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 Library91裸聊视频檚 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 didn91裸聊视频檛 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.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 hard to, just through text descriptions, really immerse somebody,91裸聊视频� Libicki said. 91裸聊视频漃ictures, it91裸聊视频檚 much more immediate to immerse somebody in an environment that91裸聊视频檚 just in your head.91裸聊视频�

The response to her work was positive, so the budding artist turned her army experiences into a graphic novel called 91裸聊视频淛obnik!91裸聊视频� which she self-published in 2008.

Libicki91裸聊视频檚 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 Veronica91裸聊视频檚 latest tiff, reflecting instead on Jewish identity and examining relationships.

91裸聊视频淚 write what I like to write and I paint what I like to paint,91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频� miriam libicki (@realgonegirl)

Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 library isn91裸聊视频檛 the first to turn to someone with a unique specialty as a writer-in-residence. The Edmonton Public Library picked rapper AOK 91裸聊视频� writer Omar Mouallem 91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淭he end point is still the same,91裸聊视频� Ibey said. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e still inviting people to be engaged, informed, to create and share information, ideas and stories.91裸聊视频�

The Vancouver library is 91裸聊视频渇ormat agnostic,91裸聊视频� she added, and sees graphic novels as a way to engage a broader audience.

91裸聊视频淎 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,91裸聊视频� Ibey said.

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

91裸聊视频� miriam libicki (@realgonegirl)

Graphic novels have gained prominence in recent years, including Art Spiegelman91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淢aus,91裸聊视频� which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, and 91裸聊视频淭he Walking Dead,91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a medium, not a genre,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t just means words and pictures put together in any sort of way. Any sort of story can be told with it.91裸聊视频�

That91裸聊视频檚 a message she91裸聊视频檚 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 she91裸聊视频檚 spent two years conducting interviews, researching and writing a script for the story.

She91裸聊视频檒l also lead workshops for both children and adults on everything from water colour painting to conducting interviews.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 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,91裸聊视频� Libicki said.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檇 just really like to see more people cartooning.91裸聊视频�

The Canadian Press

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