Swan Song by Sonja Ahlers
Swan Song by Sonja Ahlers
Swan Song by Sonja Ahlers
Swan Song by Sonja Ahlers

Swan Song by Sonja Ahlers

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Local Artist

Ages: Teen–Adult

The final chapter in a body of cut-and-paste work that is difficult to categorize but has sometimes been referred to as "graphic poetry."

Culled from decades of hunting and gathering in the underground, Ahlers has filled many binders to overflowing. Swan Song revisits the black and white photocopier esthetic of her genre-bending and influential book Temper, Temper and its sequel Fatal Distraction, finally completing this groundbreaking trilogy. Part art book, part zine collection, part diary, part graphic novel, but all Sonja Ahlers, we finally have closure from an artist who continues to push the boundaries of what a book can be.

Sonja Ahlers is a visual artist and writer from the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking peoples, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations (Victoria, BC, Canada). Her books are challenging to classify and can be found in several different sections of the library. 1994’s A Wandering Eye was the first of many self-published books that circulated mainly through the underground “penpal” network of DIY punk rock and Riot Grrrl zines. Ahlers attracted national attention with Temper, Temper, published by Insomniac Press in 1998, followed by Fatal Distraction in 2004. In 2010, Drawn & Quarterly published The Selves, and in 2021, Conundrum Press published Swan Song. Ahlers’ art has been exhibited across Canada, as well as in the United States, Japan, and Australia. She helped create the visual identity of Rookie Mag and from 2011 to 2015 and was a frequent contributor to the influential online publication, as well as lead artist/designer of its four print anthologies.

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About the Artist

Sonja Ahlers

Sonja Ahlers is a visual artist and writer from the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking peoples, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations (Victoria, BC, Canada). Her books are challenging to classify and can be found in several different sections of the library. 1994’s A Wandering Eye was the first of many self-published books that circulated mainly through the underground “penpal” network of DIY punk rock and Riot Grrrl zines. Ahlers attracted national attention with Temper, Temper, published by Insomniac Press in 1998, followed by Fatal Distraction in 2004. In 2010, Drawn & Quarterly published The Selves, and in 2021, Conundrum Press published Swan Song. Ahlers’ art has been exhibited across Canada, as well as in the United States, Japan, and Australia. She helped create the visual identity of Rookie Mag and from 2011 to 2015 and was a frequent contributor to the influential online publication, as well as lead artist/designer of its four print anthologies.

Photo by Ted Bois

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