A library in B.C. is colouring outside the lines with its writer-in-residence program and showing people that literature can be more than words on a page.

Cartoonist Miriam Libicki is the Vancouver Public LibraryB次元官网网址檚 writer-in-residence for 2017, marking the first time the library has named a graphic novelist to the role since the program began in 2005.

Comics have captivated Libicki since childhood, but she didnB次元官网网址檛 think she could create them herself until after she left the Israeli army and went to art school in Vancouver.

There, Libicki struggled to explain the intense experience to others until she turned a diary entry into a comic.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 hard to, just through text descriptions, really immerse somebody,B次元官网网址� Libicki said. B次元官网网址漃ictures, itB次元官网网址檚 much more immediate to immerse somebody in an environment thatB次元官网网址檚 just in your head.B次元官网网址�

The response to her work was positive, so the budding artist turned her army experiences into a graphic novel called B次元官网网址淛obnik!B次元官网网址� which she self-published in 2008.

LibickiB次元官网网址檚 work mixes intricate sketches and watercolour paintings, a marked difference from the simple images in comics like Superman. Her subjects, too, delve deeper than Archie and VeronicaB次元官网网址檚 latest tiff, reflecting instead on Jewish identity and examining relationships.

B次元官网网址淚 write what I like to write and I paint what I like to paint,B次元官网网址� she said of her style.

I also had this vision of blowfish inflating and rolling through space, but I'm not sure I got it. I may redraw.

B次元官网网址� miriam libicki (@realgonegirl)

VancouverB次元官网网址檚 library isnB次元官网网址檛 the first to turn to someone with a unique specialty as a writer-in-residence. The Edmonton Public Library picked rapper AOK B次元官网网址� writer Omar Mouallem B次元官网网址� for the role in 2013, while Concordia University chose graphic novelist Matthew Forsythe to be the 2017 Mordecai Richler writer-in-residence.

Picking someone from a non-traditional medium shows that stories can be created and shared in a variety of ways, said Dawn Ibey, director of library experience with the Vancouver Public Library.

Libraries have changed as societies have changed, she said, and many now offer an array of items and services, from ebooks to recording booths, and three-dimensional printers to musical instruments.

But some traditional aspects remain.

B次元官网网址淭he end point is still the same,B次元官网网址� Ibey said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e still inviting people to be engaged, informed, to create and share information, ideas and stories.B次元官网网址�

The Vancouver library is B次元官网网址渇ormat agnostic,B次元官网网址� she added, and sees graphic novels as a way to engage a broader audience.

B次元官网网址淎 graphic novel can have an entry point for kids or teens or adults from very diverse backgrounds, different learning styles, reluctant readers, anyone who a more traditional means or a piece written for a specific demographic or age group might not reach,B次元官网网址� Ibey said.

Portrait I drew of from a photo but not traced, 1997. You know, I used to be pretty good at drawing.

B次元官网网址� miriam libicki (@realgonegirl)

Graphic novels have gained prominence in recent years, including Art SpiegelmanB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢aus,B次元官网网址� which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, and B次元官网网址淭he Walking Dead,B次元官网网址� which was adapted into a hit TV show.

Part of the reason the form is so popular is that it can be used in a variety of ways, Libicki said.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a medium, not a genre,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t just means words and pictures put together in any sort of way. Any sort of story can be told with it.B次元官网网址�

ThatB次元官网网址檚 a message sheB次元官网网址檚 looking forward to sharing as a writer-in-residence.

For the next four months, she will mentor other writers and work on her latest project, a graphic novel about what happened to people who fled the collapsing Soviet Union. Libicki said sheB次元官网网址檚 spent two years conducting interviews, researching and writing a script for the story.

SheB次元官网网址檒l also lead workshops for both children and adults on everything from water colour painting to conducting interviews.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really excited about the idea that we can bring graphic novels to so many different populations, both as appreciation and reading them, and getting people making their own,B次元官网网址� Libicki said.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 just really like to see more people cartooning.B次元官网网址�

The Canadian Press

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