Shay Mirk and Eleri Harris are award-winning graphic journalists and longtime editors of the critically acclaimed graphic journalism website and publication The Nib. They have recently published Making Nonfiction Comics, an excellent book that combines comics, prose, interviews, infographics and so much more. The book is the perfect field guide to graphic journalism while showcasing valuable skills and practices for creating nonfiction comics.

This is a highly recommended book and the conversation with Eleri and Shay was a delight. We hope you enjoy it.

02:53 Book tour and comics festivals

05:04 The genesis of Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narratives

08:40 Eleri and Shay talk about their love of comics

14:39 Eleri and Shay talk about their love of libraries

19:20 Making Nonfiction Comics is not just a book about making comics, it’s also about journalism, ethics and so much more. They also discuss the appeal of non-fiction comics.

25:07 The ethics of non-fiction comics and graphic journalism

31:14 The process and beauty of collaboration in the making of the book

37:39 On interviews and contributions from other creators for the book

39:00 Sound advice for young creators and new creators

41:57 Eleri and Shay gives us some recommended titles:

Shay’s recommendations:

• Alex Norris Webcomic Name: https://webcomicname.com
• 100 Demons by Linda Barry
• Cannon by Lee Lai

Eleri’s recommendations:

• Our Members Be Unlimited by Sam Wallman
• Underground by Mirranda Burton
• Still Alive by Safdar Ahmed
• Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills

Our next podcast episode (and final one for the year) will be a short episode with members of the ALIA Graphic committee talking about their favourite comics, graphic novels and manga of the year.

If you like what we’re doing, or if there’s something we could do better, or something we missed, please let us know. We always love feedback. Also, please subscribe and give us a review or five star rating so other people can find us.

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this mont's roundup Iurgi and Gabby go through some of their recent reads, news and new exciting titles.

02:04 Recent reads:

Gabby:

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris

Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mansinga

Sword of the Champion by Eric Lide

Iurgi:

One Punch Man by One, Yusuke Murata

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor by Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch

Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet by Crystal S. Chan, Julie Choy

10:28 News:

• Alison Bechdel and Tillie Walden in conversation about art, place, and Vermont’s influence on their acclaimed, award-winning graphic memoirs and comics in a rare public conversation.
• Writer Ram V and Mariko Tamaki extended interviews
• SLJ’s Best Books 2025 graphic novels span fantasy, sci-fi, horror, memoir, historical fiction, adventure, and contemporary drama with diverse, standout titles curated by librarians.
• The Comic Book Burnings Project maps and explores post-WWII censorship of comics, documenting dozens of US public book-burnings between 1945-55 and their implications for libraries

24:47 New titles:

Iurgi:

• Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narratives by Eleri Harris, Shay Mirk (Abrams ComicArts)
• The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco (Vintage Publishing – Jonathan Cape)
• Reel Politik by Nathan Gelgud (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Winging It by Megan,Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Nutter (Scholastic)
• Diary Of A Nature Nerd by Tiffany Everett (Scholastic)
• Not that they need any promotion but the new Dog Man and Wings of Fire
• 
  

Our next podcast episode should be out soon and it will be a creator chat with Eleri Harris and Shay Mirk

talking about their new book Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narratives.

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the October Roundup, Iurgi and Luke start by talking about the treaty going ahead in Victoria and their love o f horror.

4:40 Luke gives a rundown of what’s happened this month

06:24 Iurgi and Luke discuss their recent reads:

Iurgi:

The Knives by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips

Godzilla: Skate or Die by Louie Joyce

The Veracity Trap by Chip Kidd, Michael Cho

The Hunger and the Dusk by G Willow Wilson, Chris Wildgoose

Luke:

Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito

Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson

Re reading Harrow Country by Cullen Bunn and artist Tyler Crook

18:16 Iurgi talks about the recent Graphic Narratives Symposium at Melbourne University

22:43 Conversation moves to news:

• The Oatmeal’s comic: A Cartoonist’s Review of AI Art
• Both Marvel and DC speak up against AI and Jim Lee delivers some beautiful words at NYCC
• Humanoids files for bankruptcy in the U.S.
• 75th Anniversary of Peanuts
• ShortBox Comics Fair

41:08 New titles out this month:

Two new titles by Australian creators:

Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide for Graphic Narrative by Eleri Harris, Sarah Shay Mirk (Abrams ComicArts)

The Past Is a Grotesque Animal by Tommi Parrish (Fantagraphics)

Iurgi:

Asterix in Lusitania by Jean-Yves Ferri, René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, and Didier Conrad (Papercutz)

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)

Luke:

The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz (Abrams ComicArts)

Adorable Empire By: Laura Terry (Scholastic)

Kamudo, Vol. 1 by Akira Himekawa (VIZ Media)

Astral Panic by Katie Hicks (Flying Eye Books)

My Life in 24 Frames per Second by Rintaro (Abrams ComicArts)

The Space Between The Trees by Norm Konyu (Titan Books)

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the September Roundup podcast (yes, we do realise we're in October already) Mia and Gabby discuss their recent reads, then discuss some of the latest news and their favourite picks from this month's crop of new titles.

02:00 Recent reads: The umbrella academy vol. 1, Hulk teach, Neopets, Inked

07:12 News

12:50 New titles:

• Monster Blood (Goosebumps: The Graphic Novel) by R.L. Stine, Maddi Gonzalez (Scholastic Inc)
• Max A Little Axolotl By Joey Spiotto (Scholastic Inc)
• This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, Nicole Goux (Abrams Fanfare)
• Assorted Crisis Events by Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki (Image Comics)

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third episode of the Comics Librarianship series Iurgi sits down with Jane Burns, an experienced lecturer, researcher, published author and public speaker. Jane is a member of the Executive Council of the Library Association of Ireland and has been awarded Fellowship status by the LAI for contributions to the development of the profession and commitment to Continuous Professional Development and Research.

Jane is currently pursuing a PhD in Education at Dublin City University exploring the field of Graphic Medicine and she was involved in the 15th annual Graphic Medicine Conference through the Technological University of the Shannon where she works.

In this conversation Jane discusses her relationship with comics, how academia and universities are embracing comics and why graphic medicine is growing in importance.

02:36 Jane discusses her relationship with comics throughout the years

06:52 How the relationship of academia with comics has changed and why

11:14 Jane and Iurgi discuss some of the strengths of comics as texts, their power and their allure

21:20 Jane discusses universities and how they are increasingly engaging more with comics

24:05 Jane discusses her focus on comics, medicine and teaching environments. She also discusses the International Graphic Medicine Conference in Ireland and upcoming creation of the Irish chapter of the Graphic Medicine Collective.

31:05 Jane discusses some of the main takeaways from the graphic medicine conference and what she would like to see into the future

38:48 What school and public libraries can do in the field of graphic medicine

40:29 Jane recommends some graphic medicine titles to read: The Graphic Medicine Manifesto, MK Czerwiec’s Taking Turn and Menopause, Ian William’s The Bad Doctor and Pascal Jousselin’s Mister Invincible.

The Graphic Medicine International Collective: https://www.graphicmedicine.org

The article Jane mentions about libraries and graphic medicine is Graphic Medicine in Academic Health and Science Library Collections you can find it here: https://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/1962

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second episode of the Comics Librarianship series Iurgi sits down with Matthew Noe, who is the Lead Collection and Knowledge Management Librarian at Harvard Medical School, an instructor for the University of Kentucky and Library Juice Academy, and a Trustee for the Worcester Public Library. He is a former President for the American Library Association’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table and the Treasurer for the Graphic Medicine International Collective.

Matt published an excellent article on graphic medicine in the recent Booklist’s Guide to Graphic Novels 2025. In this conversation Matt discuses the growth of graphic medicine, why it’s such an important field of study, genre and community and his thoughts on graphic medicine now.

00:20 Introduction

02:11 What Matt's been up to since we last talked to him in 2021

06:03 The origins of graphic medicine

08:17 Graphic medicine before the term was coined

11:33 Key developments in graphic medicine since 2007

19:32 Will Eisner and graphic medicine: A cautionary tale

22:36 Graphic medicine as a field and a genre

25:08 Graphic medicine as a field of study

29:22 Graphic medicine as practice

31:51 Graphic medicine as a community/collective

38:52 Graphic medicine as a genre

46:26 Art heals: Comics that made a huge personal impact

53:30 What Matt would like to see in the future for graphic medicine in libraries

56:15 Graphic medicine in different markers: America, Europe, Asia

01:01:48 Iurgi and Matt give recommendations to each other:

• Brittle Joints by Maria Sweeney
• Sleepless Planet: A Graphic Guide to Healing From Insomnia by Maureen Burdock
• Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano
• The Art of Flying by Antonio Altarriba, Kim
• Mafalda by Quino

Check out the Graphic Medicine International Collective website and subscribe to their newsletter: https://www.graphicmedicine.org/

Drawing Blood: A comics and medicine exhibit at the Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Library: https://www.graphicmedicine.org/drawing-blood-comics-medicine-exhibit/

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this month's roundup Marissa and Mia go through their latest read, recent news and new graphic novels.

01:26 Recent reads:

Marissa:

• Nimona / N D Stevenson
• Julienne
• Nothing Special
• I Killed the Main Character vs Extra’s Academy Survival Guide

Mia:

• Gender Queer
• My brother’s husband volume 1

13:56 News:

• Image Comics
• Jim Shooter, the force behind Marvel’s rise and Secret Wars, has passed away at 73
• Dominic Davies and Candida Rifkind have published a really interesting article on The Conversation exploring how comics and graphic novels can empower refugees to tell their stories on their own terms
• Movie adaptations: Fantastic 4, Superman, Supergirl (set for release in the US on 26 June 2026) staring Aussie actress Milly Alcock

21:27 New graphic novels:

• Miss Camper by Kat Fajardo (Scholastic)
• Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor by Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch (DC Comics)
• Will Eisner: A Comics Biography by Stephen Weiner, Dan Mazur (NBM)
• Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner (Simon & Schuster)
• Float by Kate Marchant, CJ Joaquin (Graphix)
• Simplicity by Mattie Lubchansky (Random House)

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this month's roundup Iurgi and Marissa go through the latest news, PD and new graphic novels.

01:30 Recent reads:

Marissa:

• Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton, Aśka
• Webtoons, so many webtoons
• The Curie Society by Heather Einhorn, Adam Staffaroni, Janet Harvey, Sonia Liao
• Nevermoor has a French graphic novel adaptation! But no English edition yet

Iurgi:

• The Cartoonists’ Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud.
• A Wizard of Earthsea: The graphic novel by Fred Fordham
• The Girl Who Flew Away by Lee Dean
• Mafalda by Quino

11:02 News:

• The American Manga Awards
• ALIA Graphic creator chats
• Off Panel Podcast with Tillie Walden
• The Toronto Comic Arts Festival's (TCAF) Libraries & Education Day
• Manga and female readership
• An excellent upcoming webinar by Booklist
• The 2025 Graphic Novels Guide for Libraries from Booklist is out now!

25:52 New graphic novels:

Hairy Holes by Brenton McKenna (Magabala Books)

The Brownout Murders by Luke C. Jackson, Kelly Jackson, Maya Graham (Scribe)

A Witch’s Life in Mongol, Vol. 1 by Tomato Soup (Yen Press)

Not So Shoujo Love Story, Volume 1 by Curryuku (VIZ Originals)

Senpai is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate, Volume 1 by Pom (Kodansha)

Speechless by Aron Nels Steinke (Scholastic Inc)

Metal Hurlant: Old Dreams Young Visions by Various Authors (Humanoids)

Wolverine: Revenge by Jonathan Hickman, Greg Capullo (Marvel)

To stay up to date and for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/

The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.