German Graphic Novel Week

German Graphic Novel Week

November 3-7, 2026

About German Graphic Novel Week

Graphic novels have made a name for themselves as a fruitful medium for grappling with difficult subjects. It will thus surprise no one that German-language graphic novels are often inspired by historical events, for which they became internationally recognized. Contemporary releases build upon this foundation to increasingly interrogate the present and look to the future. For these reasons, graphic novels are an invaluable pedagogical resource. To highlight their cultural and pedagogical value, and to showcase the WashU Libraries' extensive collection of German-language graphic novels, we invite you to a week of events celebrating these works.

 

 

 

 

 

Schedule of Events

October 14 - November 12 | International Graphic Novels in WashU Libraries Exhibition
Olin Library Lobby
   
November 3 | Film Screening
Busch 100 | 6pm 
  
November 5 | Lecture and Q&A with Nora Krug, author of Belonging/Heimat
Wilson 214 | 5pm 
    
Olin Library Room 142 | 4:30pm 
  
November 7 | Teachers' Workshop
Hillman Hall | 9am-2pm 
 

Event Descriptions

Lecture and Q&A Session with Dr. Brett Sterling, scholar of German and comics

November 6 | 4:30pm | Olin Library, Room 142

“The World of Tomorrow: Visions of the Future in Contemporary German-language Comics”
 
Over the past 20 years, comics in German-speaking Europe have gone from being dismissed as childish and derivative to an accepted and respected part of the cultural landscape. While the comics market in Germany has long been dominated by translated imports from the US, France, Belgium, and—more recently—Japan, an upswell of domestic production since the 2000s has established a vibrant, independent scene of comics creators that is highly individualized and creatively experimental. Although recent German-language comics have shown a predilection for autobiographical and historical subjects, current social, environmental, and technological developments have generated numerous works that look ahead to the future of our planet and our species. Recent comics by Frauke Berger, Jens Harder, Judith Kranz, Julija Zejn/Matthias Lehmann and others present readers with disparate visions of the future: hostile planets dominated by toxic plants; technocratic societies bent on predicting the future through computation; AI avatars that assume the thoughts and memories of the deceased; humanity’s attempts to engage with species beyond Earth. This talk will explore how German-speaking artists have used the medium of comics to explore the possible ramifications of humanity’s most pressing issues, including climate collapse, societal unrest, as well as the rapid advance of AI. What challenges await us in the years to come, and how can comics serve as a fruitful format for envisioning the good, as well as the bad, that may emerge in the world of tomorrow? 

 

German Graphic Novel Week is Sponsored by:

Department of Comparative Literature & Thought

Department of English

Center for the Humanities