Rawand Issa & Amy Chiniara on 7 Favorite Lebanese Comics

As part of the discussion around Inside the Giant Fish, a graphic novel written by Rawand Issa and translated by Amy Chiniara, both made a list of some of their favorite comics and graphic novels from Lebanon.

Amy’s list:

1 – ليلة الثلاثاء (Tuesday Night) by Mohamad Kraytem

Published by Nool, find out more on Kraytem’s Instagram, and from Nool Books.

2 – Toutes les Mers by Michèle Standjofski

Winner of the Audience Award at Pulp Festival 2018 and nominated for the Artemisia Prize in 2018; see excerpts at the publisher’s website.

3 – مدينة مجاورة الأرض (A City Neighboring Earth) by Jorj Abu Mhayya

Published by Dar Onboz, this book won a 2012 International Comics Book Festival of Algeria (FIBDA) book award. More at Goodreads.

4 – Samandal comics

One of the original Arabic comix collectives. Find more at their instagram.

5 – Le Piano Orientale by Zeina Abi Rached

Published by Casterman in 2015, this story is inspired by the life of the author’s ancestor, inventor of a new musical instrument in the Beirut of the 1960s. An excerpt is available on Amazon.

6 – متى نلتقي؟ (When Will We Meet?) by Sirene Moukheiber

Published by University of Balamand, Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, in 2017; see excerpts at Arabic Bookshop.

Rawand’s list:

7 – Lena Merhej’s أعتقد أننا سنكون هادئين في الحرب المقبلة (I Think We Will Be Chill in the Next War).

Rawand writes: “It’s a tiny book, but it’s very intimate.”

Also read:

Going ‘Inside the Giant Fish’ with Rawand Issa and Amy Chiniara

Excerpts from ‘Inside the Giant Fish’