Soft Stories

Soft Stories with Kohinata Marco, Aude Yukiko Luce, and Campbell Whyte

State Library of WA - Theatre (Ground Floor)
2:30 - 3:30pm

While the manga industry continues to take the comics world by storm, we're turning our attention to the soft, quiet and delicate side of manga that is often overlooked. One of the rising international talents of this gentler side of manga is Marco Kohinata, whose tender and leisurely paced stories resonate with warmth and sensitivity. Join Marco in conversation with Aude Yukiko Luce and Campbell Whyte as they take us on a journey through the works that inspired them, their storytelling philosophy and their peers.

Featuring: Kohinata Marco

Kohinata Marco was influenced by her mother’s love for art and became enraptured with drawing as a child. Her mother often took her to art exhibitions and museums and at home she was exposed to picture books from all around the world, manga, illustrations, anime, and the like. Marco first learned art as an academic subject when she joined the art department at Osaka Prefectural Kogei Senior High School. After high school, she took correspondence courses through Musashino Art University, but eventually left academia after making her debut as a manga artist. While working as a manga artist she also takes on illustration and animation commissions. Beginning with manga, Kohinata Marco has felt comforted by many works of art made by her predecessors and wishes to recreate that feeling in people through her art.

Featuring: Aude Yukiko Luce

Aude Yukiko Luce is a manga translator and comic festival enthusiast. After graduating with a Masters in Japanese language in Paris, she moved to Tokyo in 2013 and coordinated the French Embassy's annual book festival around Japan, bringing the work of French authors to a Japanese audience. While in Tokyo, she collaborated with the Kaigai Manga Festa and its founder Frédéric Toutlemonde, publisher and CEO of Euromanga. Aude then co-founded Comic Art Tokyo with Hakusen gallery owner and Black Hook Press publisher James Stacey, with the support of TCAF and Lakes International Comic Art Festival. After moving to Melbourne in 2017, she focused on a full time career in marketing and manga translation for Casterman's Sakka label, based in Paris.

Featuring: Campbell Whyte

Campbell Whyte was born in Perth, Western Australia where he creates stories about place and strives to create an inclusive, supportive and healthy comics community. Through his love for comics literature, he has created deeply personal, widely accessible and award-winning works such as Home Time and Luna Express. For the past ten years, he has been developing and delivering comics-making courses at the Milktooth School of Art and Stories where he teaches over 400 students a year.

Please note that this event is an educational talk and may not be suitable for young audiences. This event is part of the annual Perth Comic Arts Festival, a completely free to attend, volunteer run celebration of comics, their creators and readers.