The following is an interview with Yazan Al-Saadi regarding the release of the graphic journalism collection, Lebanon Is Burning and Other Dispatches, through publisher Graphic Mundi. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Al-Saadi about the organic development of the collection, how various stories’ messages may connect with and impact today’s readers, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You recently released the graphic journalism collection, Lebanon Is Burning and Other Dispatches, through Graphic Mundi. What can you share with us about the genesis behind this project?
Yazan Al-Saadi: The book came about organically.
It started when I leaped into journalistic comics with The Nib back in 2017, covering the West Asia (Middle East) region from different ways and collaborating with amazing Arab cartoonists. As a comic fanatic, it was seriously a dream come true. I’ve already worked as a journalist and editor and through sheer luck and good friends, I got connected to the editors at The Nib and pitched ideas to do journalism comics about the Middle East, working with Arab artists, and it just went step by step from there.
Over time, it seemed valuable to collect these graphic dispatches together and offer insights on what’s going on in the region, because all these issues and struggles remain relevant and have universality.
Ultimately and wonderfully, the Graphic Mundi team appeared and were very supportive in putting the book together. One of the running themes within my work is that we are all part of a grander struggle, and I think the way current events are moving proves my point. The current political and social environment, internationally and within the United States, creates more and more urgency and demand for work that tries to directly grapple with events.
BD: As the editor and author of the collection, how would you describe your approach to researching and documenting the political and social unrest in the Middle East during the 2010s?
YA: I’m not an objective researcher approaching a disconnected subject. I am from the region; the political and social unrests, that continue in many forms, matter and have directly or indirectly impacted (and continue to impact) me.
I have my bias, ideologies, and positions and I am transparent about them.
It was also important for me to engage with these difficult issues (likely for my emotional and mental sanity), to discuss them openly, and to try and offer insight, particularly to an audience in the West who don’t know the details, contexts, history, because we are part of the problems and solutions.
I don’t have complete and final answers to these problems I highlight, those answers will come out through collective discussions and action in my opinion. Overall, what happened and continues to happen in my region is interlinked with what happened and continues to happen in North America.
BD: What makes Graphic Mundi the perfect home for this collection?
YA: Graphic Mundi is a really cool new publisher. I think their library of really awesome non-fiction comics made it a natural home for Lebanon is Burning, and the team was super supportive of the book and understanding of its value to readers.
Moreover, I love new, developing institutions and always support the underdog.
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 collection can not only help to initiate political discourse for current events, but to engender empathy among readers?
YA: Graphic Medicine is an excellent thing. While working with MSF (Doctors without Borders), I witnessed the power that illustrations/comics have in terms of raising awareness, providing information, and how well comics with different types of audiences.
Comics are a powerful tool for information and connection, there is no doubt. Personally, I think we need more and more Graphic Medicine stories that showcase the intersectionality of life and engage with readers and audiences. Medicine is political. I also think it’s not merely about empathy, there should be serious self-reflection and…action. We need more and more action these days.
BD: Are there any other projects—past or current—that you would like to highlight for our readers?
YA: So, I’ve tried to work with comics for a while now, particularly as a medium grappling with complicated and vital topics. This work includes collaborative works such as:
- Where to Marie?: Stories of Feminisms in Lebanon – https://wheretomarie.net/en
- Cardboard Camp: Stories of Sudanese Refugees in Lebanon – https://cardboardcamp.net/en
Recently, I’ve been involved and worked with a great group for people behind the Cartoonists for Palestine anthology (https://cartoonistsforpalestine.org/book) to raise funds for medical and children’s relief organizations.
Meanwhile, I’m slowly trying to do comic journalism more via The New Arab about the horrors of the past year and my ongoing existential angst about this marvelous and terrifying century.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Lebanon Is Burning and Other Dispatches?
YA: Definitely check out Graphic Mundi’s website, and I’m always down for feedback, so shoot a review somewhere, reach out and challenge me!
We gotta talk and there’s a lot to do, too.
