Elizabeth Pich and Stefanie Sargnagel, moderated by Katharina Serles
Komische Künstlerinnen
12. 8. 25, 7 p.m.
Reading and talk with Elizabeth Pich and Stefanie Sargnagel, moderated by Katharina Serles
[in German language]
What’s actually funny? Who is allowed to laugh about what? Why is the medium of comics still often dismissed as trivial or not to be taken seriously in German-speaking countries? Comic artist Elizabeth Pich (Fungirl, War and Peas) and author and illustrator Stefanie Sargnagel (Iowa, Dicht) have plenty of sharp answers to these questions. In a reading and discussion with literary and comics scholar Katharina Serles, they will explore the limits and possibilities of humour and sarcasm, and discuss the social acceptance of female comedy and comics.
Limited capacity, please register at: presse@summeracademy.at
key data
- Venue
- Stadtgalerie Zwergelgarten
- Date
- 12. 8. 25, 7 p.m.
Stefanie Sargnagel
Stefanie Sargnagel was born in 1986 and studied painting in Daniel Richter's class at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. However, she spent more time at her day job in a call centre, explaining: 'Whenever my professor, Daniel Richter, turns up at art student parties, everyone suddenly starts behaving as if God is talking to his disciples. I never know how to deal with it because I am God.' She has been a freelance author since 2016 and has spent more time with her tax consultant since then. She received the BKS Bank Audience Award at the 2016 Ingeborg Bachmann Prize competition. Her two books, Statusmeldungen and Dicht, were bestsellers and the former was made into a film.
Website
Elizabeth Pich
Elizabeth Pich is a German-American comics author. Her comic series Fungirl and War and Peas provide weekly entertainment for millions of readers worldwide. Her books are published in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German, and her clients include Bloomberg, New York Times, Square Enix and Hallmark. Her current book Fungirl was published in March 2024 in German by Edition Moderne. Fungirl was nominated for Prix Bédelys, the 2023 Lucca Comic Award and the 2024 Max und Moritz Prize. Pich lives and works in Saarbrücken (DE).
Website
Publications
Fungirl
Publisher's text Edition Moderne:
‘Elizabeth Pich's character Fungirl is one thing above all: unpredictable.
Fungirl is a young woman with no prospects who spends her days at home masturbating, eating take-away pizza and watching old sitcoms. She runs from one affair to the next and is uninhibited and extreme in everything she does. Her new job at a funeral parlour brings new chaos - her life is a series of absurd, politically incorrect, slapstick situations. With Becky, her flatmate and ex-girlfriend, and Becky's friend Peter, Fungirl experiences bizarre adventures full of alcohol, sex and humour. Their behaviour is inappropriate, vulgar, opportunistic and yet (or precisely because of this) surprisingly human and charming. An ode to screw-ups with a heart of gold.’
Katharina Serles
Literature, comics and visual studies scholar. Also active as a moderator, journalist, cultural politician, singer/performer (Schmusechor) and winemaker (Sande-Serles Wein e. U.). 2019 to 2023 head of the KUPF newspaper; 2020 deputy managing director of KUPF Upper Austria; 2019 to 2024 applicant and collaborator in the research project ‘Visualities of gender in German-language comics’ (gendercomics.net). Since 2018 co-founder and chairwoman of the Austrian Society for Comics (oegec.com).
