Vancouver author's graphic novel explores the fear of adulthood and running away
CBC
A remote island commune off the coast of Vancouver sets the scene for a coming-of-age graphic novel detailing a group of friends' fear of adulthood and the enticement of running away from home.
The Gulf, written by Vancouver-based cartoonist and illustrator Adam De Souza, aims to capture the listlessness, restless energy and raw emotion of how it feels to be a teenager nearing the end of high school.
De Souza sat down with Margaret Gallagher, host of CBC Radio's North by Northwest, to discuss the book before an event on Thursday at Lucky's Books.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What's behind the title The Gulf?
It speaks to the geographic location of the book but also to the emotional place the characters find themselves between adolescence and adulthood.
They're kind of stuck there, so I wanted to address that.
Why did you want to write about this time of life?
We put so much pressure on kids to make good decisions that will impact their whole lives. What you want to do with your life is such an enormous question, and I think it's important to focus on what that actually means to a youth.
Tell me about the friends who are at the centre of the story. How much of you went into Milo, Alvin, Oli and Liam?
They're a lot more out there than I was at that age. There's a bit of me in each of them, but they're much cooler and out there than I ever was. I remember feeling so strongly about how I wanted my life to be or how I thought things ought to be.
But writing a coming-of-age story that isn't neat and tidy is reflective of the reality I had growing up.
For those who haven't read it, can you describe the trajectory these kids are on?
They're about to graduate from high school, and they decide not to enrol in university to go to a commune, which Oli, the lead character, found a pamphlet for on her parents' shelf when she was young.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
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