Exploring modern China’s silence and strength, now recognized at the International Festival of Geography
I’m happy to share some special news with you: my book “Xi Jinping, The Emperor of Silence” (created together with journalist Eric Meyer) has been selected for the Prix de la BD Géographique at the International Festival of Geography in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges!
This book was a difficult and intense journey: telling, through comics, the story of power and the silence surrounding today’s China. Seeing it recognized in such an important selection fills me with joy and gratitude.
Comics can be many things: entertainment, poetry, but also a tool to understand the world. This is the spirit with which I continue to draw, and which I want to share with you today.
Thank you to everyone who supports me, reads, discusses, and accompanies me on this path.
“Xi Jinping. L’empereur du silence” is published in France by Éditions Delcourt.
The Prix de la BD Géographique rewards the author or authors of a graphic novel or comic book on travel, adventure, discovery… and any theme related to geography.
Its jury, composed of professionals from the book and comics industries, geographers, and comic book enthusiasts, will deliberate at the end of August. The prize, worth €1,500, will be officially awarded during the Festival.
Bloom
by Julia Billet and Jérôme Ruillier, published by Virages Graphiques – 19/02/2025
It would only take a hundred people to change the world. If a hundred people adopted new habits, this change could spread into other communities. This is what former anthropologist Albert Hermann tries to explain to his grandson, while the country, ravaged by a destructive health crisis, witnesses a series of unexplained natural phenomena.
Mediterranean. Stories of a Kaleidoscope Continent
by Aurel, published by Futuropolis – 07/05/2025
Shouldn’t we speak of the “Mediterraneans” rather than the Mediterranean, given how rich and varied the culture and history of this sea are? The cradle of agriculture, of alphabets, of the three great monotheistic religions… Both Western and Eastern. Homeland of the Phoenicians, Etruscans, Greeks, or Romans, of Islam and Christianity, the Mediterranean is multiple. There is the one people dream of and the one they flee from. In the same waters, some bathe while others drown.
Xi Jinping. The Emperor of Silence
by Eric Meyer and Gianluca Costantini, published by Éditions Delcourt – 16/10/2024
This sweeping graphic novel retraces the life and rise of Xi Jinping, from his childhood to today. This fascinating investigation reveals his incredible journey, from his family’s downfall to his rise to power. It is also a history of modern China and its politics, presented and analyzed here.
We Ate the Sea
by Maxime de Lisle and Martin Oliver, published by Futuropolis – 19/02/2025
In France, the seas along our coasts have been stripped of 80% of their bottom fish. We ate them. With a voracious, blind appetite. Through decades of overfishing policies, poorly informed consumers demanding more fish at lower prices, and industries chasing growth. It is a story that concerns us all, where each of us bears responsibility.
Chronicles of Tunisia
by Anna Chronique, published by Dunod – 15/01/2025
In 2008, Anna and Boris, young teachers at the start of their careers and often struggling, applied to teach abroad. After tedious procedures and a few sleepless nights, they each landed a teaching post in Tunisia, to the surprise of their families. Were they aware that the country was a dictatorship? That its security masked systematic repression of opponents and strong censorship?
Rébétissa (The Antidote)
by David Prudhomme, published by Futuropolis – 02/04/2025
Must one bow their head in order to keep practicing their art? In 1936, General Ioannis Metaxas seized power, established a dictatorship, and imposed censorship. All songs using oriental scales — the rebetika, deemed subversive — were banned. The police raided cafés, destroyed instruments, and broke the fingers of musicians who dared to continue playing. Katina runs a café that welcomes rebetiko musicians and their two singers, Béba and Marika.
