“This flyer, a pre–Riot Grrrl ‘manifesto’ that was later repurposed for the minizine Riot Grrrl, is the first image in the book. Kathleen told me she made it in 1989, when she was volunteering at Safeplace, Olympia’s long-lived domestic-violence shelter and advocacy organization. Designed so that it could be folded up into a small rectangle with the word trust on top, this flyer was both a secret invitation and a public announcement, much like Riot Grrrl itself.”

This was a sketch under the original Straw Feminist comic but I redrew it for the book. Those crazy gals! You never know where they are lurking! Moon colony here we come! Speaking of feminists on the moon, I would be remiss not to mention this: have you been reading Bitch Planet? I read the first one, I need to get more! Step Aside Pops is coming soon! Drawn and Quarterly has a preview here! The first starred review is in from Publisher’s Weekly. Pick up the August 3 issue of The New Yorker because I have a cartoon in it! And lastly, here is an interview at Comic Book Resources where we talk about kids books and more!

“Gay and lesbian was too simplistic for me. I wasn’t attracted to gender, I was attracted to people. Thus far, the most significant relationship in my life has been with a very feminine Indian woman who I dated throughout high school. When I first started coming into gay spaces, I was ashamed of that relationship. I’d be like, ‘Oh, I was closeted!’ I left that relationship after I told her I was gay and we couldn’t be together. But ‘gay’ was the only word I knew at the time, and that was from Google. Under patriarchy, feminine people aren’t allowed to desire each other, we’re always supposed to be desiring men. But I was attracted to her femmeness and she was - and is - so crucial to my life. The trans and queer folks that end up committing suicide often don’t have anyone at all. But I had a girlfriend who would tell me, ‘Hey, you’re cool.’”

PHOTOGRAPHY OF AFRICA:

Viviane Sassen studied fashion design and photography before earning an MFA from Ateliers Arnhem. Having spent three years of her early childhood in a remote village in Kenya, her work is influence by the young memories of her first home.

“Bright sunlight, dark shadows, the market with dead sheep hanging upside down with their tongues out, the other children who always wanted to touch my face and hair, the pure darkness that fell on the village at night.”

At 16 Sassen returned to to Kenya for a visit and despite her comings and goings, she keeps being drawn back to a place where she feels familiarity with, but can not deny that her presence will always be a foreign one. However, she harnesses her mix of nostalgia and talent to produce images that provide an enjoyable contrast of light and dark.