Reading list: Swimsuit

November 29, 2019

Fifth day of my committment. November, 25th was the International Day for the elimination of violence against women and we try to make a run for December, 10th (International Human Rights Day) by making each day matter.

Today on the reading list, another graphic novel.

Swimsuit
By Rachel Ang

Jenny catches up with a former flame at the local pool. The sun is bright and casts dark shadows in the water. There is violence even in this mundane place – a whirlpool through which Jenny swims, even as it pulls her under.

Rachel Ang is a super-talented artist, working not only in comics. She holds a Masters Degree in Architecture from RMIT University and, among other things, she has worked on the characters for Mapping Melbourne, a wonderful multicultural event.

Swimsuit is her first book and is a wonderfully delicate dive (no pun intended) into an intimate world that the swimming pool reflects perfectly: deep, often dark and cold, silent, lonesome.

comics and illustration

Leo Ortolani, Tapum

A un certo punto ci sarà una battuta, in questo fumetto, e riderete. Sappiate che è l’unica. Com’è giusto che sia. Se devo paragonare quest’opera a qualcosa, il confronto più azzeccato è probabilmente lo spettacolo che Marco Paolini trasse dal Sergente nella neve di Rigoni

August 9, 2026 9:00 am

Summertime

Omeros in the Caribbeans

Derek Walcott was a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, and painter, and one of the major voices of Caribbean literature. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, and his work often explores Caribbean history, identity, colonial inheritance, and the meeting of European and African

August 9, 2026 6:00 am

books and literature

Ioanna Papadopoulou’s The Castaway and the Witch

I had a genuine “oh shit” moment when I read the author’s preface saying this was darker than “Winter Harvest” because – and I absolutely ADORED “Winter Harvest” – that was pitch-black dark. I thought “we’re all going to die”. This maybe has something to

August 8, 2026 9:00 am