Whazamo! Profiles: Fiona Smyth

Open Book is celebrating the outstanding graphic novels and comics published here in Ontario and throughout the country with Whazamo! profiles, contests, videos and a series of original literary comics curated by Vepo Studios. Check out Open Book's Whazamo! page all month long to keep up to date.

Fiona Smyth's gripping graphic novel, The Never Weres (Annick Press), follows Mia, Xian and Jesse, three teens living at the end of the next century, as they struggle to live their lives with hope despite a mysterious virus that has prevented any new births for almost a generation.

Fiona Smyth responded to Open Book's Whazamo! questionnaire with these brilliant illustrations. Find out how she describes The Never Weres, how she moves from words to images, how she gets her creative juices flowing and what her work space looks like. You'll also discover her preferred medium, her feelings about the popularity of graphic novels and her favourite novelist. Visit her website to find more of her work. Click on each illustration to get a better look. (The images can be further enlarged by clicking on the icon with four arrows that will appear.)

Fiona Smyth grew up in Montreal and Toronto. She began drawing as early as she can remember, pursuing her love of art by attending OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design), where she studied printmaking and painting. The Never Weres, her first graphic novel, was created as a script first, followed by the art.

Fiona and her partner, the musician Craig Daniels, are both prolific artists regardless of available funding. They used to have two tuxedo cats, Eddie and Boner, who greatly influenced Loly in The Never Weres, and they hope to own a hypoallergenic dog some day.

Future projects for Fiona include a new graphic novel about squatters on another planet, and an art show about rampaging monster teenagers entitled The Maul (funded by the Toronto Arts Council).

For more information about. The Never Weres please visit the Annick Press website.

Buy this book at your local independent bookstore or online at Chapters/Indigo or Amazon.