Bel Canto Books is delighted to host a book celebration for Jazmine Joyner, author of DEVOUR with Rachelle Cruz, GOD'S WILL FOR MONSTERS.
Kindly RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Please stay home if you feel sick.
This event will be held indoors at KUBO LB (3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach CA).
E VENT SCHEDULE
3:45PM - Event check-in begins
4:00pm - Welcome & event start
4:15-5:00pm - Author reading, conversation, and Q&A
5:00pm-6:00pm - Book signing & shopping time
6:00pm - Event ends
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this horror graphic novel from award-winning writer Jazmine Joyner and illustrator Anthony Pugh, American Gods meets Get Out in a dark retelling of the West African legend of Anansi the Spider.
In the Deep South, something evil waits in the darkness . . .
Devour tells the story of the Turner family, who move to Alabama to care for their ailing matriarch, Vassie, when she begins suffering from dementia. But Vassie isn’t just any old lady; she’s the last of a line of powerful root women who have been caring for the community since her ancestors were first captured and enslaved by white plantation owners.
Patsy, the eldest daughter in the family, is immediately suspicious; the locals’ fear and superstition of her grandmother leads Patsy to take a closer look at the Turner family home, and what she finds is beyond her wildest nightmares.
Devour is a terrifying new fable that delivers thrills and chills in equal measure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jazmine Joyner is a Black disabled nonbinary femme who has been working in various parts of the comics industry for years. From being the first Black woman on the West Coast to own a comic shop to being an award-winning comics journalist, they have committed their life to their love of comics. They are based in Southern California and have written for Women Write About Comics, The Comics MNT, and others. Devour is their debut graphic novel.
ABOUT THE IN CONVERSATION PARTNER
Rachelle Cruz is the author of God's Will for Monsters, which won an American Book Award in 2018 and the 2016 Hillary Gravendyk Regional Poetry Prize. She co-edited Kuwento: Lost Things, an anthology of Philippine Myths with Lis P. Sipin-Gabon. The second edition of her comics text resource, Experiencing Comics: An Introduction to Reading, Discussing and Creating Comics, was published in 2021. Her work has also appeared in Strange Horizons, Poets & Writers Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, Yellow Medicine Review, among others.
ABOUT BEL CANTO BOOKS
Founded by Jhoanna Belfer, a Filipina-American poet and former hospitality executive, Bel Canto Books offers a curated selection of fiction, nonfiction and children's books, organized around a theme of the month, in particular celebrating books by women and people of color. Learn more at belcantobooks.net.
ABOUT KUBO LB
KUBO LB is a creative community space for Filipinx, BIPOC, LGBTQ, and Women led small businesses. KUBO LB is a space to support and educate small businesses through retail, business workshops and more. Learn more at kubolb.com.
