events

Thursday 13 Feb 6pm Lisbon/UK, 10am PT, 1pm ET, 9pm Arabia Standard Time

Art of O Duelo with Inês Viegas Oliveira

Inês Viegas Oliveira’s picture book O Duelo is a captivating, thought-provoking treatise on what it means to fight – or not to.

In this Stretch Your Shelf Session, we will hear about her process and art practice, and learn her art form using simple materials.

AU $15

(approx US $9.50 £7.60 €9)

Inês Viegas Oliveira was born in 1995, in Tavira.

In an attempt to know everything, she graduated in Physics and after half a master’s degree in Mathematics she realised she knew nothing. She then did a postgraduate degree in Illustration at UAL, which made her feel more relaxed.

In 2020 and 2023 she was selected for the Bologna’s Book Fair illustrators exhibition and in 2022 she was a finalist in that same exhibition.

She is part of the European project Every Story Matters, which promotes inclusion through stories and books. Her first book “O Duelo” arised form this project, and in 2022 is published by Planeta Tangerina.

Inês moves between science and art, author and reader, image and words, trying to break some boundaries. She continues to ask a lot of questions, but once in a while she stops to write or to draw.

Wednesday 19 Feb 11am PT, 1pm CT, 7pm UK, 10pm Arabia Standard Time

Graphic Novel Memoirs with Lucy Knisley & Thien Pham

Join me as I chat to graphic novelists Lucy Knisley and Thien Pham about their brilliant books ‘Relish’ and ‘Family Styles’ as part of Stretch Your Shelf’s ‘Food & Memory’ theme.

Take a foodie’s journey down memory lane with the creators of Relish & Family Style. In this exciting session about Food & Memory, we’ll get to pick their brains about their process & learn to draw a recipe comic.

AU $15

(approx US $9.50 £7.60 €9)

Thien Pham is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novels Family Style and Sumo and did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang, and is an ongoing comic contributor to Eater SF.

Lucy Knisley is a critically acclaimed and award-winning comic creator. She lives in Evanston, IL.

She specializes in personal, confessional graphic novels and travelogues.

Her last name is confusing and has a silent K. It’s pronounced kind-of like “nigh-slee.”

Monday 24 Feb 6pm UK, 10am PT, 1pm ET, 9pm Arabia Standard Time

Inda's Book Club

Come and hang out with me in this old school book club session where we talk about what we loved, what we didn’t, what we never knew, and go off on a tangent 🙂

This free community event is a chance to meet other readers in the Stretch Your Shelf community and brainstorm future themes and events.

No pressure, no expectations. Come as you are!

Free

Wednesday 26 Feb 12pm CT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK, 9pm Arabia Standard Time

Syrian Kidlit with Rhonda Roumani, Shifa Safadi & Nadine Presley

Syrian Kidlit with Rhonda Roumani @rhondaroumani Shifa Saltagi Safadi @shifasaltagisafadi and Nadine Presley @nadinepresleyauthor

A special event during this turning point in history. Syria’s people achieved a major historical milestone in their struggle for freedom and the nation is building itself anew. This Stretch Your Shelf Session is an opportunity to speak with Syrian voices in kidlit, writing through all genre from picture books to verse novels to junior fiction and middle grade, and discover authentic Syrian narratives.

AU $15

(approx US $9.50 £7.60 €9)

Rhonda Roumani is a Syrian-American journalist who has written about Islam, the Arab world and Muslim-American issues for more than two decades. Rhonda’s first upper middle grade novel, TAGGING FREEDOM, about a Syrian graffiti artist was released in 2023 with Union Square & Co. Her first picture book INSHA’ALLAH, NO, MAYBE SO was released in May 2024, with Holiday House. Her first nonfiction picture book, UMM KULTHUM, THE STAR OF THE EAST, will be released on November 26, 2024 with Interlink Publishing.

Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, teaches English Language Arts at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog.

Nadine Presley is a Syrian Canadian author who grew up in Damascus. She’s held the beauty of her hometown in her heart ever since she left over a decade ago, and now she gets to share it with the world. Nadine currently lives in Canada, her home away from home, with her husband and three boys. She works as a literacy educator and a speaker for children, youth, and adults, with a passion for promoting pride in Arab Muslim heritage. Her other passions include cooking delicious Syrian food and being squeezed very tight by her boys. The City of Jasmine is her picture book debut, and you can visit her at nadinepresley.com.

About Stretch Your Shelf Sessions

Live events will be recorded and made available for registrants for up to one week after the event.

Your booking fee will go towards remunerating our guests who are taking time away from their busy schedules to share their experiences and expertise, and towards the ongoing operations of Stretch Your Shelf, so we thank you for supporting the arts and literature in a time where we need conversations, connections and deep knowledge!

Because of the nature of the events, refunds are not possible. But if there are any issues you feel strongly about, we are always open to talk things over, so email us at events@stretchyourshelf.com