."
World through the Eyes of Writers
Poetry by Vénus Khoury-Ghata
It was a November of bitter rain and snow blackened by use
A child would liquefy as soon as a snowflake touched the ground.
Book Reviews
Alexandra Chreiteh’s “Always Coca-Cola”
"Always Coca-Cola" comes off as a work of searing intensity that powerfully conjures the atmosphere of contemporary Beirut.
Admiel Kosman’s “Approaching You in English”
Sitting in any of the rooms that is each poem in "Approaching You In English" you’ll notice a tear in the ceiling; none of these poems are sealed shut
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s “The Letter Killers Club”
To the members of the Letter Killers Club, letters of the alphabet are the prison cells of concepts, and they need to be destroyed.
César Aira’s “Varamo”
What is it that we do, really, when we write? And why can’t a fish be embalmed to look like it’s playing a tiny piano?
