The following is an interview with Christian and Meriam Carnouche regarding the recent release of the graphic novel, Tunis to Sydney, through FairSquare Graphics. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with the creators about their shared creative process in working with artist Sam Rapley to bring the project to life, how they hope that the book’s messaging may connect with readers, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the release of Tunis to Sydney! For those who may be unfamiliar, how would you describe the story’s premise?
Christian and Meriam Carnouche: Thank you so much, Barbra! We just wanted to firstly say thank you to you and Fanbase Press for giving us the chance to talk about our book, and for all the support you’ve given to our creator-owned comics in the past. You do so much for indie comics!
So, Tunis to Sydney is a quiet and sensitive slice-of-life graphic novel about home, belonging, and grief, and tells the story of Lilia, a Tunisian swimming coach living in Sydney with her Australian husband Bill. After returning home to Tunisia to bury her parents following a tragic accident, the weight of unspoken questions surfaces. Did she fail her parents by not being there for them throughout the years? Lilia’s grief pushes her to smuggle a baby olive tree owned by her parents, and a symbol of peace and healing, back to Australia, triggering a dramatic situation that will change her forever.
BD: What can you tell us about your shared creative process in working with artist Sam Rapley to bring this story and characters to life on the page, and how much of your own experiences influenced your narrative?
C&MC: The idea to work together on a full-length graphic novel began after the success of our first short comic together, House of Cracks, which we co-created along with Dev Pramanik and Tríona Farrell back in 2021 and published in Christian’s Murky Waters horror anthology. We had so much fun on that comic that we pretty much launched into another project almost immediately. We would say that Meriam was the creative mind behind the concept of the story, which evolved out of her first trip to Sydney, where she was accosted by quarantine officers at the airport after inadvertently smuggling two oranges into the country. Christian, though, did the initial heavy lifting when it came to shaping the first plot outline to see if it would work as a graphic novel, and we would then sit together and pore over the plot as we broke it down into scenes, then pages, and added layers to the stories, themes, and character arcs. Although the process was enjoyable and rewarding, we had to work hard to compromise when there were clashes in our vision. Looking back, though, there is honestly not one thing we’d change about the book.
We were lucky enough to find our co-creator Sam by trawling the “portfolioday” hashtag on Twitter. We were keen to work with an artist with a unique and fresh style who also had the potential to draw a quiet, yet deeply emotional, story. Although this is Sam’s first full-length book, we knew his cinematic style would be perfectly suited. Add to that the fact that he is super invested in the comic, and is very easy work with, and he really ended up being the perfect collaborator. Meriam was particularly impressed with how authentically Sam captured her native Tunisia and jokes that Sam successfully graduated in his crash course in the Arabic script! You’ll be hearing big things from Sam in the coming years for sure.
The main characters, Lilia and Bill, are Tunisian and Australian respectively, so there are obvious parallels with our own situation. That said, although we both live far away from where we grew up, currently in NYC, after over a decade and a half in The Netherlands and France, Lilia and Bill are quite different personality-wise than us. We have though both struggled to find a sense of home and belonging after being expatriated for so long, and we both also have an affinity with the sea, not to mention that we’ve had to deal with grief and loss. Losing loved ones is one of our biggest worries, especially given that our parents live on three different continents from where we currently live.
BD: What makes FairSquare Graphics the perfect home for this story?
C&MC: Where do we start? FairSquare Graphics has only been around for five years, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at their catalogue of wonderful books and talented and diverse creators. And they’ve already been nominated for an Eisner. We love that it’s a family-run company, and the CEO Fabrice Sapolsky talks a lot about his desire to publish books that highlight the immigrant experience, which is a theme at the core of Tunis to Sydney. Not only is Fabrice one of the hardest workers in comics (He seems to live on the convention circuit!), but he is also super passionate about being a positive force in the industry. He is also an excellent editor and did a great job improving the story that we had pitched to him. We were actually fortunate enough to have had multiple offers from publishers for Tunis to Sydney, but we have zero doubts about our decision to have him publish our book.
BD: Graphic Medicine is an emerging genre that combines the field of medicine with the medium of comics. How do you feel that Graphic Medicine stories like this one can help to better depict the stages of grief and the healing journey that follows?
C&MC: Unfortunately, we’ve both had to deal with our fair share of grief, and we’ve come to recognise that there is not one infallible way by which to process it. Everyone is different, as is every episode of grief, and our story is just one way of showing how it can manifest itself. We hope though that we can show readers that they are not alone in their pain, and that the most important thing you can do to support someone who is grieving is to be there for them, no matter where their pain may take them. We will all have to deal with the suffering of loss at some point in our lives, but there is always hope, you just have to believe that things will get better.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that this story may connect with and impact readers?
C&MC: This is a fantastic initiative, Barbra, and very typical of the great work Fanbase Press is doing in our industry.
Our number one writing philosophy, no matter the medium, is that our stories have to mean something. Sure, they can be fun, thrilling, romantic, or whatever, but at their core we want them to say something about the human condition. Although readers of Tunis to Sydney have so far mostly focused on how our story tackles grief, the concepts of home and belonging, and feeling stuck in between cultures, are also important themes for us. And these issues don’t just apply to Arab-Muslims like Lilia but can be felt by anyone living far from home or in a country so different from their homes.
A few friends and reviewers have read the book, and some of their responses have been extremely touching. For example, our friend and previous collaborator, J Schiek, tweeted recently that he had lost an old friend at the same time he was reading our book, and that while our story had initially simply felt like an abstract tale, it had suddenly become very real, and that for him, it was about learning that letting go of regrets can open a door for profound growth, absolution, and peace. Pretty spot on, we’d say…
BD: Are there any upcoming projects on which you are currently working that you would like to share with our readers?
C&MC: As a writing team, we’ve actually just finished plotting another graphic novel set in Tunisia, this time in a luxury hotel deep in the Saharan desert. It will be another character-driven story, but this time there will be more gentle horror and supernatural elements. We’ve already started working with an excellent editor and we’re very excited!
As for Christian, he has a short comic coming up in Renee Rienties’ anthology, Figments of Passion. He also writes novels and has started pitching his coming-of-age literary novel, 1999, to publishers, and is also deep into his second novel, Call Me Daughter, inspired by the birth of our daughter, Zina, last November.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Tunis to Sydney?
C&MC: The book can be pre-ordered online wherever books are sold, or you can call your local bookstore or comic shop and ask them to pre-order a copy for you.
You can also buy the book directly from our publisher, Fairsquare Graphics, in the U.S, and it is already listed for pre-order on global sites such as Amazon, or in the U.S at places like Kinokuniya, Target, Barnes & Noble, McNally Jacksons, Shakespeare and Co, or comic shops like Midtown Comics, Golden Apple, and Third Eye Comics.
