Skim Controversy
In an open letter to the Governor General’s Literary Awards, Chester Brown and Seth have made an appeal to include artist Jillian Tamaki alongside her cousin, author Mariko Tamaki in the nomination. The award is for Children’s Literature – Text. The letter and the responses have set off an internet firestorm.
One good thing is that Skim, an amazing coming of age story, is getting lots of attention. This is probably one of the best books of 2008. I agree that the book would be nothing without the illustrations, the constant wind, the dark lines.
However, part of me wonders why people care so much about this award. The category clearly says “Text”. I’m sure there are guidelines that the awards committee stuck to. This uproar may create a new category for graphic novels but until then, why not let them do their award the way they want to?
And why this award? Out of all the others out there. A colleague of mine pointed out that the Eisner’s routinely nominate a writer but not the artist and vice-versa. You may not agree with the judge’s decision but the categories are what they are and the choices are made.
The council responded with the typical, “We’ll take that into consideration”.
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A category for Graphic novels would be perfect. Pitting traditional prose against graphic works isn’t fair to either genre. Plus, there’s definitely a bias against graphic works in much of the literary world, and a lack of understanding about the genre among many in the reading public. I told a friend recently that I had rediscovered comic books, and my friend actually laughed at me! Ouch!