mariko tamaki news

Hello!

Not sure if you’re following the news.  Skim has become a recent newswire feature because of a story published on a “conservative” site on the ALA’s.  In the interests of continuing the conversation slash debate on the subject of “literary merit” and “agendas” gay and otherwise, I’m posting it here.  Insert comments as you please.

I have been spending a lot of time writing and teaching as of late. I’ve done a couple wicked seminars at my old high school Havergal College.  You can read most of what I have to say about these here at Inside a Dog - where I was briefly a writer in residence.

Things I’ve got coming up.

I’ll be at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre on February 1st to launch OUTSPOKEN, a collection of lesbian theatre writing edited by Susan G. Cole.  I think it starts at 7 pm.  Many lesbians will be there, including Trey Anthony and Jess Dobkin.  Regular hummus fest!  I will be reading an earlier version of the PLAY Skim, which originally was produced by Nightwood Theatre as part of Groundswell.

In February I’ll be doing a mini-College tour of Montreal.  Dates TBA.

Happy new year everyone!

xo

mariko

Well it’s been a pretty BANNER week or so.

Number one, this past weekend Skim/Emiko Superstar got a Joe Shuster!  This is pretty fricking thriling, I have to say, and I’m totally bummed that a bad Ceasar Salad kept me from the ceremonies.  So many talented people in one room, and I was all passed out on the couch!   I’d like to thank the Academy, my co-creators Jillian Tamaki (Skim) and Steve Rolston (Emiko Superstar).  What is the right hand without the left, you know? I’d also like to thank Groundwood and the imprint formerly known as MINX.

And I’d like to thank Willow for grabbing my plaque for me.

Number two, I recently found out that Skim just hit 15,000 copies.  So at least 30,000 people have read the book (I’m assuming everyone is sharing).  Hoooo ray.

Number three, I had a butt kicking time at the Kingston Writers Fest.  KINGSTON RULES.

And LAST BUT NOT LEAST
WE’RE LULU-ed!
How exciting is this?!  Pretty darn exciting.  It’s even more amazing because I am such a huge fan of this group and of all the incredible women in comics who are and have been nominated in these categories.

Like, DUDE, seriously, I’m up against Kate Beaton.  KATE BEATON RULES (I really and truly hope that just because we are nommed together she doesn’t sick one of her crazy ponies on me.  Dude.  Seriously.)

Le sigh.

SO you can go here and check out all the insanely talented nominees.  Vote if the spirit moves you.

No biggie.

A little info about “Friends of Lulu” - from their webpage - linked above - which you should tots check out!

What is Friends of Lulu?

Friends of Lulu is a national organization whose main purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry. Among the goals of the organization are:

1. To increase female readership of comics

2. To promote the work of women in comics

3. To offer networking opportunities and general support to women in comics

4. To facilitate communication among women and men who share the organization’s purpose

What does Friends of Lulu do?

Friends of Lulu:

1. Provides educational and research material about women in comics

2. Provides input to publishers, retailers, and the public on the kinds of comics that appeal to a female readership and on how to reach that readership

3. Facilitates networking opportunities for females in the comic book industry

4. Connects young women who wish to create comic books with female professionals for mentorship

5. Publishes a recommended reading list

6. Offers seminars on select topics

Who can join?

Membership is open to women and men of all ages who support the organization’s goals. You can join if you are a professional (a person who works or has worked in or on behalf of the comic book industry) or simply someone who reads and enjoys comics. If you are under 18 you are considered a “Jr. Lulu.”

Is there a local chapter near me?

Friends of Lulu has an active chapter in New York. Formerly active chapters are now dormant in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Chicago. If you would like to open up a chapter in your city, please contact us at info@friends-lulu.org.

How Do I Join?

PLEASE NOTE: NEW MEMBERSHIPS ARE ON HOLD, BUT WE WELCOME VOLUNTEERS, QUESTIONS, AND PARTICIPANTS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET INVOLVED WITH FRIENDS OF LULU, PLEASE CONTACT US AT INFO@FRIENDS-LULU.ORG

The latest version of Skim arrived today!

Skim in Japanese (published by Sanctuary — translated by Takashi Tanishita).

Actually, apparently, Skim in Japanese is GIRL.

The book design is a trip - no more blue and orange! So amazing.

I’m trying to think who I know who can read Japanese who would appreciate/could read a copy.

Kirsten Johnson is an incredible Toronto artist and performer I met through Buddies in Bad Times Theatre several years ago.  Last winter she sent me an email asking if I could pose for a new series she was doing.  She needed some crazy Asians to dress up as Geisha and fight it out in her studio.

Seriously.

How could I refuse?

It’s totally an amazing thing to be a part (a fairly small part) of this project and I’m so excited to see the final result.

If you’re in TO check out Kirsten’s amazing show:

CATFIGHT

September 24 to October 24, 2009

XEXE Gallery

624 Richmond St. West at Bathurst, Toronto.

The complete show can now be previewed in its entirety on her site…
http://www.kirstenjohnson.com/catfight.html 

Here’s a taste:

Holy cow I haven’t posted since TCAF?  That’s insane.

What’s NEWS?

It’s been an amazing summer.  Lots of reading and even a little travel.

I went to Barcelona with Jillian to do a little Skim promo for our fabulously amazing Spanish publisher Ediciones La Cupula. The trip was an amazing success with lots of publicity and an incredible tour around the city with Ediciones publicist (and comics lover) Montserrat.

Here is a pic that shows the intensive security measures taken by the comic con there.

And you thought New York was tough!

Since then I’ve done a little Pride action, reading at both Toronto’s Pride and London (Ontario’s) Pride Lit Night.

What else?  What else?

Upcoming I’ve got a bunch of different teaching gigs and I’m looking forward to performing at the Kingston WritersFest, which runs from September 23rd - 26th.  I’ll be doing some workshops and reading at a cabaret hosted by the amazing incredible Billeh Nickerson.  If you’re in the area, come visit!

Right after that I’ll be at the Joe Shuster Awards — hanging with my peeps Willow Dawson and Steve Rolston.

In the meantime, I’ve got quite a bit of online writing happening.

Check it out!

No More Potlucks - an amazing magazine out of Montreal - I’ve got a column in their (current) Fixate Issue.

Xtra.ca - where I attempt to write a monthly literary column

Happy Fall everyone.  Get out their and enjoy my favourite temperature!

So there are many awesome things that happened this past couple days.

First and foremost, Skim won the Doug Wright Award for Best Book.  This was a pretty cool topper for Skim, which was originally the winner of an honourable mention plaque back when it was just a little Kiss Machine Mini Comic.  One of the jury members, Mr. Bob Rae, recorded a little “message to the authors” for us, which was pretty cool.  Apparently Bob Rae is now toting Skim around and showing it to all his friends.  Kind of a thrill.  Also I found out that host Don McKellar knows my Best Body Bootcamp buddy.  Kind of an interesting Toronto moment.

It was great to be in a room with so many people who have been so instrumental to Skim’s continued success, including Seth, Chester, and Brad, who were so amazing during this past year.  As well as Patsy Aldana, our amazing publisher, Groundwood Books, who came to cheer us on.  Charissa got some pics on her iphone which I will post later.  In the meantime, here is our awesome trophy.

Frequent followers will note that, for the FIRST time, Skim gets a trophy and it gets to live with ME - cuz we got it here in Toronto and it doesn’t fly very well.  Of course, since the Doug Wright dudes are so awesome, they gave Jillian something to take home as well.

Jillian has the Ignatz Brick.  I get the Doug Wright (big) trophy.  We need to figure out some sort of custody sharing I suppose.  I’d love a photo of the Ignatz.  You know.  Just to see how it’s doing….

The rest of TCAF was pretty wicked.  I got to see just about all my favourite artists/authors, including: Matt Forsythe (who won the Pigskin Peters award for non-traditional avante-garde work Ojingogo (which rocks)), Steve Rolston, Ross Campbell, Adriane Tomine, and Jeff Lemire to name a few were all there.  Plus I got to hang with MINX alumni Cecil Castellucci.

I now have a MASS of comics to read including the Doug Wright collection - which is lovely and huge and SIGNED by Seth, and a host of others.

In other news, the most recent edition of Skim, released by the UK’s Walker Books, is now out and I have a couple copies.  I love the cover.
If any of my peeps are DYING for a copy of Skim in British, let me know.

That’s all for now!  Getting ready for Barcelona - we leave in a few weeks!

Big loves to all the people who made TCAF so lovely this year.

Let the countdown begin!

This Friday, May 8th, I will be at the big TCAF party at Harbourfront (also home of my favourite dim sum place) to kick off the festivities harbour style with many fantastic artists.

So there’s THIS fabulous event….

..followed by this ass kicking little feature….

Then on Saturday, Jillian and I will be at
Toronto Comic Arts Festival - Exhibition Day 1
Saturday May 9th, 10am-5pm
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St.
(Just north of Bloor, at Bloor/Yonge TTC)
FREE

Many cool artists will be there.

Jillian and I will be at the Doug Wright table from 2-2:30 pm.  So come and visit us!

For WAY more information, go to the TCAF site here.

See you all soon!

Myself and many cool TO artists are in the AGO in fabulous clothes in this edition of Toronto Life.

Note.

a) I had no idea how expensive the dress I was wearing was. Holy crap.
b) Still haven’t been to the AGO aside from this shoot!
c) Must go buy fabulous gloves they gave me to wear - and then took back.
d) You can hardly see my shoes, but they are awesome.

In other news.

Skim has been nominated for four Eisner Awards, including Best Publication for Teens/Tweens, Best Graphic Album - New, Best Writer and Best Penciller/Inker.

How fricking lovely is that?  Pretty lovely.

The awards are announced at the Comic Con International in San Diego.

Maybe I’ll go!

In other news, some of my favorite books and series were also nominated.

For Best Continuing Series: Fables, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Niko Henrichon, Andrew Pepoy, and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC) (*James Jean was nommed for his cover art).

For Best Anthology: Best American Comics 2008, edited by Lynda Barry (Houghton Mifflin)

For Best Graphic Album - New: Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf)

For Best Comics-Related Book Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden (First Second)

The list goes on.

AND!

I got grant to go to BARCELONA to launch Spanish language translation of SKIM by Ediciones La Cupula. Sweet.

AND

(last but not least)

I got nominated for Joe Shuster award for both Skim and Emiko Superstar.  Mr Rolston got some noms too.  As did Miss Cecil. And Ray Fawkes.  yay.

That’s it for now, yo.

Take care all!

m

Doug Wright Awards announce 2009 finalists

Filmmaker Don McKellar to host 5^th annual Canadian comics awards at the Art Gallery of Ontario

March 16, 2009 — Representing everything from the funny and the forthright, to the traditional and the avant-garde, the finalists for the 2009 Doug Wright Awards (DWAs) were released today in Toronto.

Founded in 2004 to recognize the best in English-language graphic novels and comics, The Doug Wright Awards have grown into one of Canada’s premier cartooning events.

This year’s eclectic batch of nominees range from first-person travelogues and heart-felt autobiography, to brainy historical comedy and post-modern gag cartoons. 

The 2009 finalists for Best Book are:

Burma Chronicles Guy Delisle (Drawn and Quarterly)
Drop-in Dave Lapp (Conundrum Press)
Paul Goes Fishing Michel Rabagliati (Drawn and Quarterly)
Skim Jillian & Mariko Tamaki (Groundwood Books) 

The 2009 finalists for Best Emerging Talent are:

Kate Beaton (History Comics)
Caitlin Black (Maids of the Mist)

Jesse Jacobs (Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow)
Jason Kieffer (Kieffer #2)
Nick Maandag (Jack & Mandy)

The finalists for the DWAs second annual Pigskin Peters Award, which recognizes avant-garde comics and non-traditional works, are:

Hall of Best Knowledge Ray Fenwick (Fantagraphics)
Ojingogo Matthew Forsythe (Drawn and Quarterly)

All We Ever Do is Talk About Wood Tom Horacek (Drawn and Quarterly)
Small Victories Jesse Jacobs

Established in 2008, the Pigskin Peters Award is named after a popular character in the classic Canadian comic strip Birdseye Center by cartoonist Jimmie Frise. In 1948, Doug Wright inherited Frise’s strip and would continue to draw it for the next two decades.

This year, the Wright Awards will induct Frise (who died in 1948) into The Giants of the North Hall of Fame for Canadian cartooning.

The DWAs are also pleased to announce that filmmaker Don McKellar will host this year’s awards ceremony, which will be held at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) Jackman Hall. A Gemini- and Tony-award-winning actor, writer and director, McKellar is a long-time comics’ fan and served as a jury member for the inaugural Wright Awards in 2005. 

The winners of the Best Emerging Talent and Best Book trophies will de decided by the 2009 DWA jury which includes; Bob Rae (Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and 21st premier of Ontario), Andrew Coyne (national editor for Maclean’s and political panelist on CBC Television’s The National), Martin Levin (books editor for The Globe and Mail and contributor to What I Meant to Say), cartoonist Joe Ollmann (author of the 2007 DWA Best Book This Will All End in Tears) and cartoonist Diana Tamblyn, the Ignatz-nominated author of several mini-comics including The Rosie Stories and There You Were.

A featured event of the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF), the 2009 Doug Wright Awards will take place on Sat. May 9, 2009 at 7:00 pm.

- 30 -

About The Doug Wright Awards

The Doug Wright Awards are a non-profit organization formed in 2004 to honour the lasting legacy of the late, great Canadian cartoonist Doug Wright. The annual awards recognize emerging cartooning talent and comics-based works published in English (including first translated editions). To be eligible, a work must be a first edition full length or a collection, written by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.

For more information, please contact:

Brad Mackay

Director

The Doug Wright Awards

613-255-2050

brad@wrightawards.ca

www.wrightawards.ca

About the Art Gallery of Ontario

With a permanent collection of more than 73,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. The Gallery began an extraordinary chapter when it launched Transformation AGO in 2002. Multi-faceted in scope, Transformation AGO involves the unprecedented growth of the permanent collection, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, and the strengthening of the museum’s endowment resources. As the imaginative centre of the city, the transformed AGO dramatically enriches our visitors’ experiences and provides greater access to the full vibrancy of the art museum.

Just got back from the NYC Comic Con.  Holy cow what a crazy show!  Got my brand new Scott Pilgrim, my long overdue Wet Moon 4, and some new Fables.  Also spent some time on some wicked panels.

Here’s the run down from Blog@Newsarama on the Women in Comics panel I was on - or kind of snuck my way onto care of Jillian.

More after I’ve unpacked!