Amesall 2022 Comicon: Njoki Ngumi In Conversation

Our very own Njoki Ngumi will be an artist panelist at the 2022 Amesall Comicon ! The Amesall Comicon is a symposium organised by the Comparative Literature Program at Rutgers University, set up to “consider texts and performances across multiple languages,media, histories and disciplines”. The symposium will focus on graphic novels, comics and pedagogy in, from and informed by the sociocultural contexts of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. The gathering will take place over 3 days covering Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and each day will feature both an academic exploration, focusing on researchers and librarians who explore comics and graphic novels, and a creative panel, which discusses the artistic side of this work, audience engagement, and if/how these works cross borders.

On the Africa creative panel, Njoki will present and discuss our two comic book projects “Wangu wa Makeri” and “Mekatilili wa Menza”, how and why we chose these two personalities and moments in Kenyan history, and our experience and process in creating and publishing them. We’ll also share our learnings and reflections around this well-loved genre! The panel will also feature digital artist and co-founder of Our Afro Vana, Enam Noeki and CEO of Comic Republic, Jide Martin.

The panel will take place on Thursday 6th October, at 7pm East Africa Time (and noon EST)! Register for this exciting conversation on African comics here!