Leila Abdelrazaq

 Leila Abdelrazaq is a Chicago-born Palestinian author, artist, and cultural organizer. Leila’s debut graphic novel Baddawi, which she started as a webcomic while studying Theatre Arts as an undergraduate student at DePaul University, was shortlisted for the Palestine Book Awards and has been translated into three languages. Her comic novella The Opening was published by Tosh Fesh (Beirut) in 2017. 

Leila’s other creative writing, essays, short comics, and illustrated editorials have been published in The Michigan Quarterly Review, The Funambulist, The Believer, Mizna, Harper’s, Kohl: A Journal For Gender and Body Research, The FADER, South Side Weekly, Mophradat, and others. She has exhibited her work, participated in residencies, and given talks and workshops around the world, and her prints, zines, and artist books are housed in multiple public collections across Turtle Island and the UK.

Leila earned her MA in Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan in 2020, where she was a two-time Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow. Her scholarly work focuses broadly on questions related to Palestinian art, visual culture, futurity, and political imaginaries. She co-founded Maamoul Press, an award-winning, transnational independent arts and publishing project dedicated to uplifting by-us-for-us storytelling in comics and book arts from SWANA communities and beyond. Be sure to check out Leila’s website lalaleila.com.

Baddawi

SKU: 9781935982401
Author: Leila Abdelrazaq
Series: Just World Books
ISBN: 9781935982401
Published: 04/01/2015
Format: Paperback
Size: 8.5 x 8.5
Pages: 128
Subjects: Comics & Graphic Novels / Biography & Autobiography: Historical

$19.99
$8.95 (e-Book)

Praise

“At turns heartbreaking and humorous, this coming-of-age story is a must read.”
—Foreword Reviews

“In Baddawi, Leila Abdelrazaq tells a coming of age story that is funny, angry and deeply human. The bold blacks of her drawing remind one of Marjane Satrapi, or the legendary French artist David B. But she transforms the style, infusing it with design elements from Palestinian embroidery. Baddawi is the story of her father’s childhood in a Lebanese refugee camp. It is also the story of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.”
—Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood

“Leila Abdelrazaq is a fresh and exciting artist and writer. Baddawi is heartfelt and poignant and is told from an often underrepresented perspective. It is a vital read for anyone curious about the plight of the Palestinian people.”
–Toufic El Rassi, author, Arab in America

“This book is a substantial accomplishment, a serious story in comic-book form containing magnificent drawing by a young artist of promise.”
–Samia A. Halaby, painter, writer, and author of Liberation Art of Palestine

“Leila Abdelrazaq blends beauty, politics, humor, rich Palestinian traditions, and the humanity of every day life during historic times into her delicate lines and powerful compositions.”
–Ethan Heitner, Cartoonist and illustrator, Freedom Funnies

“Leila Abdelrazaq’s tale of her father, a Palestinian refugee growing up in a Lebanese refugee camp, demonstrates a universal truth. In the midst of a civil war, Ahmad and his pals still manage to have enough often hilarious adventures that despite the chaotic background in their lives of bombings, assassinations and massacres, boys will still and always find a way to be boys.”
–Trina Robbins, author, Lily Renee, Escape Artist

“The story of the Palestinian refugees, forced out in ’48 to wander the world ever since, is one we need to know. Leila Abdelrazaq tells this tale with love and humor and little rhetoric. Baddawi is simple and touching and well worth your time. A fine first graphic novel from a promising new cartoonist.”
–Seth David Tobocman, co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated

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