About this item
"A heartfelt and extremely absorbing examination of exile, reconciliation and destructive politics ... as vividly immediate as any headline." -- Rachel Cooke, GuardianStanding alongside Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Joe Sacco's Palestine, Nina Bunjevac's Fatherland renders the searing history of the Balkans in the twentieth century through the experiences of the author and her family. In 1975, fearing her husband's growing fanaticism, Nina Bunjevac's mother fled her marriage and adopted country of Canada, taking Nina -- then only a toddler -- and her older sister back to Yugoslavia to live with her parents. Her husband and Nina's father, Peter, was a die-hard Serbian nationalist who was forced to leave his country in the 1950s. Remaining in Canada, he became involved with a terrorist organization bent on overthrowing the Communist Yugoslav government and attacking its supporters in North America.
About the Author
Although Canadian born, Nina Bunjevac spent her formative years in Yugoslavia, where she began her art education before returning to Canada at onset of the war of the 1990s. She continued her education in graphic design at the iconic Art Centre of Central Technical School in Toronto, subsequently graduating from the Drawing and Painting department at OCAD. After a decade of drawing and painting she discovered the passion for the narrative through sculpture installation work, eventually returning to her childhood passion for comics. Nina's comics have been published in a number of international periodicals and anthologies, including and . Her first book (2012, Conundrum Press, Nova Scotia) won a Doug Wright Award in Best Debut category. Her second book, (2014, Jonathan Cape, London) has reached international acclaim, appearing on the best-seller list and receiving a Doug Wright Award in Best Book category; it was also shortlisted for PACA Regional Literary Award in France. (2018, Ici Même, Nantes; 2019, Fantagraphics, Seattle) , Nina's third book, made the official selection at Angoulême International Comics Festival 2019, won Artemisia prize in the category of Best Drawing in France, and was awarded Best Book Jury Prize at 2019 Lucca Comics and Games in Lucca, Italy. Her artwork has been included in a number of exhibitions, both in Canada and internationally. Notable exhibits include the 2014 installation Out of Fatherland, at Art Gallery of Ontario, commissioned mural pieces for The Idea of North, and Galerie Martel in Paris, France. She lives in Toronto where she divides her time between comics, illustration, teaching and fine arts.
