Little Russia
"Everyone should read it." —The Toronto Star
A small village in the north of Quebec, Guyenne is run as a cooperative, with 50% of the inhabitants' paychecks going into a communal pot to develop the colony—hence the village's nickname of "Little Russia." Based on the memories of author Francis Desharnais' grandparents, who lived in Guyenne from 1948 to 1968, this moving graphic novel delves into family history to explore Canada's rural heritage through the lens of both grassroots socialism and early feminism. An intimate story of epic scale, and the winner of multiple "Best Book" awards, Little Russia is a fascinating foray into an unusual and largely forgotten social experiment.
Francis Desharnais is one of the most prolific authors in Quebec's growing comics scene, with titles including Art Wars, the Motel Galactic trilogy, and Burquette, which was adapted as an animated series by the National Film Board of Canada. Little Russia, his most recent release, has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Prix des libraires du Québec and the Grand prix de la ville de Québec for best graphic novel. He is also a member of Groupe Kiwistiti, an animation collective which he co-founded in 1999. He lives with his family on an island in the Saint Lawrence River.
Helge Dascher has for 25 years translated texts with a dynamic relationship to images. A background in art history and literature has grounded her translation of over sixty graphic novels, many by artists who have broadened the medium's storytelling range. Her translations included acclaimed titles such as Julie Delporte's This Woman's Work (co-translated with Aleshia Jensen, Drawn and Quarterly, 2019), Sophie Bédard's Lonely Boys (co-translated with Robin Lang, Pow Pow Press, 2020) and Michel Rabagliati's "Paul" books (Drawn and Quarterly, Conundrum). She also translates exhibitions, digital stories, and films, most recently Theodor Ushev's The Physics of Sorrow (with Karen Houle, NFB, 2019). A Montrealer, she works from French and German to English.
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