Adam de Souza is a Vancouver-based artist and cartoonist, who astutely, compassionately and beautifully (and sometimes humorously and fantastically) explores themes of youth and BC’s natural environment through his art. (I highly recommend checking out his twice-weekly comic strip Blind Alley and work-in-progess Brambles.) Earlier this year, de Souza released his first graphic novel, The Gulf, following “a group of high schoolers graduating into a world they do not understand. As a cure for their frustration, they runaway from home to an island commune that promises a way of living that makes sense to them” – which is now a Governor General’s Award Finalist!

Already big fans of his work, we jumped at the opportunity to speak with de Souza when we found out that he is participating in not one but two upcoming BC literary events this month: “Firebrands, Runaways & Time Warps: Children & YA Authors’ Reading Event” on Sunday, October 20th, as part of the Whistler Writers Festival (DETAILS); and “The Craft of Graphic Novels” on Tuesday, October 22nd at the Vancouver Writers Fest (find out more). Below is our conversation…

The Gulf came out this past March. Why did you decide to take the leap to do a full blown graphic novel, and why tell this story in particular?

I’ve always wanted to tell long form stories. In fact, it’s how I started out as a cartoonist. I started with overly ambitious epic stories that all remain unfinished. I only began my comic strip Blind Alley once I was already working on the The Gulf. Despite the fact I love drawing comic strips, as I am sure my answers attest, being long-winded comes naturally to me.

The Gulf was a personally important story to me. In writing it, I clarified my own experiences and the complicated feelings I had as a teenager and young adult who really struggled to “find a place in the world”. I wanted to write a story that encourages us to find comfort pushing in the cracks of an often inhumane, slowly violent, and quietly oppressive system.

How was the process different than the other projects you’ve done? And how did it feel after completion, having spent so much time with those characters?

Before starting the book I knew I would have to write a script, which I found intimidating! It was my first time working with an editor which was also nerve-wracking. In the end, it was a completely fulfilling experience. I am grateful I was aided in telling the exact story I wished to. Now that it’s out in the world, I find I miss spending my days in the world of The Gulf. It’s a new feeling I’m not quite certain what to do with! I’ve toyed with trying to write a follow-up short story, but it always just feels like a forced excuse to spend time with these characters again.

The Gulf has been marketed first and foremost as a “Teen & Young Adult” publication. Was it your intention from the get-go to hone in on this audience?

In all honesty, not specifically. It was a story I wanted to tell because I would want to read it. I was cognisant of who it would be marketed towards while pitching and writing, but I don’t view it as a story that is specifically for one age group. I never felt I was changing the story I wanted to tell. It’s certainly appropriate for that age group but I don’t feel like I wrote a book only for one audience. I feel like I wrote a book for anyone who thinks it sounds interesting, which is why I am not in marketing, haha.

Now that it’s been out in the world for about a half-year, what sort of reception – from young people and adults – have you received?

It’s such a humbling experience to release a book, and I’ve been so pleased that folks have been kind to me about this story. That this story has meant anything to anyone outside of me is truly all I could ask for. Book and comic sellers seem to like it, which has felt like winning an Oscar! Hearing from people who are at the ages of the characters in the book that this meant something to them, moved them, or inspired them…that’s the stuff!!!

Have you ever run away?

I fantasized about it but was much too practical and shy to ever do so.

What kind of teenager were you?

Oh dear. I should be kinder to myself, but it’s hard to not bully my past self. I was insufferable! In some ways I feel I was at my worst, but I also know I had a large capacity for love and kindness too. I was depressed and anxious but blessed to have a lot of friends who cared about me. It was a fraught time, and while it’s easy to get nostalgic over the good parts, the experience is not one I would eagerly revisit.

What books/characters/publications made the biggest impression on you during this time of your life?

In my early teens I read a ton of manga, but the honest answer is that I didn’t read much as a teenager. I was all about music: I would just sit and listen to albums upon albums of any obscure crap I could get my hands on. I was an insufferable hipster who prided myself on being “in-the-know”.

“Time doing nothing to unproductive ends has been enriching and I believe it’s hard to come by; I spent most of my life feeling like every moment of my life should be productive…Embracing being a layabout is a rejection of that mindset.”

You self-describe as a “layabout”, but between Blind Alley, Brambles, The Gulf and your freelance animation gig, you seem to usually have a lot on the go at once! How do you manage to keep the creative juices flowing?

I’ve grown to savour my idle time; it feels nutritious. To a certain extent, drawing comics for a living feels like having cheat-codes enabled, so I am protective over my ability to continue doing so. Being a well-rounded person who exists in the world with thoughts, opinions and experiences is part of protecting my creativity.

Do you ever get burnt out, and if so, what do you do when that happens in order to re-energize/-inspire yourself?

It’s been a struggle in the past – deadlines and the necessity of paying rent can complicate my approach – but after going through a period of severe overwork that left me hating comics and made my body feeling damaged, I’ve prioritized my physical and mental health. Calling myself a “layabout” is cheeky, but it does factor into that. Time doing nothing to unproductive ends has been enriching and I believe it’s hard to come by; I spent most of my life feeling like every moment of my life should be productive. It was a terrible realization that I had spent years with split attention; surrounded by friends but feeling like I should be working. Embracing being a layabout is a rejection of that mindset.

The environment, wildlife, and fantastical/mythical creatures (often human-animal hybrids) seems to be a common theme in your work. What’s your relationship to nature and animals? Why do they figure so prominently in your artistic output?

I draw what I love! Looking at an animal or plant closely makes me feel I understand it better. Drawing something unreal is a more direct path to illustrating an ephemeral feeling. I’m inspired and comforted by the variations of life here in BC. I love spotting moments of the intertwining in the human-made with the more-than-human. It’s hard to write from the perspective of these things specifically, but drawing them is a way of drawing attention to the world outside of the human.

What I choose to draw and write is usually guided by the idea of sharing an attention. It’s a subtle way of saying, “this is important to me!” or, “look over here!” I can’t draw a direct ecological relationship, but by highlighting the natural and supernatural, I hope to put us in symbiosis with nature, as opposed to reigning over it. I’d like to think that silly little drawings or stories that engage with other life encourages kindness, empathy, and a closer attention towards life outside of the human. But who can really say.

“I think recognizing there’s only a gap in experience and expectations between teenagers and adults, as opposed to intelligence, makes it much easier to write believable characters…For me, one of the greatest letdowns of growing-up is realizing that adults can be just as dumb, petty, and vindictive as kids in the schoolyard. The good thing about that belief is that, conversely, all of the rosy nostalgic nonsense we hold about children sometimes is true of being an adult too.”

You have quite the knack for depicting youth. How do you manage to keep so in tune with the teenage demographic? What measures, if any, do you employ in order to tap into your inner kid/teenager, or ‘stay young’?

Thank you! As an adult looking back, I feel like “coming-of-age” is either just getting comfortable living with ambiguity, or it means buying into the whole idea of “adult” as something entirely separate from youth. As someone who feels the first, I recognize I still feel the fraught emotions I felt as a kid or teenager but I am unfortunately used to them or have attached different meanings to those same feelings. I think recognizing there’s only a gap in experience and expectations between teenagers and adults, as opposed to intelligence, makes it much easier to write believable characters. I can’t stand fiction that romanticizes, gives way to whimsy, and condescends to kids and teenagers. I have strong memories of how it felt to be a child or teen, and while it was a period of relative freedom compared to the expectations of adulthood, it was not just a time of whimsy. For me, one of the greatest letdowns of growing-up is realising that adults can be just as dumb, petty, and vindictive as kids in the schoolyard. The good thing about that belief is that, conversely, all of the rosy nostalgic nonsense we hold about children sometimes is true of being an adult too.

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Radical Intimacy by Sophie Rosa, and I just finished Against Creativity by Oli Mould. I’ve mainly been on a non-fiction kick this past year, but I’ve had a collection of short stories by Chekhov on the go that I dip into between books. It’s redundant to say, but wow, can that guy ever write!

You’ve imagined quite a lot of unique characters, so far! I know it’s hard to pick favourites but…can you humour us and give it a shot? Which character would you most like to be made into a real life incarnation to hang out with and what would you theoretically do when you met them?

It’s impossible to pick a favourite but it’s much easier to choose one to meet; I’d choose Acme, the strange sewer dweller from Blind Alley, so I could scream in shock and say something along the lines of, “What the heck are you?”

Do you remember the first comic and/or character you created?

I can’t remember if it was my first comic, but my first “significant” (lol) comic I drew in the seventh grade. It was an on-going comic called Mow-Wa-Wonga about the titular alien who crash-lands on earth and gets mistaken for a weird-looking dog. The alien is caught by a dog-catcher, put into a pound, and then adopted by a dumb twelve-year-old kid. The kid is then subjected to his “strange dog’s” many experiments. Comedy ensues. I also had an ongoing rip-off of Naruto I would fill my sketchbooks up with. My grade seven teacher allowed us to draw while he taught, which I took utter advantage of. I doubt I learned anything that year! Thanks, Mr.D!

Besides making comics, what role did cartoons/comics play in your life growing up?

My dad worked in animation, so cartoons and comics were always a part of my life. In grade school I’d devour anything I could get my hand on – manga, comic strips, or superhero stuff. I was encouraged to draw and subsequently spent a lot of my time doing so. This stuff really was all I cared about! I joined a manga roleplaying group on Neopets, and would spend my days walking around and imagining what could happen next and what I would write in response to any given scenario. Embarrassingly, it feels like the exact same way I find myself writing now.

At this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest, you’re participating in a panel to “talk about the craft of graphic novels: why they’ve become so popular as a genre; how text and graphics interact; and the “invisible art” infused in deciding what to include in every panel on the page.” Is there any topic in particular that you’re most looking forward to delving into?

I am honestly just looking forward to talking with [fellow panelists and graphic novelists/cartoonists] Alison McCreesh, Molly Knox Ostertag, and Emily Chou! It’s impossible to know where the conversation will go, but I always find chatting with other cartoonists to be inspiring.

Any predictions and/or hopes for the graphic novel genre/scene in the next five or so years?

I just hope this industry continues to grow and platform human-made, interesting, unique, diverse and challenging artwork. In a lot of ways, it’s very easy to be cynical about the state of the arts, but I am grateful to have made one book and that there’s interest in me doing another. There have never been more unique comics being published, and I only hope this trend continues. I’ve heard numerous stories about how skittish the biggest publishers are when it comes to content, so I’d hope they take bigger swings when it comes to subject, formats and who they allow to tell what sort of stories. Alternative comics is bursting at the seams with exciting creators and I would love for big publishers to lend a nurturing hand (and $$$) in platforming that style of work. The books are getting banned anyways, so why not?

What’s next from you, that readers can look forward to, in the near future?

As always, more comic strips; both Blind Alley and Brambles! I have a few secret plates spinning at the moment, and I am also currently writing what I hope will be my next graphic novel.

Lastly: time for a shout out! This is your opportunity to name drop some other local artists/cartoonists/animators/writers that you think we should know about.

Cole Pauls; Madeline; Gil Goletski; Beck Tobin; Oliver Arthur; Scott Lougheed
Raven Lyn Clemens; and finally, my partner, Lily Snowden-Fine, who is an incredible painter.