Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Agent, borsers, graphic novel, thomas king

Thomas King Adapts Borders as Graphic Novel With Natasha Donovan

Published Fri, 26 Feb 2021 08:55:37 -0600

Last updated Thu, 04 Mar 2021 05:08:51 -0600

Author Thomas King has adapted his own short story, Borders, as a middle-grade graphic novel by Métis artist Natasha Donovan. And it has now been acquired by Susan Rich at Little, Brown.

From two celebrated Indigenous creators comes a powerful graphic novel about a family caught between nations. Borders is a masterfully told story of a boy and his mother whose road trip from Alberta to Salt Lake City is thwarted at the border when they identify their citizenship as Blackfoot. Refusing to identify as either American or Canadian first bars their entry into the US, and then their return into Canada. In the limbo between countries, they find power in their connection to their identity and to each other. This much-anthologized story has been adapted into a gripping graphic novel by award-winning artist Natasha Donovan. A beautifully told tale with broad appeal, Borders resonates deeply with themes of identity, justice, and belonging.

Publication of Borders is scheduled for the 7th of September, 2021. Thomas King's agent Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists brokered the deal for world rights, excluding Canada.

In 2019, Little, Brown was directed to expand their graphic novel list for years going ahead, and appointed Andrea Colvin, formerly of Lion Forge as editorial director, Graphic Publishing to do just that. Publishing new fiction and nonfiction graphic novels for a range of ages, from early readers to young adults. Little, Brown has been doubling-to-tripling their comic book publishing line each scheduled year since then, with Suggs one of a number of beneficiaries of this publishing plan. It's another sign of major growth in the graphic novel market in bookstores, libraries and book fairs, as well as the greater range in content and comic book styles being published. It's a long way until the USA gets to the kind of breadth and depth enjoyed by Japan, Korea or France but it is one of a number of major moves in that direction.

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