Graphic & Novel

Two young and brilliant graphic artists discuss with Paul Gravett the importance of their Jewish roots. Funny, irreverent and bold, Joann Sfar pays homage to both his

Ashkenazi mother and his Sephardi father, with Klezmer following the difficult life of musicians in Eastern Europe and The Rabbi’s Cat set in Algeria at a time when Jews and Arabs lived peacefully together.

JT Waldman brought two dreams together: do a graphic novel and understand his religion better. Seven years later, having learnt Hebrew, studied the rabbinic texts and explored oriental art, he produced Megillat Esther, a stunning graphic novel with a twist, incorporating both Hebrew and English and engaging in a new form of Midrash.

Paul Gravett is a comics historian, lecturer and exhibition curator. His latest book is Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life.

Considered one of the brightest and most talented of the younger generation of French comic artists, Joann Sfar has written or collaborated on more than one hundred books for adults and children. His Jewish subjects are only a tiny part of his work.

Megillat Esther is JT Waldman’s first graphic novel. It was conceived in upstate New York, researched and translated in Jerusalem, illustrated in Barcelona, and brought all together in Philadelphia.

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