Julie Doucet (born December 31, 1965)
is a Canadian

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

cartoonist and artist, best known for her autobiographical works such as ''

Dirty Plotte ''Dirty Plotte'' is a comic book series by Julie Doucet, published by Drawn & Quarterly from 1991–1998. Most of the oddball stories in ''Dirty Plotte'' were autobiographical, often about the struggles of being a woman and being an alternative ...

'' and ''My New York Diary''. Her work is concerned with such topics as "sex, violence,

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

and male/female issues."

Biography

Early career

Doucet was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. She was educated first at an all-girls

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

, then studied fine arts at

Cégep du Vieux Montréal Cégep du Vieux Montréal is a CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, or College of General and Vocational Education) located at 255 Ontario Street East, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The College of General and Vocational Edu ...

(a junior college) and afterward at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Qué ...

. Her university degree was in printing arts. She began cartooning in 1987. She was published in small-press comics and self-published her own comic called ''

''. She used the photocopied

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation 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 writ ...

to record "her day to day life, her dreams, angsts, ndfantasies." It was only when she was published in '' Weirdo'',''Weirdo'' #26
(Fall 1989), Grand Comics Database.

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

's magazine, that she began to attract critical attention. Shainblum, Mark: "Canada's Alternative Comic Creators Stand Up For Themselves", ''Onset'', vol. 1, #4, p. 25.

Comic works

Doucet began being published 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 January 1991 in a regular-sized comic series also named ''Dirty Plotte''.''Dirty Plotte'' (Drawn & Quarterly) at the GCD
/ref> Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York. Although she moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

the following year, her experiences in New York formed the basis of the critically acclaimed ''My New York Diary'' (many stories of which were taken from ''Dirty Plotte''). She moved from Seattle to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1995, before finally returning to Montreal in 1998. While in

, she had a book named ''Ciboire de criss'' published by

L'Association L'Association is a French publishing house located in Paris which publishes comic books. It was founded in May 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu, Lewis Trondheim, David B., Mattt Konture, Patrice Killoffer, Stanislas, and Mokeït. L'Association i ...

in Paris, her first book in French. Once back in Montreal, she released the twelfth and final issue of ''Dirty Plotte'' before beginning a brief hiatus from comics. She returned to the field in 2000 with ''The Madame Paul Affair'', a slice-of-life look at contemporary Montreal which was originally serialized in '' Ici-Montreal'', a local alternative weekly. At the same time, she was branching out into more experimental territory, culminating with the 2001 release of ''Long Time Relationship'', a collection of prints and engravings. In 2004, Doucet also published in French an illustrated diary (''Journal'') chronicling about a year of her life and, in 2006, an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

made from a

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

of words cut from magazines and newspapers (''J comme Je''). Also in spring of 2006 she had her first solo print show, named ''en souvenir du Melek'', at the galerie B-312 in Montreal.Art show introduction at galerie B-312 by Jean-Emile Verdier
In December 2007, Drawn and Quarterly published ''365 Days: A Diary by Julie Doucet'', in which she chronicled her life for a year, starting in late 2002.

Post-comic works

She remained a fixture in the Montreal arts community, but in an interview in the June 22, 2006, edition of the ''

Montreal Mirror ''Montreal Mirror'' or just ''Mirror'' was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week. ...

'', she declared that she had retired from long-form comics.Interview in the Montreal Mirror, June 22, 2006
She also said "...it's quite a lot of work, and not that much money. I went to a newspaper to propose a comic strip because I only had to draw a small page and it would be out the next week. For once it was regular pay and good money." She had a book of poetry published by

L'Oie de Cravan L’Oie de Cravan (translated The Goose of Cravan) is a Canadian publishing house based in Montreal, Quebec that specializes in poetry. It was founded in January 1992 by poet and writer . The name is seen as a tribute to the poet-boxer Arthur C ...

in 2006, ''À l’école de l’amour''.Interview with Doucet
''The Walrus'' Her post-comics artwork consists of

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

s, collage, and

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

sculptures.Biography at Drawn & Quarterly
/ref> In 2007, Doucet designed the cover for the

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

Deluxe Edition of

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

's '' Little Women''.Little Women at Penguin
/ref>

Return to comics

In April 2022, Doucet returned to making comics with ''Time Zone J'', published by Drawn and Quarterly. As she said about making the new comic: ''Time Zone J'' is notable for its unusual format, which is designed to be read from the bottom of each page to the top.

Awards and honours

In 1991, ''Dirty Plotte'' was nominated for best new series and Doucet won the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

for "

Best New Talent Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

".Harvey Award Winners 1991
1991 Harvey Awards list at Comic Book Awards Almanac
/ref> In 1999, when ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' made a list of the top 100 comics of all time, she was on several of the short-lists and ''Dirty Plotte'' ranked 96th.Short-lists for Comics Journal 100
/ref> In 2000, her book ''My New York Diary'' won the Firecracker award for best graphic novel.
/ref> Doucet's book ''365 Days: A Diary'' was nominated for best book award at the 2009

Doug Wright Awards The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (established in December 2004) are literary awards handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival to Canadian cartoonists honouring excellence in comics (including webcomics ...

.CBC on the 2008 Doug Wright Awards
/ref> In 2019, Doucet's ''Dirty Plotte'' collection was nominated for the SPX Ignatz award for outstanding collection. In March 2022, she was awarded the

Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême The Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is a lifetime achievement award given annually during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to a comics author. Although not a monetary award, it is considered the most prestigious award in Franco-Be ...

as a lifetime achievement. She is only the third woman to win the award.

Bibliography

* ''Dirty Plotte'' (

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& ...

) (12 issues, 1988-1989Dirty Plotte mini-comics at the GCD
/ref> * ''

'' (12 issues, Drawn and Quarterly, Jan. 1991–Aug. 1998) * ''Lift Your Leg, My Fish is Dead!'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 1993) * ''My Most Secret Desire'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 1995) * ''My New York Diary'' (Drawn and Quarterly, May 1999) * ''The Madame Paul Affair'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 2000) — also published in French (

) and Spanish (Inrevés Edicions) * ''Long Time Relationship'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 2001) * (with Benoît Chaput) ''Melek'' (2002) * ''Ciboire de criss'' L'Association, 2004) * ''Journal'' (L'Association, 2004) * ''J comme Je: Essais d'autobiographie'' (Seuil French, 2006) * ''Elle Humour'' (Gingko Press, 2006) * ''Je suis un K'' (2006) * ''365 Days: A Diary by Julie Doucet'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 2007) * ''À l'école de l'amour'' (

, 2007) * (with

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 ...

) ''My New New York Diary'' (

PictureBox PictureBox was an art, music, photography, and comics publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York directed by Dan Nadel. PictureBox published its own books and packages books and concepts for museums and galleries. The company began in 2002 ...

, 2010) * ''Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 2018) * ''Time Zone J'' (Drawn and Quarterly, 2022)

In popular culture

Doucet’s name appears in the lyrics of the

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...

song "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...

References

External links

*
Tumblr blog

Store

Julie Doucet webcomic at ''The Walrus'' magazine

Chronological list of Julie Doucet's work at the Grand Comics Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doucet, Julie 1965 births Artists from Montreal Canadian comics artists Canadian comics writers Canadian graphic novelists Canadian women artists Canadian women novelists Canadian female comics artists Female comics writers Harvey Award winners for Best New Talent Living people Quebec comics Underground cartoonists Writers from Montreal Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners