Comic Boom - Comics in Education with Gabi Putnoki from Graphic Novel Reading Room

0:10

Hello, and welcome back to comic boom, the comics and education podcast. If you're interested in hearing more about the crossover between comics and education, then this is the podcast for you. My name is Lucy Starbuck Braidley and each week I'll be joined by a fellow educator, an academic librarian, or a creator of comics to discuss their journey into comics and provide some inspiration to influence your practice and hopefully shine some light on some titles that you can bring into. To your libraries, your classrooms and onto your own bookshelves as well. Welcome back to Comic boom, everyone. I'm really pleased to be back for season four, the podcast I've got a brilliant lineup of guests for you this season. Really varied, starting off with the brilliant Gabby from graphic novel reading room. Gabby's had a varied career path touching on both primary teaching and events management in the arts. And she's also importantly, Really the mastermind behind the graphic novel reading room. A regular event based in sheffield where people can read graphic novels in people's company in a relaxed space We find out more about that in just a moment I love the community around comics and this is another brilliant example of how you can bring people together with a medium i felt really inspired by just the power Of reading to build social connections in this conversation and i hope you do too. here's what Gabi had to say

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 1:30

Hello, Gabi. Welcome to Comic Boom.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 1:32

Hi Lucy!

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 1:33

Lovely to have you here. I always like to start the podcast, as I'm sure you know, by asking guests to tell us a little bit about their journey as a comics reader. So where did it all start for you?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 1:45

I'm originally from Hungary and I grew up in Budapest, uh, and comics were kind of part of life. Uh, Hungary has a fairly vibrant, animation tradition, and I think comics were kind of just part of that. So there were lots of Hungarian comics, uh, and I read, And then some local ones that were kind of science fiction and adventure. Or, or, or humor type comics.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 2:13

That's brilliant. So there's a, quite a big scene out in Hungary. Is it still going strong out there?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 2:19

I don't know if it was I don't know if you can call it a big scene. I don't, I, I don't think it was kind of equivalent to kind of the French Belgian scene. But maybe there were, there was some trickle down of that. But I also grew up in communist Hungary. So I don't, I, I don't, there was a, there was a kind of overlap or opening when I was a child. So we, we got more and more. Western things. but I think there was, there was a, a good tradition of comics. And then it probably dropped off a cliff and just in the last maybe five or so years, um, whenever I visit, I always go to bookshops and I've been seeing a lot more translated kind of independent comics and most bookshops have comic sections now, uh, in Budapest as well. So it's changing.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 3:09

And what was it that, do you think, attracted you as a child to start reading those comics that you did have around?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 3:17

I don't really have a specific memory of why. I think they were just around. I was an avid reader anyways, and I was in the library all the time, uh, and I wanted to be a librarian when I, when I grew up, um, but I wasn't borrowing anything from the library. I think it was all the stuff I have. I have an older brother. Uh, and some cousins. So I think they were just kind of floating around. Um, and I think it was just fun. They were all very colourful. Um, easy to read. Um, and I just, I just loved them. There's no, there's no kind of scientific or theory behind it. They were just a fun read.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 3:59

exactly. And did you maintain that throughout your life? Or was there a period when maybe you stopped reading comics and you came back to them? What did that kind of journey look like?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 4:09

Yes, similar trajectory to, to what I was describing about comics in Hungary, that, um, once I became maybe a teenager, like secondary school, I don't think I was reading any, anymore. So I moved to the UK, back in 2004 and I was living in London and I was living in East London in Hackney. and I. Can't remember why but ended up going to the East London Comic Art Festival. I think maybe the first one or the second one in Um, and I picked up a fair few books there that still, um, are the core of my, my graphic novel collection. It was The Bad Doctor by Ian Williamson and The Nao of Brown, which is still in production. Still my all time favorite and lots of, I think Myriad might have had a table there. Um, and it just kind of grew from there. So I had these books, I really enjoyed them, and I was talking to my friends about them and nobody seemed to to know that these books exist and that comics exist that are not. superhero comics or not, not children's comics. so I was very enthusiastically, um, lending them out. And then often I wouldn't get them back because that's just how people are with books being, being lent to

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 5:38

Shame. Shame on them. Shame on them.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 5:45

the, part of the reason why the Graphics Novel Reading Room exists in the first place. Um, so yeah, it just kind of grew from there. I, I kept buying books, uh, and my collection grew and, Because they're fairly expensive for compared to the length of time they take to read, um, I just, I always thought they're a really good medium to share, and to give to people, but in a way that they can't take them. Um, so that's, that's partly why the, the reading room is elite as a reading room rather than the library. It's so that they can, uh, they can, uh, read my books in a controlled environment. and, and I still have them at the end of the session.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 6:31

So tell us more about the Graphic Novel Reading Room. What is it? How did it start? motivated you to start it? You've told us a little bit there, but we'd love to hear more.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 6:41

Yeah, so my collection kept growing and it still is. I eventually moved out of London and up to Sheffield during COVID time, uh, and I wanted to, I mean, I went, I wanted to volunteer in Sheffield, or I wanted to do something that is kind of giving. back to the community as a newcomer. Uh, and I also thought Sheffield would be a good place for it because there's a, there's a pretty vibrant and artsy crafty scene here. Um, and I was inspired by, I guess three main things, uh, libraries, which are still. Loves of my life, wherever I go, they, they provide solace and, and a place to retreat and, and sit around amongst books in a, in a fairly quiet environment. Um, I also spend still a fair amount of time in, in bookshop cafes where I would read whole comics, um, with a coffee. And then if I like them, I would buy them. But because they're, because they're kind of fairly expensive, quick to read, I always like to test my comics in advance to make sure that, that, that I definitely like them. and then I also went to, uh, Hay Book Festival a couple of times. and I don't know if you've been there before. Uh, it's kind of an, Like, it's in tents, but there's a big outdoor space next to the festival bookshop, uh, where there's all these deck chairs where people are just sitting around reading books in each other's company, but not necessarily interacting, but the kind of being outside reading a book. With other people just seemed like paradise to me. So I kind of molded all these things together with my experiences of, so I used to do then project management and event production for festivals. Uh, and I've had my own business and I, I basically kind of. put all of these things together and created this event, um, that is essentially the kind of space that I, I long for. I don't really like pubs. I find, I find, um, many kind of public places quite overstimulating. Um, so I provide these spaces. So they're usually in, in cafes, but I have run them in, uh, a library reading room or in, um, university kind of lecture hall spaces. so I take my collection of graphic novels, uh, and I display them in an aesthetically pleasing way. usually according to some different categories, whatever I feel like on the day or whatever, whoever I'm running the event

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 9:39

you take the whole collection each time or do you take parts of

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 9:43

Uh, so far I have been taking the whole collection pretty much, uh, I don't take like all the volumes of the, I have a couple of, multi volume series, I don't take all of those, yeah, there's, there's, there's a very few books that I don't, I don't take with me, but I think it probably will change if I, if my collection keeps growing, um, um, um, Yeah, so I've got, I don't know how many boxes, about 15 boxes. I have a little van, I pack it all up, transport all my books to the, to the location, have a bookshelf and some book stands and, uh, depending on how much space I've got, they're either on a bookshelf mainly, or they're displayed on the surface. and people come in and browse the comics and they Sit down and have a coffee or a tea or a beer or whatever they like, and they read books for however long they like within, within the session. and they can talk to other people if they want to. many people come on their own, which is really nice, I think. Um, and there's no kind of structure to it. There's no, there's no discussion. There's no, they don't need to do anything. They, there's no, there's no pressure. for anything, it's

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 11:01

I love it, I love the sound of that, that, just that, you just, just it is pure reading for enjoyment isn't it, I just think, thinking about educators and librarians, I mean very much the, something that librarians will be familiar with, but just allowing people that space to just sit and to read and to choose something and just to be, it's, I think it's quite, it's quite rare, and it's just,

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 11:26

Well, it

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 11:27

very, very lovely.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 11:28

also links to my experience as a nursery school teacher. eventually, I, I did primary PGCE but ended up with nursery because that felt the closest to my, what I believe in, which is essentially free flowing, uh, and providing activities for children,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 11:48

And learning through play and their own choice And that kind

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 11:51

And I think adults have very few opportunities to, to do that and to just be in that way. And one of the bits of feedback I get from people is that is that they really value that as this allocated time just for reading, because they wouldn't necessarily. that to themselves just at home. So it's just a nice thing for them to, to have it as an event and it's a set amount of time and they just come in, come and spend their time reading.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 12:24

And how many books do you have in your collection? How, how big has it grown now? Is it, is it something that you can keep in your house, Is it where

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 12:33

I can still,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 12:33

have you got enough bookshelf

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 12:35

I can still keep it in my house. It's the, when, when you put them on a bookshelf, it's like, what? A bit more than a one large bookshelf when there's standard IKEA ones. Um, it's about 300 books and a bunch of zines that I don't keep count of. Um, and yes, fortunately, unfortunately, it's still growing. because That's just, I mean, that's probably the main thing I spend money on. Um, because I just love them. And I, I

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 13:08

do people pay to read them? How do you, how do you fund it? Are you funding it all from your own, like, what's the mechanism for you to be able to buy these books?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 13:17

there's several different ways, the events run on a kind of donation basis. And so they pay what they like. Um, I usually put up some free tickets as well. So that, people who can't pay can also access the events.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 13:32

That's brilliant.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 13:33

And then sometimes if I get, um, hired by a festival or, or universities, I've been, uh, running regular sessions for Sheffield Uni. they pay me for the session as a kind of external supplier. and I, I mean, I don't

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 13:49

And then the students access it free

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 13:51

exactly, which is, which is, which is how I would want it, for all my events, pretty much. Like I'd like to make it free for everyone. And I'd like to find ways of, of funding it, by an organization that might have that kind of a money or by a, an event space or something like that.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 14:13

do you plan, in terms of that collection growing, are you looking at what you've got and thinking, oh, I need a few more of that genre, or I need a few more to appeal to this type of person, or do you just, is it really just books that you like and you want to put in?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 14:26

so it's a combination of, so the books I. pay for are mainly the books I like and I also try to, so that if there's a kind of famous or, or well known artist, uh, I try to have at least one of their books in the collection. but then I also get given quite a few books by, by publishers or by artists, and my readers donate. Comics to the to the collection as well and that's actually really good because I get Yeah, yeah. And I, and I get books that I wouldn't necessarily select for myself. Like my taste is, is limited to what I like, which is probably the same for everyone. So it's really good to have a, like a wider selection than that. Um, but yeah, I'm not very systematic at this stage. Anyways, I'm not very systematic about how I, how I grow my collection. It's a, it's an organic thing, but I'm considering kind of. Doing a bigger version of what I'm doing now, and then if that was the case, and I would want to. think about like what kinds of books to get that I don't have. Like, I would probably grow my young adult section quite a bit because at the moment I'm mainly offering these events for adults. but at this stage, it's, it's still, it's still in that, in that phase where it's kind of. part my passion project and part I, there's some income to it, but it's mainly spent on books anyways. but if it became more of a business, then I would be more strategic about what, what's in my collection to cater for more people.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 16:11

It just made me think about teachers own book collections and I know when I, in my, in my classroom, when I was a teacher, my classroom book corner was pretty much my own, all books that I had bought. And then you do get, you do get into a situation where therefore they're all books that I've chosen that I want to read that are kind of my tastes and you do get. Without realising it, you do get kind of your one view. In a classroom situation, that's obviously, you want to appeal to more children, rather than, um, but Yeah, I can see it. So I can see it's the same kind of thing when you're, if you're thinking about scaling up, you want to think about broadening that out.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 16:49

yeah, that's a different kind of mindset. It's still, yeah, it's still in the phase of, doing it mainly for the love of it. Um, and that also means I want to buy books that I, like, that I

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 17:04

exactly. You don't want to

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 17:07

That's the benefit to me. Mm

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 17:10

Exactly. So can you tell us a bit about, what are some of your most recent additions that you've added to your collection? Some of your favourites that you've added in recent times?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 17:20

hmm. So We're post, the Lakes International Comic Con Festival and, and Thought Bubble. Yes, that's, that's how this whole thing came about. Uh, and also Thought Bubble. Uh, where I, where the event was actually invited to, to be part of Thought Bubble. But these are the two. Yeah, that was amazing. That was just like kind of a dream come true. Um, because the first event, so when I started the very first event, I contacted Thought Bubble and they have this, um, festival week that, that's kind of growing, um, in, in and around Yorkshire. Um, and the very first event that I ran, public event that I ran was part of this, um, Thought Bubble Festival week. Um, they didn't really have any involvement in it other than they advertised it on their website. But to have to actually be invited to the, to the Harrogate Festival two years later with the event that was, uh, that felt like a real achievement. And it, I always thought that. my event would be perfect in those kinds of situations where there's lots of tired festival goers who long to sit down and actually read something, potentially read before they buy. but anyway, sorry, I digress. Um, because of these two events. And I've also been down, down in London. I've got quite a few books that I've purchased in the last few months that I have not read. some I, I have. so, I got, for example, um, there's an artist called Corbin Wilkin and he's, I've been following him on Instagram and he's, uh, actually been, uh, shortlisted at the first Graphic Novel Award run by Kareem Perlman and self made hero in the Cartoon Museum, uh, it's a comic he Illustrated called Grand Theft Horse. I just read that yesterday and it's one of those amazing, non fiction, pieces it's just such a great example of why comics are amazing and how they're different to other forms like word based literature or, or films. I've also just read, uh, The City of Belgium by Brecht Evans, who's a, a Belgian artist, it's actually through a Hungarian, uh, comic, academic who, who has been raving, raving about him. So I bought one of his books. It's beautifully illustrated kind of watercolors in all the colors in the world. very trippy, but like beautiful.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 20:01

That sounds really interesting.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 20:02

yeah, in Gauche, when I was in London, I bought a Korean artist book called Uncomfortably Happily, by Yeon Sik Hong, don't know whether this is how you say their name, but, I haven't read it yet, but it's like, it's, it's my favourite format, which is, uh, like, a big, thick book. Bang for my buck. Probably autobiographical, probably quite slow going, but it, it, it lasts a long time. I like, I like big books.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 20:34

yeah, Yeah. Me too. And I like those kind of stories where things happen quite slowly and it's not You know, it's the opposite of a page turner.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 20:43

yeah.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 20:44

But it's still, it's still compelling. But it just takes it's time, like, I like that. what happens if when people come to the session, those really thick books, do they come back the next time to finish it off if they haven't finished?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 20:55

Yeah, that happens. the kind of mechanics of the event is that I have these bookmarks, uh, and if people don't finish their books, they can pop their name on the bookmark and, I'd either leave it in the book or just put the name of the book and the page number on, on the bookmark and they can pick it up. next time they come. I had a, a regular reader who finished an, an almost thousand page manga at the last session and I think it took him four sessions to do it. Um, yeah, I have, I have, I would say about two thirds, three quarters of my readers are regular returning customers. so yeah, they can, and then I have some really fast readers as well who just, eat books for breakfast and just do it in one sitting.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 21:42

And so do you get, do you find that if they've got that amount of regular customers that there's, although people aren't necessarily, necessarily talking when they're there, that has a bit of a community grown up around the project since you started it?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 21:54

Yeah, it definitely feels that way. Um, I have friends attending sometimes as well, which is really nice. and then because where I run the regular events is fairly small, so people almost always have to share tables. so there's, there's been, there's been kind of friendly chatting and I, you know, I don't know what happens outside of the sessions. I don't know whether they're Um, meeting

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 22:17

Has there been a graphic novel reading room wedding yet?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 22:21

not that I know of, uh, but, but maybe sometime in the future. But it definitely feels like, like people recognize each other and, and then they might know each other from other places too because Sheffield is a fairly small place. Um, so it, it feels, it feels pretty friendly and, comfortable in there.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 22:40

And are there any texts that are sort of really, really popular that people kind of have to fight it out over? What's your most popular sorts of books? Have you got any that are kind of falling apart? They've been read so much at this point.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 22:53

Not falling apart, but, Alison Bechdale's books are fairly, popular. Um, Ellie Brosh, um, Hyperbole and a Half, and her second one, Solutions and other problems. is really popular. And then, uh, the one that I I always recommend to people is The Nail of Brown. I don't know which copy I'm actually Which copy I have in my collection because it's something that I buy all the time secondhand sometimes new and Gift it to friends or to anyone who I think might enjoy it So I might have gone through it several volumes that from from the first one. Well, in fact, that's the book That I was talking to you about why, why this, um, whole event exists in the first place. So it was, uh, I picked that book up, um, at the East London Comic Art Festival. It was signed by the author, Glyn Dillon. Um, and then when I was, I moved back to Budapest for a couple of years and I, I lent it. In the same way again that they didn't ask for it, um, there was this animator friend and I was raving to him about comics and, and this book specifically, uh, and I lent him the book. The Nao of Brown, and I never got it back, uh, and bought another copy, it was fine. And then I think, last year I got in touch with him just to ask whether he still had it, because, because it was signed by the author. And in that same year, last year, Glyn Dillon was at Thought Bubble Festival, so I had another copy of the book, and he signed the book again for me, and I had a little chat with him. which was really nice. and I think the, the week after my, my friend in Budapest found the book and sent me a picture of the, uh, of this, of this, uh, signature and the kind of drawing that Glyn did in the first one. It's almost identical to the one that he did. Ten years later. Yeah. Yeah, it was it was ten years in between and because of that I Gifted the book now to that friend in Budapest now But yeah, that was a good example of why why this event existed in the first place.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 25:04

Yeah. I think this is quite a good idea. Now, if someone wants to borrow a book from me, I'm now going to say, you have to just come and read it at my house. Yeah, just come. You can't leave the premises. You've just got to come over. We can just have a coffee

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 25:17

make a cup of tea and have some cake and and and read and read a book like you would

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 25:22

give you a bookmark.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 25:24

Yeah, you would do that for a movie. You would come together and, and watch a movie. That's, that's quite a funny thing that I think about sometimes. So, like, comparing it to the cinema, um, if you go and see a movie, you're all watching the same movie and you'll have similar, like, Emotions go through the same experiences. Whereas at the reading room, everybody's reading something different and somebody might be reading something really funny and laughing out loud. Somebody might be reading something quite sad or upsetting and potentially crying. It has happened before. And it's just such a such a fascinating space where. all these people are having all these kind of internal experiences at the same time, in the company of each other. I, I find that, I find that fascinating.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 26:15

yeah, that is, that's really fascinating. I hadn't really thought about that. Now I've got another question, this is not, not the normal sort of question that I ask on. the podcast, but I thought, I'll just do something a bit more of a theoretical question. And it's, if you could read a comic in any location, anywhere, at any time. Time travel is allowed. Anything's allowed. Where would you, where would you go and like to just sit and be and read a comic?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 26:47

Uh, well,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 26:49

I couldn't answer this question, so it's a bit of a mean question to ask. I'll just pass on it.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 26:53

the first thing that popped into my head, and maybe this is actually connected, uh, is, um, you know, The Little Prince, uh, one of my favorite books of all time, and also illustrated by the author, that I loved as a child and I still love as an adult. I think I would, uh, I would go to one of those planets

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 27:15

yeah.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 27:15

an armchair, um, and, and, and read a book there in space and hopefully get a visit from the little prince.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 27:25

Oh, that's such a nice answer. Yeah. Also, the the real quiet of space as well, just out there in the silence. Oh,

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 27:33

maybe a hammock

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 27:35

Oh,

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 27:35

on a planet.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 27:36

Yeah. Yeah. That'll be good. Yeah, that'll be very good. so I think just thinking about our, listenership at the podcast, um, who are, there's a, there's comics creators, you're listening. But mainly it's educators, librarians, people working in schools, sometimes academics, people working at universities. So if people were thinking of doing something similar with their own graphic novel collections in their school or that they've already got, what sort of advice would you give them to kind of setting something up like this?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 28:10

obviously they need a fair selection of books for, for people to choose from, but I think, I mean, I have, I have several aims with, with my events, but one of the core things is the, is the space and the environment that I create and the intention with that, which is, a space where people can sit and read and relax, but in company. So find the space that, where they can control the environment, where that can be quiet enough. I usually, play some quiet kind of classical or new classical music. where there's not lots of, uncontrolled sounds, where there's no, traffic coming through all the time. and so just, just to think about the, the actual space and the atmosphere really carefully and create something that's, that's conducive to properly Winding down and relaxing, because I think those spaces are really lacking in, in everyday life.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 29:14

it's time that's lacking as well isn't it, to actually reach that state where you're really properly absorbed in your book and you've, you're kind of deeply connected with what you're reading and you're not thinking about. All the other people that are in the room or what you're gonna have for dinner, it takes you a while. You need to read for a while to get into that state, don't you? I certainly do. I can't, so we can't be picking it up I'm not there in five minutes. I need to have been reading for a little while to get into, really absorbed into what I'm reading.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 29:40

Especially the way our attention span has shrunk to, I don't know, the length of a, of a whatever, TikTok video. Uh, I think it's quite challenging to, to, to reach that state of kind of relaxation and concentration.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 29:57

I think it's such a brilliant thing that you do and you do travel around don't you? So if, if people are thinking, oh I'd really like to, to have graphic novel reading room for an event, um, that I'm thinking of putting on or um, yeah, anything like that, that you do, you don't just do things in Sheffield, you, you travel around don't you? How can people get in touch with you?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 30:15

Uh, they can email me at gebby at graphic novel reading room. com or they can find me on Instagram and message me through that. Um, yes, I do travel. Like I said, I have a little van. Um, I've been doing events mainly around the area of Sheffield. So I've, um, I've been involved in a comic art festival in Macclesfield for a couple of years. And then I obviously I've been up to Harrogate for a Thought Bubble festival. And I'm looking around in the surrounding areas and cities. So, you know, Leeds and Manchester will be an obvious choice. But London, for a different reason, would also be an obvious choice. And I've just got a university contact from, from London. So hopefully, something will happen down there. But, um, I've also been to Norfolk and ran a whole weekend of, of, of a reading event, which was amazing. so, yes, I can travel, get in touch, let me know what you're, what you have in mind. And, and I love, I love collaborating with people and love doing new stuff and love, taking the event to amazing spaces. so I'd love to take it to places like, uh, the welcome collection has a really amazing reading room. and hopefully I'm kind of in talks with them about it as well. so yeah, I'm,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 31:35

I did speak to someone there, I can't remember where I was. Oh, I think, where was I? I think I was just, Oh, I know, I think I was at, uh, South London Comics and Zine Festival. And somebody, just in the, in the queue that I was talking to, Um, was from the, was the, was the librarian at the Wellcome Collection and she was saying that they wanted to do more with graphic novels and zines.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 31:53

just run a, a zine, fair. In December, that, and I went, went and visited because, uh, my, my comic's mum, Lucy Sullivan, um, was tabling

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 32:04

Oh, I love Lucy Sullivan, she's so

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 32:06

Mmm, she's lovely. She, she took me under her wings, um, the first time I went to the Lakes Festival. Even, the, the, my event hasn't even fully started yet, but she's, uh, introduced me to lots of people and, Yeah, we've been, we've been friends since so, yeah, so I have actually been to the Wellcome collection and it's a, it's an awesome space, so hopefully, uh, and a lot of my collection is graphic medicine, and autobios, which is kind of their bag. So hopefully we can do something, something together. So yeah, just get in touch.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 32:37

Brilliant. to end the podcast, I usually ask people to just pick out some key things to Leave teachers, librarians who might be listening, thinking about something that they could maybe start to build into their practice around using comics and graphic novels. Have you got any pointers that you'd like to leave us with?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 32:57

As an ex teacher, and as someone who is aware of the limitations of the national curriculum, um, and the much reducing arts curriculum and funding for the arts in general, I think comics are a really good way to provide really high quality art that's both visual and literary. So, providing comics for children and for young adults and adults in universities as well. And also because it feels like the comics as a format really attract creators who are kind of outside the mainstream. So I think these stories can be really relatable. and lots of people can find similar stories to their own through reading these books. So I would just encourage everyone to get, get more comics in their, in their collections and, and make it, make it available for people, people as much as possible.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 34:05

Yeah, I think there is something just in that. thinking about the limitations of the curriculum, and it can be, I think there definitely are ways and we've discussed with different guests on, on the podcast of ways that comments can be used really meaningfully in the, in the curriculum, from primary, early years, right up to, to university. But also, there's just a definite place, I think, for, J just that opportunity to, to sit and, and to read. Um, and I think there are obviously challenges in the school day with the timetable and things like that. but yeah, reading for pleasure is more and more on the agenda, and I think thinking about how we can provide those, that space and time is just really valuable thing to just ponder on.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 34:48

Hmm, and as much as I hate, I hate, That maths and English is called numeracy and literature. It's like, it's all so functional. As far as literacy goes, and, and reading, and English as a second language, comics are really accessible to so many people, who find reading difficult otherwise. And there's lots of comics that don't even have words in them. So they're just a, a really good way in to books and turning pages and being absorbed in something that's not a screen?

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 35:23

Yeah. And story and yeah, all of that. Understanding the structure of stories or just enjoying the structure of stories, not necessarily consciously learning something from it, but you do, but it's just that, moment to enjoy things, So finally, if we were to add one comic or book about comics to our to be read piles tomorrow, what would you recommend we read?

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 35:53

That's a, that's a really difficult question. I mean, I always go back to my, my one, my all time favorite comic still, which is the Now of Brown. It's

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 36:05

I feel like I'm gonna have to read this now because

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 36:07

oh you haven't read it

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 36:08

so many times today. I haven't read it

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 36:10

I'm basically, I'm basically Glyn, Glyn's Cheerleader or fangirl. I'm just recommending it to so many people. I just find it

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 36:20

Tell me a little bit about what it's about. What's it, give me, hook me

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 36:24

Why it's so good. Um, it's, it's a story of a of a young artist in London, half Japanese, half English, uh, and her trials and tribulations with mental health. She has this, um, specific kind of OCD. So there's a, there's a graphic medicine element to it as well, but it's not really focused on that. and it's about her kind of. Romantic and internal life, but then there's a story within the story, which is down the kind of Japanese style. Glyn created a number of objects that exist in the real world. So I have some of the badges that the characters are wearing. There was this, um. Easter egg of a website, in the book that you could go onto. It was all in Japanese and you could pay, like, I don't know, it was a few pounds, Uh, and I got these patches, um, these sawn patches in the post that, again, one of the characters was, uh, the main character was wearing, so he just, uh, there's a little figurine as well that's in the book that I'm still after, a self made hero who published a book. I think they're republishing it or anyway, there's, I'm still, I'm still trying to acquire one of those figurines as kind of my last, last bits that I'm missing from the book, but it's just, it's just got, it's just got so many elements. to it, that I love. in terms of the story, um, visually, it's, it's absolutely beautiful. It has a bit of the kind of Japanese aesthetic to it, which I, which I really like. and yeah, it's just, I don't know, I could, I could try to analyze it. But it's just one of those love things. It's just the best.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 38:11

Well, that does sound good. I definitely love that interactive easter egg element too, that's really cool. That is very, very cool. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It's been really brilliant to talk to you about Graphic Novel Reading Room. I wish I was closer because I would definitely be a regular if I was further up north. I would definitely come and sit and read your collection with you because it sounds like a really brilliant space. So thank you for sharing with us all about it and for coming on the podcast today. It's been brilliant to have you.

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 38:42

thank you so much for having me. It's my, it's my first podcast interview experience. I'm, I'm an avid listener of podcasts, so I feel quite excited that I was invited to do this and yeah, you're, you're welcome to join anytime.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_01-03-2024_100456: 38:58

That'd be lovely. Thank you so

gabi_1_01-03-2024_100455: 39:01

Thanks, Lucy.

39:04

They have it. I love the simplicity of just creating a space where people can come together. And that idea of kind of being with. People, but also simultaneously having time for yourself to being private and public at the same time. I think there's just something so interesting about that and the value in that. Something, I'm sure if you have a decent graphic novel collection in your own libraries, classrooms, and communities, you could definitely replicate that yourself for younger readers or your graphic novel club. Doesn't have to be around creating. Comics. If that's something. That you aren't confident in or even interested in. But providing access time and space to comics. Comics can be just hugely beneficial. And it's an important part of building that reading for pleasure pedagogy. And for those of you who have older readers that you're trying to cater for perhaps in higher education, then you can, of course also get in touch with Gabby and look into linking up with graphic. Novel reading room. As she mentioned, her collection is available to hire for events and that's across the country. in the UK here. So check out the website graphic. Uh, novel reading room.com. And they're also on Instagram, under graphic, novel reading room all one word. So do check that out and link up with Gabby because she's a great. Advocate for comics. There were lots of recommendations in this episode, mainly for adult readers. It was always important. As I hope this episode has emphasized. It's always important to nurture your own reading for pleasure. And ring fence time for that. So you can find all of the details of those titles and the festivals that Gabby mentioned on the podcast. Padlet. The link is in the show notes for that. And you just need to scroll along to find this episode. Episode, you'll see Gabby's name at the top. And you'll find all of Gabby's recommendations there. Now for a little update about the podcast and for me from. To me as well. I had a great start to the year, of course, graphic novels featured in my Christmas list quite heavily. And I'm going to share some of what I've been reading as a result across this season. Many of them very lucky to have as gifts for my family. I received one very special gifts from a listener to start the year off. So thank you to an anonymous donor who went onto the podcast. Kofi site and bought me a comic. by giving a donation. The podcast does cost money to keep up and running and on your platforms on the airway. Airwaves. So it's always really appreciated. When people support the podcast in this way. So thank you to that anonymous. It was really lovely to both receive the donation and also just to have that message to say, thank you. And that you enjoyed listening as always great. Great to have that feedback. If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do that by going on to www.kofi.com, which is K O hyphen F I. Dot com forward slash Lucy SB. And on that site, you can buy my comics or so buy me a comic. You can also support the podcast by leaving a review on whichever platform you listen to. And of course, By sharing it with your colleagues. And your networks is always. always Really appreciated when people do that once this Podcast to reach as many people as possible You can follow me on twitter or x at lucy underscore Braidley, or you can follow the podcast on instagram at comic underscore boom underscore podcast Both of those ways to keep in touch I mentioned some of the books that i may have got for christmas And one of those was from a colleague of mine who got me a copy of emily Carroll's new book a guest in the house Very spooky atmospheric as you would expect from emily Carroll. and if you've read emily's previous title into the woods this new book's got all of that atmosphere and a horror aspect but it's also much more character driven i felt i really enjoyed the story the narrative it's quite complex and it's definitely Something i want to return to and reread there's a lot to dig into there's a lot of layers and i really recommend it Very enjoyable read if you're into kind of spooky horror format of comics really good That's it from me this week next week i'll be back this time we'll be hearing from an academic Kevin Hoffin on his work to develop a toolkit of approaches for using comics in education really honing in on The research and thought leadership and how comics can be used in education so lots of really interesting content there to get you thinking about how you could develop actual use of comics in the classroom if you're listening as a classroom practitioner But that's it for this week thanks so much for listening i hope you enjoyed this start to season four of comic boom my name is lucy Starbuck Braidley I'm the producer and host of comic boom. Thanks for listening