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The International Comic Arts Forums is swiftly approaching as the town of White River Junction gears ups. Many publishers, comic scholars, professors and attendees are coming to White River Junction for the first time but one critical writer and creator is returning home.
A poet before everything, Ana Merino (originally from Madrid) came to the United States armed with the knowledge of magical words and how they effortlessly combine to weave stories. As a professor of Latin American and Spanish Literature and Culture at Dartmouth College (2004-2009), Merino provided insight into language but she has always had one foot in the world of comics as well. Producing a monograph (a scholarly essay on one topic) on Chris Ware in Spanish as well as many other works on superheros and strip cartoonists, Merino brought a critical eye to a mostly American sea of academics.
Photo by Tom Jorgensen.
Merino joined the CCS Board of Directors and even taught some writing classes in 2007-2008. Her infamous comic assignment stretched the students’ abilities as she proclaimed they should make a love poem in comics form but only in one page. No sassy page turns, just a succinct but mellifluous series of panels to make someone fall in love with the comics creator as they might with the creator of a poem. Not without precedence, R. Crumb created the Big Yum Yum Book for his first lady love, Dana Morgan, who decided to marry him after reading it.
Merino’s essay “Women In Comics” appeared in The Comics Journal #237
Merino has many works and awards under her belt. She has published a scholarly work on comics titled El Cómic Hispánico (Cátedra, 2003) and seven books of poetry and a youth novel entitled El hombre de los dos corazones (Anaya, 2009). She has won the Adonais and Fray Luis de Leon awards for poetry and continues to work, most recently a collaboration with Spanish artist, Max, called Hagamos caso al tigre. Her articles on comics, now numbering over 40, have appeared in Leer, DDLV, The Comics Journal, International Journal of Comic Art, and Hispanic Issues.
Ana Merino is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in Creative Writing. And as a member of the executive committee for ICAF, Merino will be moderating the Comics & Nation panel on Friday, September 30th. For more information on the ICAF schedule, visit The Center for Cartoon Studies website and we look forward to see you at the panels!
–Jen Vaughn
