Illustration at Sheridan College

When was the last time you watched a literary graphic novel come into being? At the launch of Skim, writer Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Jillian Tamaki will discuss the evolution of their widely celebrated book with novelist Jessica Westhead and show slides chronicling the process.— A This Is Not A Reading Series eventpresented by Pages Books & Magazines, Groundwood Books and EYE WEEKLY.

Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St W, TorontoWed, Mar 26; 7:30pm (doors 7pm) 

   

SKIM is the nickname of Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth at the centre of the eponymous graphic novel by cousins Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. Life at a private girl’s school is not easy for Skim at the best of times. When the ex-boyfriend of her classmate Kate commits suicide because he was (maybe) gay, Skim’s world is turned upside down. A grief-stricken school may not seem like fertile ground for a clandestine romance, yet that is exactly what blossoms between Skim and her neo-hippie English teacher, Mrs Archer. Sexual confusion, depression, loneliness, suicide, cliques of popular, manipulative peers – Skim provides a portrait of adolescent angst that is as psychologically blunt as it is visually beautiful.MARIKO TAMAKI is a Toronto-based writer and performer — “a talented writer getting better and better,” says Now magazine. She is the author of Cover Me, True Lies: A Book of Bad Advice, Fake ID, and Emiko Superstar, illustrated by indie comics legend Steve Rolston. Visit her portfolio at www.marikotamaki.com  JILLIAN TAMAKI grew up in Alberta and currently lives and works in New York. Her work appears in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, the Walrus, Maclean’s, and the Village Voice. She has received a number of awards for her editorial illustrations, including a National Magazine Award. For a gallery of her work, visit www.jilliantamaki.com