Gabrielle Bell (born March 24, 1976 in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

) is a British-American alternative cartoonist known for her

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, melancholy

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

stories.

Early life

When Bell was two, her American mother divorced her British fatherBell bio at Drawn & Quarterly website.
Retrieved Sept. 4, 2008. and took Gabrielle and her brother back to the United States. Ending up in a relatively isolated rural town in

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...

, Bell writes that she "grew up . . . spending a lot of time reading, walking in the woods, and making up stories." As a teenager Bell attended a college program for low-income and at-risk students hosted by

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

, where she took classes in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and composition. When Bell was 17 she traveled in Europe, including England, where she met her British relatives. Later moving to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Bell took art classes at the

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...

, worked in a series of dead-end retail jobs, and began

self-publishing Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...

her comics. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Career

Books of...

From about 1998 to 2002, Bell annually

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

a 32-page

minicomic A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105& ...

, each of whose titles began with "Book of...", including ''Book of Insomnia'', ''Book of Sleep'', ''Book of Black'', ''Book of Lies,'' and ''Book of Ordinary Things.'' Many of the stories from those comics were collected in ''When I'm Old and Other Stories'', published by

Alternative Comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

in 2003.

''Lucky''

In 2003, Bell began the self-published semi-autobiographical ''Lucky'' series, of which the third won a 2003

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

for Most Outstanding Minicomic. ''Lucky'' details Bell's day-to-day existence in a frank and good-humored manner, as she navigates a world of dilapidated rental apartments, low-paying jobs, yoga classes, roommate misadventures, and artistic frustration. These snippets of daily life in the Williamsburg section of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, are comforting in their familiarity; by settling into the rhythm of the artist's daily life, the reader experiences the heft of small victories and simple pleasures. ''Lucky'' tells of the anguish of nude modeling; sex-obsessed, adolescent art students; and Bell's own foibles. ''Lucky'' was collected by

Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, ...

in fall 2006, and launched as a new series (vol. 2), also by Drawn & Quarterly, in 2007.

''Cecil and Jordan in New York''

''Cecil and Jordan in New York'' (Drawn & Quarterly) is a collection of Bell's short comics work that has been published in various anthologies, including ''

Kramers Ergot ''Kramers Ergot'' is a series of anthology-style books of comic art edited by Sammy Harkham. Publication history ''Kramers Ergot'' started as a mini-comic self-published by Sammy Harkham under the imprint Avodah Books. Issues 4 and 5 were publishe ...

'' (Buenaventura Press), ''Mome'' (

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

), and ''Drawn & Quarterly Showcase Book Four''.

''The Voyeurs''

''The Voyeurs'' (Uncivilized Books, 2012) is a real-time memoir of a turbulent five years in the life of renowned cartoonist, diarist and filmmaker Gabrielle Bell. It collects episodes from her award-winning series, ''Lucky'', in which she travels to Tokyo, Paris, and the South of France and all over the United States, but remains anchored by her beloved Brooklyn, where sidekick Tony provides ongoing insight, offbeat humor and enduring friendship.

Michel Gondry

Bell collaborated with director

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

on a film adaptation of the title story of ''Cecil and Jordan in New York'', in which a young woman turns herself into a chair so as not to be too much of a bother to those around her. The film, titled ''Interior Design'', was co-written by Bell and Gondry and directed by Gondry as part of the film Tôkyô!. Bell and Gondry also collaborated on ''Kuruma Tohrimasu'', a collection of drawings and photographs made during the production of ''Interior Design''. Conceived of as a thank-you gift for the film's cast and crew, ''Kuruma Tohrimasu'' is published as part of Drawn & Quarterly’s Petits Livres series.

Anthologies

Bell was a regular contributor to

' quarterly anthology '' Mome''. She has also contributed to publications such as ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

'' (Buenaventura Press), '' Stereoscomic'' (Stereoscomic), ''

Bogus Dead Bogus may refer to: Entertainment and media * ''Bogus'' (film), a 1996 film starring Whoopi Goldberg * Bogus (game), alternative name of the dice game Dice 10000 * Mr. Bogus, a 1992 animation * Bogus, a scandalous or sarcastic publication (espe ...

'' (Alternative), ''Orchid'' (

Sparkplug Comics Sparkplug Comic Books is a defunct publisher and distributor of alternative comics founded by cartoonist Dylan Williams (comics), Dylan Williams.Spurgeon, Tom"Dylan Williams, 1970-2011,"''The Comics Reporter'' (September 18, 2011). Based in Portla ...

), ''The Comics Journal Special Edition'' 2005 (Fantagraphics), ''Scheherazade'' (

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent So ...

), ''Linus'', an
''Shout!'' magazine
Her work has been included three times in the annual Best American Comics anthology series.Neil Gaiman, ed., The Best American Comics 2010 (Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), 322

''Everything is Flammable''

Bell's first full-length graphic memoir, ''Everything is Flammable,'' was released in April 2017 with publishe
Uncivilized Books
''Everything is Flammable'' was chosen as one of the best graphic novels of 2017 by

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

, a finalist for the 2017

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

as Best Graphic Novel/Comic, and nominated for a Broken Frontier Award for Best Graphic Non-Fiction. The book also received praises from acclaimed writers such as

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

and

Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment of ...

. Bell has been a writer/artist in residence at several institutions, including Bryn Mawr and

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates und ...

Bibliography (selected)

* ''When I'm Old and Other Stories'' (Alternative Comics, 2003) * ''Lucky'' (Drawn & Quarterly, 2006) * ''Lucky'' vol. 2. (Drawn & Quarterly, 2007, ongoing) * ''Cecil and Jordan in New York: Stories by Gabrielle Bell'' (Drawn & Quarterly, 2008) * ''Kuruma Tohrimasu'' (Drawn & Quarterly, 2008) * ''The Voyeurs'' (Uncivilized Books, 2012) * ''Truth is Fragmentary: Travelogues & Diaries'' (Uncivilized Books, 2014) *''Everything is Flammable'' (Uncivilized Books, April 2017)

Notes

External links

Gabrielle Bell's website

Gabrielle Bell's books and comics published by Uncivilized Books

* Berlatsky, Noah. ttp://hoodedutilitarian.blogspot.com/2007/11/real-gabrielle-bell.html "The Real Gabrielle Bell," The Hooded Utilitarian (Nov. 5, 2007).* Clough, Rob
"Deadpan: Gabrielle Bell's ''Lucky'' (Dec. 13, 2006).
* Cronin, Brian
"A Month of Art Stars — Gabrielle Bell," Comic Book Resources (Sept. 25, 2008).
* Meginnis, Mike

Interviews

Interview from ''Mome'' vol. 2 (July 17, 2005).

January 2007 Bookslut interview (Jan. 2007).

SMITH Magazine interview (Jan. 8, 2007).

Daily Cross Hatch interview, part I (July 29, 2008).

Daily Cross Hatch interview, part II (Aug. 4, 2008).

Daily Cross Hatch interview, part III (Aug. 12, 2008).

Daily Cross Hatch interview, part IV (Aug. 19, 2008).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Gabrielle English emigrants to the United States Artists from Brooklyn Artists from California Artists from London Alternative cartoonists American female comics artists British female comics artists Female comics writers Living people 1976 births Writers from California Writers from Brooklyn People from Mendocino County, California 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers