A manga workshop with graphic novelist Asia Alfasi

Asia Alfasi is a 26-year-old Muslim Libyan Arab British graphic novelist.
She was born in 1984 in Libya, and at age 8, moved with her family to Glasgow, Scotland. 8 years on, she moved to Birmingham, England, where she is still based.

Growing up in Libya she was exposed to anime from a very young age; classics such as Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy, Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan and Captain Tsubasa just to name a few; and so, the love for this art form was ingrained in me from a very young age.

The move to Scotland proved to be difficult as she found herself to be different in many aspects, which did not help in school-culture. She struggled to express herself, her culture and her faith.
However, an event at a local library proved to be a turning point for her. She discovered Anime in manga-book format.

“I found that they'd stocked a manga series I recognised from my Libyan childhood: Ironfist Chinmi. I hadn't realised that Anime came in manga-book format, so that was a pleasant surprise; and I hadn’t realised that it wasn’t Arab - that came as a not-so-pleasant surprise
It was so significant to me because that was the first thing I could actually show my peers and say "look! THIS is from Libya! That's what I grew up with :D!" and know they'd be impressed. I began learning how to draw manga and, curiously and inspiringly enough, the rest of my classmates and school pupils in general began to regard me with respect.

I vowed to learn and create manga that will do just that for others who, because of differences and young-ness, perhaps, cannot express themselves like myself many years ago; and to use the manga medium as a language that I can use to inspire dialogue between different cultures and people of all creeds. My goal is create original quality manga with real heart with aims to motivate children to read as well as educating, entertaining and encouraging thought all at the same time.”
 
Date: Monday 5th of April
Time of event: 10:00-16:00pm
Cost: £15

Registration required: to register email info@scottishislamic.org or info@andalus.co.uk
 
This event is part of Salaam Scotland, the Festival of Muslim Life and Culture in partnership with Andalus