'Op Zoek naar Vrede, Jazzy & Bertha von Suttner' (2024).
Emma Ringelberg, also known as Emma Ringelding, is a Dutch comic artist and expert in Dutch studies. As a creator, she has often combined her two specialisms by creating comics about literary or etymological subjects. Starting out in the Dutch small press scene, she has later contributed to magazines like Boekenkrant, OnzeTaal, Brul! and Tina, as well as several online journalism platforms, publishing houses and collective comic anthologies.
Early life and work
Emma Ringelberg was born in 1991 in Dieren, a town in the province of Gelderland. She first came to attention in 2009, when she won a Dutch comics contest organized by the Breda Comics Festival, and saw her submission printed in Eppo magazine. Around this period, she also participated in small press publications like De Lijn (edited by Johan de Rooij), amateur webcomic portals like Daily Danger and events like 24 Hour Comics Day in the Amsterdam comic shop Lambiek.
'A Bit of A Pickle'.
Education
Between 2010 and 2015, Ringelberg studied Comic Design at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Zwolle, where the Dutch comic creator Hanco Kolk was one of her teachers. During her studies, Ringelberg contributed to several editions of the institute's new talent anthology OOGST (and was editor for two of them). As important graphic influences, she has named Sandra Kleine Staarman (Little Starman), Floor de Goede and Margreet de Heer. In 2012, she also assisted the latter creator on the lettering of the English edition of the book 'Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics'.
After her ArtEZ studies, Ringelberg additionally received her Bachelor's degree in Dutch Language and Culture from the Radbout University in Nijmegen, with an additional minor in Gender & Diversity Studies. She graduated cum laude in 2019 with a study into the literary dystopia in the Netherlands. Between 2021 and 2023, she did her Master studies in Dutch Language and Culture at Utrecht University. As an intern, she researched the LHBTI+ part of the collection at the Dutch Royal Library.
Review of Hanna Bervoet's novel 'Ivanov', for Boekenkrant (2016).
Professional life
After her art studies in Zwolle, Ringelberg relocated to the city of Arnhem, where she has been building a family with her husband, comic creator Jordi Peters. A freelance comic artist and illustrator since 2015, she combined these activities with her further studies and additional jobs, for instance as an editor for the publishing house Strip2000 (2016-2017) and the digital cultural magazine De Optimist (2019-2021), and as a bookseller at the Arnhem literary bookshop Hijman Ongerijmd (2019-2023). As an artist, she has been working under the pen name Emma Ringelding.
'Amorfati' (Eppo #16, 2016).
Comics and illustrations
In 2015 and 2016, Ringelberg has drawn several comic stories from scripts by René Leisink for the true crime magazine Koud Bloed. In 2016 and 2017, she has also drawn two of Leisink's 'Amorfati' mystery short stories for Eppo magazine.
Combining her two studies, Ringelding has regularly created comics related to language or literature. Between 2016 and 2021, she wrote and illustrated book reviews for the literary paper Boekenkrant under the banner 'Lees&Teken'. For the children's magazine Brul!, she has made a number of comics about etymology, and for the publisher Loopvis, she has written and drawn mini-summaries of literary classics. From 2023 on, Ringelberg created stand-alone comic stories for the girls' magazine Tina, working from scripts by Johan de Rooij, Frank Jonker and Betje Ton. With Johan de Rooij, she has also made the 'Jantje' series of mini comics (2016), containing parodies of children's picture stories.
Among her additional clients have been the Dutch trade union federation FNV, online journalism platforms Brandpunt+, Drawing the Times and VICE Nederland, magazines and newspapers like OnzeTaal magazine, Humo and De Volkskrant, the Oerol festival and the publishing houses Ambo|Anthos, Dwarsligger, Nieuw Amsterdam, Zwijsen and Davidsfonds. Among the books with her illustrations are 'Schaam Je Gerust Dood Voor Je Ouders' by Jan Paul Schutten (Gottmer, 2024) and several youth books for publisher Zwijsen.
'Eus de Speurneus' (Tina #1, 2023).
Anthologies and collective projects
Ringelding was one of the comic creators for the second volume of the anthology series 'Op Missie' (Strip2000, 2016), in which comic artists tell the true life stories of war veterans. Ringelberg teamed up with Dennis Stoppelenburg, who had served in Mali in 2015. Other artists for the publication were Floor de Goede, Marcel Ruijters, Rob van Barneveld, Dace Sietina and Jules Calis. In 2022, she participated in the collective graphic documentary comic 'Bestemming: Canada', published by Scratch Books in collaboration with the Dutch consul in Canada. The book tells the story of ten Dutch emigrants who tried to find their luck in the Canadian wilderness. The other contributors were Erik de Graaf, Floor de Goede, Aimée de Jongh, Hanco Kolk, Erik Kriek, Mei-Li Nieuwland, Jordi Peters, Anne Staal and Paul Teng. In addition, her work has been featured in the 2022 'Nieuwe Garde' anthology with new Dutch comic talent.
From: 'Op Missie 2'.
In 2024, Ringelding was co-artist of the comic book 'Op Zoek naar Vrede, Jazzy & Bertha von Suttner', together with Karin Blaauwijkel. Written by Anne Tabak in collaboration with Willem Ritstier, the book was a production of publisher Syndikaat and the educational foundation Stichting Denkroutes, as part of the international project "Vrede Verbeeld – Picturing Peace - Frieden vorgestellt". It tells the stories of the historical writer and pacifist Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914), drawn by Blaauwijkel, and the contemporary photographer Jazzy, drawn by Ringelberg, who is trying to find her own ideals in 21st century The Hague.
Comic strip by Emma Ringelberg on how to deal with leftovers.