Book Launch: Vidal by Danila Botha

Talks & More

Wednesday September 9 | 6 - 8:30 PM

Koffler301

Koffler Arts is pleased to host the book launch of author and artist Danila Botha’s debut graphic novel, Vidal.

Botha's graphic novel - published by At Bay Press - is part Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, part Art Spiegelman’s Maus. Her prose and artwork capture the Sephardic Jewish experience through an entirely fresh and unique lens, bringing hope to untold stories that have been trapped in time. Vidal has accrued praise from literary magazines such as The New Yorker, organisations like 49thShelf, and news outlets including CBC Books.

View some of Botha's original artworks in Vidal, like poignant Chagallian vignettes. Enjoy a conversation with Botha and acclaimed Canadian composer and author, Gary Barwin. Botha will read from Vidal and Barwin will perform. And before or following the conversation, reading and performance, purchase your own copy of Vidal from representatives of Ben McNally Books, to be signed by Botha.

Danila Botha is the author of the critically acclaimed short story collection, Got No Secrets, For All the Men (and Some of the Women) I’ve Known, which was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, The Vine Awards, and the ReLit Award. More recently, her short story collection Things that Cause Inappropriate Happiness was published, with the title story nominated for a Pushcart Prize; and the collection won an Indie Reader Discovery Award for Women’s Issues, Fiction, as well as chosen as a finalist for the Canadian Book Club Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and National Indie Excellence Book Awards. She is also the author of Too Much On the Inside, an award-winning novel which was optioned for film. Vidal is her debut graphic novel. danilabotha.com

Gary Barwin is a writer, musician and multimedia artist and the author of 36 books of poetry, fiction and essays. His novel, Yiddish for Pirates, was a national bestseller, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award (in fiction and in French translation), and won the Leacock Medal for Humour and the Canadian Jewish Literary Award. Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted was chosen for Hamilton Reads, also won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Vine Award. He won the League of Canadian Poets’ Lifetime Membership Award and has twice been shortlisted for their Spoken Word prize. A PhD in music, he has taught and been writer-in-residence in many universities, colleges and universities. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario. garybarwin.com