The brief for this project was to choose a story from a daily newspaper and then represent it through a series of narrative images.
I chose an article by Louise O’Neill from the Weekend supplement of the Irish Examiner. In the article Louise speaks about a module on the work of Jane Austen that she studied during her time at Trinity College Dublin. She tells us that while the lecturer loved the work of Austen, he didn’t really value any contemporary work by women. She goes on to speak about the systematic sexism that exists within the publishing industry; such as how women are less likely to win prestigious literary awards, but when they do many of these novels feature male protagonists. She makes reference to Irish female writers like Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahern and Maeve Binchy, and makes the point that if a male writer had sold books in the same numbers they would have received much more praise. Instead, books by women are often dismissed as “chick lit” and “domestic fiction”. These women have done extremely well, however when we think of Irish writers many still focus on the likes of Joyce, Beckett and Wilde. She goes on to speak about how Marian’s work inpired her, how her novels are moving and brave. The piece ends with Louise telling us that Marian supported and helped her to become a writer, and that they are now friends.
I decided to base my story on Louise’s time at college. I focused on how the lecturer’s negative view of contemporary work by women, combined with the fact that stories by women aren’t as highly valued, impacted negatively on Louise and caused her to almost lose hope. However by discovering the work of Marian Keyes and other Irish women, she was able to find inspira- tion and became the successful author she is today. I chose a book format for my project, as I felt like this would best communicate the story, as well asthis I wanted to experience making a book from start to finish as illustration is something that really interests me.
