Françoise Mouly
Françoise Mouly, the New Yorker art editor who is responsible for the magazine’s provocative covers, will present "Covers Uncovered," a free public lecture on Wednesday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stage Door of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., on the campus of The University of Akron.
The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Open seating on a first-come basis. For more information, call the Thomas Hall Ticket Office at 330-972-7570 or visit UA Events.
Presented by UA’s Mary Schiller Myers Lecture Series, Mouly will take the audience behind the scenes at the New Yorker and demonstrate how the magazine that exemplifies journalistic excellence in America also dares to cultivate a sense of humor when grappling with complex moral and political issues.
The cover of Françoise Mouly's new book titled "Blown Covers: New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See."
Akron is Mouly's first stop as she unveils her newest book — "Blown Covers: New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See" — being released in April by Abram. Blown Covers will be available for purchase after the free lecture.
Contemporary history revealed
During the lecture she will discuss how artists like R. Crumb, Ian Falconer, Barry Blitt and Art Spiegelman respond to her calls for submissions, fish for ideas and then brace themselves for rejection. She will reveal many of the shocking and hilarious sketches that did not make the cut and show how contemporary history — from the farce of Monica Lewinsky to the adventures of Michelle and Barack Obama to nuclear meltdown in Japan — is captured in images as acute as they are outrageous.
As art editor of the New Yorker since 1993, Mouly is responsible for more than 900 of the magazine's covers. She is also a leader in the rise of graphic novels and an avid promoter of children's literacy.
She has been a key figure in comics since 1980, when she co-founded the alternative comics magazine RAW with her husband, cartoonist Art Spiegelman. RAW brought acclaim to artists such as Charles Burns, Sue Coe, Gary Panter, Chris Ware and many more.
She also is an avid promoter of children's literacy. In 2008 she launched TOON Books, a series of hardcover comics drawn by such acclaimed artists as Jeff Smith, Jay Lunch, Art Spiegelman and Nadja Spiegelman (Mouly and Art Spiegelman's daughter). The books have been a huge success with libraries, educators and, most importantly, young readers.
Media contact: Cyndee Snider, 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.