Celebrate the release of The Friendship Paradox with a lively talk and mini-workshop exploring the weird and wonderful science behind comics.

Why do comics hit differently from plain text? How can a few lines and shapes create emotion, movement, and meaning? And what happens when you throw actual science into the mix?

Join award-winning cartoonist, educator, and ex-quantum physicist Aśka as they reveal how comics work, share the story behind creating The Friendship Paradox, and guide you through some simple visual storytelling experiments of your own.

Expect fascinating science, behind-the-scenes stories, big laughs, and some delightfully scribbly drawing.

No art skills needed!

Come because you’re curious. Leave seeing comics in a whole new way.

Age range: 12 – 112 years!

Free to attend, but RSVP essential.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Note to self: no matter how messy or confusing, the universe is an orderly place with physics to guide you.

High school is over. Dash is excited to spend their gap year working for the local science museum, travelling and teaching kids about physics. Maybe they’ll even make a friend. People are part of the universe, so the laws of physics should also apply to them, right?

Except Dash discovers the workplace is just as challenging as school – relationships are confusing, students don’t follow the rules and co-workers aren’t what they expect. Then Dash meets Kay. Can opposites really attract? Or will Dash’s attempts to use physics to understand their world repel a potential friend?

A heartfelt YA graphic novel about friendship and finding your place in a puzzling world by the highly acclaimed comic artist of the CBCA Notable graphic novel Stars in Their Eyes.

ABOUT AŚKA:

Aśka (pronounced ‘Ash-ka’), she/they, is an award winning cartoonist, energetic visual storyteller, an ex-quantum physicist and a big fan of the little doovalacky above the ‘s’ in her name (which you pronounce ‘Ash-ka’).

A hugely engaging and popular presenter, Aśka is passionate about visual literacy education. In addition to a catalogue of self-published comics they have traditionally published more than a dozen books and graphic novels. Their recent titles include the Stonewall Award Notable YA graphic novel “Stars in Their Eyes” (with Jessica Walton), which was also nominated for the 2022 Comic Arts Awards of Australia and the CBCA Council of Australia Notable Books.

Aśka’s latest physics-meets-road-trip YA graphic novel is The Friendship Paradox.

She is also a recipient of several government Arts grants, prizes and fellowships. Aśka is an organising committee member for the Perth Comic Arts Festival, contributes regularly to The School Magazine, volunteered as Illustrator Co-ordinator in the WA branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for four years, has singlehandedly run an animation festival, and held a solo art exhibition exploring numbers in nature.

When they’re not creating children’s books, Aśka is travelling across Australia teaching eager students of all ages how to write with pictures.