TITLE: Firebugs by Nino Bulling (Drawn & Quarterly, 2024)
BOOK CLUBS: Librairie Drawn & Quarterly’s Graphic Novel Book Club
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, May 20, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM
LOCATION: Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (176 Bernard W.)
MODERATOR: Kennedy Rooke
MAX # OF PARTICIPANTS: 40
SIGN-UP: Not required, but you can say you are coming on Facebook
LANGUAGE: The book and the discussion are in English
OTHER DETAILS: Drawn & Quarterly uses StopGap.ca ramps in an effort to encourage accessibility. Both the step at the entrance, followed by a half step and a door have StopGap ramps. The door opens inward and is not automated. Once inside, there are no additional steps.
There is one non-gendered bathroom.
It is not a sober space, our events sometimes offer alcohol.
Please email events@drawnandquarterly.com if you have any accessibility needs we can accommodate.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Everything is changing–
– but everything is also exactly the same. Ingken can’t ignore it: ice caps stained brown from forest fires, pipeline construction, drought… the whole world somehow persists despite the slow erosion of stability.
After a trip to Paris, Ingken returns home ready for a break from drugs. Their supportive partner, Lily, is flushed, excited about a new connection she’s made. Although Ingken wants to be happy for her, there’s a discomfort they can’t shake. Sleepless nights fill with an endless scroll of images and headlines about climate disaster. A vague dysphoria simmers under their skin; they are able to identify that like Lily, they are changing, but they’re not sure exactly how and at what pace. Everyone keeps telling them to burn themself to the ground and build themself back up but they worry about the kind of debris that fire might leave behind.
Nino Bulling’s artwork is immediately familiar. Like a conversation with a good friend, their story is told as quiet as it can be loud. Crowds and landscapes squiggle in expressive black and white. Red cuts through panels with energy and persistence, bringing life to what might seem dead. In its most intimate moments, Firebugs asks what it means to transition in a transitioning world.
ABOUT THE BOOK CLUB:
The Graphic Novel Book Club has been Librairie Drawn & Quarterly’s longest running book club. We read and discuss the best in contemporary and classic comics. As a publisher of graphic novels and as a store that specializes in them, we want to create a space to discuss what makes comics great. Instagram: @librairiedrawnandquarterly
