Summer Pierre is a cartoonist, illustrator, writer, and teacher living in the Hudson Valley, New York. Through mix tapes, late nights in Boston folk clubs, and ill-fated cross-country road trips, Pierre weaves a moving meditation on music, memory, and identity.

In her first full-length graphic memoir, Summer Pierre takes us on a journey through the soundtracks that shaped her. SPY every issue since 1997.He is the co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated a political comix magazine and has remained on its editorial board since 1979. He has produced over two dozen books including The System, Stop Forgetting To Remember and Sticks and Stones, which won The Society of Illustrators' gold medal. Peter Kuper's illustrations and comics have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world including Time, The New York Times and MAD where he has written and illustrated SPY vs. Longtime lovers of Kafka will appreciate Kuper’s innovative interpretations, while Kafka novices will discover a haunting introduction to some of the great writer’s most beguiling stories, including “A Hunger Artist,” “In The Penal Colony,” and “The Burrow.” Kafkaesque stands somewhere between adaptation and wholly original creation, going beyond a simple illustration of Kafka’s words to become a stunning work of art. Working from new translations of the classic texts, Kuper has reimagined these iconic stories for the twenty-first century, using setting and perspective to comment on contemporary issues like civil rights and homelessness. Kuper’s style deliberately evokes Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel, contemporaries of Kafka whose wordless novels captured much of the same claustrophobia and mania as Kafka’s tales. Initially drawn to the master’s dark humor, Kuper adapted the stories over the years to plumb their deeper truths. Long fascinated with the work of Franz Kafka, Peter Kuper began illustrating his stories in 1988. Peter Kuper and Summer Pierre will discuss their new graphic novels with moderator Chris Duffy.

The System by Peter Kuper