'This Woman's Work' (2017).
Julie Delporte is a French-Canadian comic creator, active as a creator and promotor in the Montreal comics scene. With diary-style graphic novels like 'Everywhere Antennas' (2014), 'This Woman's Work' (2017) and 'Portrait of a Body' (2022), she has created intimate feminist explorations of female sexuality, gender identity and mental health.
Early life and influences
Julie Delporte was born in 1983 in Saint-Malo, a harbor city in the French Brittany (Bretagne) region. Because of her love for writing, she studied journalism, but didn't enjoy this profession. In 2005, she moved to Canada, to do film studies at the University of Montreal. Even though she had no desire to become an artist, she was quickly intriguedi by the Quebec comics scene. By the time she turned to drawing herself, she cited Dominique Goblet as a major influence. Other artists that have inspired her are Joanna Hellgren, Amanda Vähämäki, Jean-Christophe Menu and David Libens. Later in her career, she underwent influences in queer thought from creators like Annie Ernaux and Julie Doucet.
Comic promotor
From 2007 on, Delporte became a prominent player in the promotion of comics. That year, she launched 'Dans Ta Bulle!', a radio show about comics on the university radio station CHOQ.FM, which she co-hosted until 2017. Since 2008, she has been co-founder of Montréal's Maison de la Bande Dessinée workshops and of the annual 48 Heures comics festival. Together with Vincent Giard, she edited the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Journal des 48 Heures de la Bande Dessinée de Montréal, for which she secured an equal representation of male and female creators. Delporte has also written about comics for magazines and online platforms like Du9, Neuvième Art 2.0 and Comix Club. In 2011, she defended a thesis on autobiographical comics in the digital age.
'Everywhere Antennas' (2014).
Comic creator
Between 2008 and 2011, Delporte self-published several comic zines and comic-related essays under Jimmy Beaulieu and Vincent Giard's Colosse imprint. Author of an autobiographical blog, in 2011 she completed a one-year residency at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction. She has since resided in Quebec, where, as she explained, she found fewer shackles and sexism than in France. Her work is characterized by its feminist nature, with recurring themes like womanhood and women's labor, feminism and feminist intellectual traditions, mental health, anger, sexuality and sexual assault. Apart from her own experiences, she frequently quotes from women artists and writers such as Virginie Despentes, Annie Ernaux, Elena Ferrante, Chantal Akerman, Geneviève Castrée and Kate Bush. Graphically, Delporte mostly works in a diary-format with no traditional panel structure, using colored pencils as well as tape or other markings that reflect her process.
Graphic novels
In 2013, Koyama Press released 'Journal', Julie Delporte's first official book distributed in bookstores, an English-language compilation of her diary comics. With her trademark style, she gave an intimate look into an emotional breakup, an artist's residency, and the anxieties and joys of everyday life. A French-language edition was released by L'Agrume in 2014. Also in 2013, she created the children's book 'Je Suis un Raton Laveur', published by La Courte Échelle. Since then, her comics have been published in French by Pow Pow, with English-language releases by Drawn & Quarterly.
'Portrait of a Body' (2022).
Delporte's next book, 'Everywhere Antennas' ('Je Vois des Antennes Partout', 2014), was a story about the experiences of electrosensitive people. First published in English by Drawn & Quarterly, the book received several nominations and awards, including the 2015 CBC Readers' Choice Award for "Best Graphic Novel", the Expozine Prize 2015 of "Best Comic in French" and a nomination for the Spotlight Award at the Doug Wright Awards 2015. In 'This Woman's Work' ('Moi Aussi, Je Voulais l'Emporter', 2017), she took inspiration from the life of 'Moomins' creator Tove Jansson to give a personal and powerful story of feminist awareness and the assumptions we make about gender. With 'Portrait of a Body' ('Corps Vivante', 2022), Delporte explains how her evolution with regard to gender issues led her towards political lesbianism.
Other work
Together with Rosalie Lavoie, Catherine Ocelot, Marie Saur and David Turgeon, she founded the feminist arts magazine Tristesse, of which the first issue appeared in November 2017. When Julie Delporte is not working on comics, she makes ceramics, writes poetry and essays, and works on risograph and silkscreen projects. Her 2020 book 'Décroissance sexuelle', published in French by L'Oie de Cravan, was a hybrid between manifest, poetry and visual arts, dealing with sexuality and trauma. Between April and June 2021, the etchings she made for this book, along with several ceramic pieces, were for show at an exhibition in the Aprim gallery in Montreal.
Self-portrait.