We have moved to a new website. A better website that is not completely finished. We know it still has some quirks but we'll fix them soon.  We also know the website has less information than this old one but that's because we're still transferring information across and we will be adding lots more content and resources soon.  The new website will also have a forum that we will use for the new reformatted ALIA Graphic Book Club, which will be an asynchronous book club so we can comment and discuss the month's graphic novels and topic through the forum. Finally, there's also the issue ..read more

ALIA Graphic Year in Review 2023 2023 has been an interesting year for graphic novels and comics readers and we are incredibly proud to share the work we have done advocating for graphic novels and comics in libraries and information institutions. Unfortunately, comics continue to face stigma and are vulnerable to challenges, bans and soft censorship. At the highest level, fifteen publications have been referred to the Australian Classification Board. Two of them were manuals on explosives and one was a conspiracy filled anti-semitic book. Not publications libraries would commonly have. Howev ..read more

Who’d have thought that November would be such a great month for Australian graphic novel creators? This month, we have some exciting news and resources to share which show a real recognition of the value, creativity and innovation of graphic novels and comics in Australia. We are beyond thrilled that Sarah W. Searle has won the 2023 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Literature for her insightful graphic novel ‘The Greatest Thing’. Go and reserve it now from your local library if you haven’t already! In addition to this, we share Allen & Unwin’s teachers’ notes for Trace Bal ..read more

 Last week we had our annual ALIA Graphic webinar. This time, we chose to have the committee answering your questions. The main points of discussion were manga and how to deal with challenges to comics, graphic novels and manga. But we discussed a lot more!  If you missed the webinar, we have made a recording available. You've got two options: YouTube or audio podcast. The podcast episode can be found here: 79 ALIA Graphic Webinar: Let's Get Practical (or wherever you listen to podcasts) You can watch the webinar below.  Some of the resources and websites mentioned during the ..read more

The year is coming to an end and the awards season has ended with the Harvey Awards announced at the New York Comic Con. You can find the list with all the nominees and winners below.  As usual, we have a good variety of news and resources here but we’d like to highlight the Library Journal's excellent survey on comics at libraries, The Beat’s roundup of 80 anticipated YA and Adult graphic novels, the upcoming Library Con! organised by Library Journal and, our very own upcoming, Let’s Get Practical: Answering Your Questions webinar. We’ve all been at a webinar where we were keen to a ..read more

  The ALIA Graphic team is pleased to announce this year's webinar. We get many questions emailed to us by librarians and library staff across the country about the different factions of the graphic novel and comic world. So we thought that this year we would spend the time hearing from you and providing answers to those questions that you may have been wanting to ask for a while.  As a team we want to bring awareness and positivity to graphic novels and comics being an integral part of all library collections. We understand that people still have some hesitation, are unsure about ..read more

How will you spend Banned Books Week? It’s nearing the end of September, which means Banned Books Week is right around the corner on October 1-7, 2023. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for library professionals as censorship makes waves in libraries across the country. To get into the spirit of Banned Books Week, we would like to share the American Library Association’s resources, including the Top 10 Most Challenged Books, Censorship by the Numbers in the United States, as well as Banned Books Week Display Ideas and other resources. Fittingly, Maia Kobabe, whose graphic novel gra ..read more

It’s another great month for comics and, particularly, for Australian comics.  The awards season continues. Reimena Yee has been nominated for an Ignatz Award and the Comic Arts Awards of Australia have announced the shortlist. It’s a beauty! Make sure you check it out. As always, some of the titles won’t be available for libraries as the CAAA have very broad criteria that includes webcomics and mini comics too, but it’s an excellent list and we recommend reading them all.  The CAAA will be presented at Papercuts Comics Festival in Adelaide, on September 15. Check out the full Pap ..read more

Book Week is fast approaching, and there isn’t a better time to showcase your love for Manga and Graphic Novels! So put on your creative caps and let's dive into some exciting costume ideas that go way beyond the typical Marvel and DC superheroes. First up, we have Nimona, the talk of the town with the new Netflix movie adaptation! Be ahead of the curve and slip into this easy-peasy outfit. A cool tip for some added fun: toss on an animal onesie, and voilà, you've transformed into Nimona's animal form. It's a win-win! Calling all Dog Man fans! Want to be an instant hit with kids everywhere? S ..read more

A lot happened last weekend at the San Diego Comic Con. The Nib, which is ceasing publication soon, received the Eisner Award for Best Anthology. We’re very happy and celebrating as Australian Eleri Harris has worked as an editor and creator for The Nib for a long time. A bunch of Australian creators have also had comics published there. Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo won an Eisner for Best Continuing Series with Nightwing and that’s something we want to celebrate too. It’s great to see Tom’s success with DC and, at San Diego Comic Con, DC announced a big event that Tom will be writing. More ..read more