Graphic Narrative Symposium

This Graphic Narrative Symposium brings together enthusiasts of the graphic narrative form to discuss and celebrate its many manifestations and cross-cultural applications. It will include an interactive session with the acclaimed French-Vietnamese graphic novelist and author, Clément Baloup. Baloup’s prize-winning graphic novel corpus delves into themes of immigration, memory and memorial transmission and brings a unique perspective to the art of storytelling as enacted through the mobilisation of both image and word. These themes will feature more broadly throughout the presentations and workshops animated on the day by both graphic narrative creators and academics who use the form in both their teaching and research.

·        Morning session: Academic Papers & Roundtable (9:00am-12:15pm)

This session follows a conference-style format, featuring four academic paper presentations by researchers working in comics studies. The session concludes with a roundtable discussion, encouraging exchange between presenters and attendees on emerging themes and research in the field.

Presenters:

1.) Penni Russon: Make America Gothic Again: Miles Hyman's Adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Lotter

2.) Mridula Nath Chakraborty: Teaching graphic novels contrapuntally? The case of Bhimayana (2011)

3.) Marina Buzzetti: The role of postmemory in graphic essays: narrating Chinese transnational stories in Italy

4.) Stewart King: The European Literary Tradition in Catalan Graphic Novels: The Case of Lluis Juste de Nin

5.) 12-12:30: Roundtable on teaching comics: Ronnie Scott (RMIT), Elisabeth MacFarlane (SCC), Véronique Duché, Sandrine Michel, Tess Do (SOLL)

·        Artist Showcase & Workshop (1:00pm-3:30pm)

In the afternoon, Clément Baloup and local comics artists will present their creative work and discuss their practices. This workshop-style session includes hands-on drawing activities and informal dialogue, enabling participants to engage directly with the creative process and explore contemporary approaches to comics-making.

Guest artists:

1) Rachel Ang: Swimsuit

2) Bernard Caleo: The Devil Collects

3) Bruce Mutard: When Memory Isn’t Enough

4) Kim Lam and Emma Do: Working From Home

5) Clément Baloup: Vietnamese Memories

Please contact Dr Tess Do at dot@unimelb.edu.au or alternatively the School of Languages and Linguistics at soll-info@unimelb.edu.au if you have any queries regarding this event.