The French Embassy in Canada is pleased to support and coordinate the tour of Lebanese author and artist Joseph Kaï. This is the third tour organized in synergy with the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in the United States – Villa Albertine, following Anne Berest in May and Richard Marnier in June.
This tour accompanies the launch of the English-language publication of Joseph Kai’s graphic novel, L’intranquille (Restless).
The author will be in Canada from September 21 to 25 for a series of three events, before continuing his tour in the United States.
- On September 22 at 5:30 p.m., a meeting will be held at the Gallimard bookstore in Montreal, during which Joseph Kaï will present his book in an interview moderated by bookseller Olivier Boisvert, and take part in a book signing.
- On September 23 at 6 p.m., on the occasion of the closing of the exhibition Beirut: Eternel recurrence, and the Pique festival, Joseph Kaï will discuss his graphic novel with the public (in English and French) and take part in a book signing. The book will be available in both languages, in partnership with Ottawa’s Sun Bookstore.
- Finally, on September 24 at 12:30 pm, the author will appear at TIFA (Toronto International Festival of Authors), for a conversation moderated by Sami Alwani. The discussion will be followed by a book signing.
Joseph Kaï
The unspoken, as well as other subjects such as gender, marginalization and non-conformism, are themes of predilection in Joseph Kaï’s current comic book work. His delicate style favouring line and his introspective tone combine a traditional Franco-Belgian language with an experimental Beirut tendency which formed him a lot after his studies at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts.
In 2010, Joseph Kaï joined the Lebanese comic book collective Samandal (alternative comic book prize at the Angoulême 2019 Comic Book Festival) where he discovered the alternative comic book scene in his city and participated in the creation of a new series of collective publications for which he published Géographie in 2015, and a new platform for author comics publishing for which he currently supervises the first serial publication Antoine by Mazen Kerbaj.
Joseph Kaï has also participated in numerous festivals, comic book exhibitions and round tables in Paris, Berlin, London, Beirut and Brussels. He is currently working on his graphic novel Sissies.
Restless
Paperback, 160 pages, Street Noise Books, United States
Set in Beirut, Lebanon. It’s 30 years after the end of the civil war, and a few months before the disastrous explosion of August 2020. Samar, a young queer comic book artist, wanders between anguished dreams, childhood memories, sexual experiences, and Beirut’s alternative communities. This abstractly autobiographical story tells of the author’s anxiety over living in a complex city of changing colors and moods. Three powerful themes: art, sex, and political uprising, are interwoven in a compelling narrative and an otherworldly color palette.
