Picket Line: An Interview with Breena Wiederhoeft
Breena Wiederhoeft, a Portland graphic novelist and comic, posts comics regularly on her website Easel Ain’t Easy. On August 8th, Breena’s debut graphic novel Picket Line will hit real and digital shelves. Breena’s comics were featured in issue 2 of GENERATE, so Thomas took some time to catch up with Breena.
Thomas: So, I have been following Easel Ain’t Easy for a while, and the style is pretty similar: you, your friends, your thoughts and cats. Some of the early sneak peaks of your debut graphic novel Picket Line seemed to be of the same vein, but when I saw the trailer there was a dinosaur and tree huggers! With most artists staying with what is familiar to them for their first work, what made you want to branch out?
Breena: Well, the story is very loosely inspired by my life (I spent a few months living in northern California and encountered environmental protesters from a distance) so it wasn’t entirely departing from the old adage “write what you know.” But I think the fictional elements — and definitely the fantasy — came about very organically. I didn’t have a complete story in mind when I began writing, and just allowed things to unfold as they seemed natural. In that way, it was familiar territory because it was all coming out of my own imagination and experiences, while at the same time I was able to really push the limits of what I’m doing with Easel Ain’t Easy.
I saw it as this challenge, to create a story that was bigger than myself, I guess.
Thomas: So do you view your novel as a magical realism of sorts?
Breena: Lynda Barry coined this term “autobifictionalography.” I like that. Emphasis on the “fictional.” I think it’s magical realism in the sense that the real parts really could happen, and the magical parts aren’t so ridiculous, once you realize that they are imagined.
The most non-fiction part of the story is its emotional core, I think. I drew very heavily from my own experience to write that, and sort of crafted events up around that.
Thomas: I like the term. I think it’s similar to what other authors do with creative nonfiction, which is a similar oxymoronic definition. But authors like Annie Dillard make it work. With a graphic novel though, do you feel it’s still hard for people outside of the comic and graphic novel community to take a work like this seriously, even after it’s won an award?
Breena: Probably. I think it’s an exciting time for comics creators because the genre (can you still call something so broad a genre?) is getting more attention and respect, but it still has a long way to go. I think there are still plenty of people who see a book like this and automatically assume it’s for children. Hopefully people who take the time to read the book will see that it is more complex than that, but there are definitely years of piled-up stereotypes that serious comics makers come up against. Fortunately, though, the people who like graphic novels tend to love them and support them almost religiously.
And, to give the rest of the population credit, I’m encouraged to hear from a lot of people who are interested in the book, even if I have to first explain what exactly a graphic novel is. I think people are open to something different, once they understand it better.
To pre-order Picket Line you can purchase a copy from Breena’s store.
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