Graphic Non-Fiction & True Stories

Graphic nonfiction and true stories are a rich sub-genre within creative nonfiction. An exciting new literary genre that tells real-world stories in the creative, graphic format.

Packed to the brim with artsy illustrations and real stories; non-fiction graphic novels are a league of their own. From creatively metaphoric memoirs with emotional and political subtexts to graphic adaptations of history—the genre is rich with varied subject matter, sensitive emotional subjects, clever political satires and of course stunningly immersive artwork.

If you are a nonfiction reader and someone that enjoys storytelling through sequential art; then graphic nonfiction will certainly be your thing. Now that we know this is in fact the genre for you; let’s find you something that will reflect your taste.

Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 2: The Pillars of Civilization by Yuval Noah Harari If you are a fan of the Harari books then this 2nd Volume of a beautifully illustrated graphic history of humankind, based on Yuval Noah Harari's multi-million copy bestselling phenomenon, is just for you. When nomadic Homo sapiens settled to live in one place, they started working harder and harder. But why didn't they get a better life in return? In The Pillars of Civilization, Yuval Noah Harari and his companions including Prof. Saraswati and Dr. Fiction travel the length and breadth of human history to investigate how the Agricultural Revolution changed the course of human evolution and society forever. Discover how wheat took over the world, how war, famine, disease and inequality became a part of the human condition, and why we might only have ourselves to blame. A radical, witty and colourful retelling of the story of humankind, adapted from Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Volume 2 can be read as a standalone or as a follow-up to Volume 1, The Birth of Humankind.

Palestine by Joe Sacco In late l991 and early 1992, at the time of the first Intifada, Joe Sacco spent two months with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, travelling and taking notes. Upon returning to the United States he started writing and drawing Palestine, which combines the journalistic techniques of eyewitness reportage with the medium of graphic storytelling to explore this complex, emotionally hefty situation. He captures the heart of the Palestinian experience in one unforgettable image after another, with great insights and remarkable humour. The nine-issue comics series won a 1996 American Book Award. It is now published for the first time in one volume, befitting its status as one of the great classics in graphic non-fiction. If you are a nonfiction reader that is intrigued by the Palestinian condition and want to read up every journalistic account of the suffrage then this is the book you cannot miss.

If you are someone that has been conflicted about the subject; Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker may just be the book you need. From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer is a ground-breaking graphic novel for adults that explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do. How these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged. Along the way we look at key landmarks that shift our perspective of what qualifies as 'normal'—Alfred Kinsey's view of sexuality as a spectrum, Judith Butler's view of gendered behaviour as a performance, the play Wicked, or moments in Casino Royale when we're invited to view James Bond with the kind of desiring gaze usually directed at female bodies in mainstream media. Presented in a brilliantly engaging and witty style, this is a unique portrait of the universe of queer thinking and the many theories about gender and sexuality.