Storytelling Through Graphic Novels

In recent decades, graphic novels have matured from disreputable comic books to literature that wins Pulitzer and Newbery awards. They demand different storytelling abilities from both their creators and readers, excel at communicating through metaphor, and have been especially effective as memoir. Brian Fies will discuss graphic storytelling in general—how words plus images add up to more than the sum of their parts—and how he used comics to tell the story of community trauma and renewal during recent fires in his latest book, A Fire Story.

Brian Fies created the graphic novels A Fire Story, Mom’s Cancer, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, and The Last Mechanical Monster. His work has received several honors, including the comic industry’s Eisner, Harvey, and Inkpot awards. An animated version of his original Fire Story webcomic produced by San Francisco PBS station KQED won a television Emmy Award. He lives in Santa Rosa.