Casa Árabe at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (Mexico) 

The Spanish institution has made it possible for Nadia Hafid to take part in the meeting “Writing and Drawing: Illustrating one’s own life,” to be held on Friday, December 6 at the Pavilion of Spain, the fair’s guest of honor. 

This event seeks to explore how writing and illustration can become tools for narrating personal experience, especially within contexts of multiple identity and migration. Nadia Hafid, an author known for her comics, in which she deals with subjects like the diaspora, Arab identity, culture shock and discrimination, will be contributing her creative viewpoint on the process of illustrating personal experiences.

As for the coordinator of Casa Árabe’s Cultural Programs, Karim Hauser, he will be highlighting the importance of lending visibility to the voices which narrate these contemporary realities, highlighting how art and literature can act as bridges for intercultural dialogue.

This activity thus reinforces Casa Árabe’s commitment to the dissemination of artistic forms of expressions that contribute to a greater understanding of the Arab world in both Spain and Latin America.

The event will be held on Friday, December 6, from 6:00 to 6:50 p.m. in the Spain Pavilion, at Expo Guadalajara.

Nadia Hafid (1990), is an illustrator and comic book artist. From Tarrassa, Catalonia but born to Moroccan parents, she graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and in Applied Wall Arts from the Escuela de la Lonja.
 
She has worked for media like El País, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Economist and Monocle magazine, in addition to others. Furthermore, her work has been acknowledged with various awards: Best Emerging Author of the Association of Comic Critics and Publishers of Spain (2020) for her work “El buen padre” (“The Good Father”), El Ojo Crítico given by Radio Nacional de España in the category of Comics (2022), and the Finestres Award for the best comic in Catalan (2024) for “Mala olor” (“Bad Smell”).
 
The work for which she won the award for Best Emerging Author, “El buen padre”, can be considered her most outstanding work. With a combination of illustrations and dialogues, Nadia tells the story of her family’s life. Offering constant reflections on uprooting and identity, she tells the story of her father who, after emigrating to Spain from Morocco, and when she was just a child, leaves home.
 
Nadia Hafid’s work deals with inequality, social injustice and discrimination, using comics as a tool to increase awareness about important issues and spur debate in society.

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