SKAGGS

I met and interviewed Marjane Satrapi in October of 2003, when her graphic-novel memoir Persepolis was already a bestseller in France. The comic, the first part of which had recently been translated into English and published as Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood, was the focus of my undergraduate dissertation.

At the time, a major exhibition of her original artwork opened in Ravenna, Italy, where she also taught a comic art workshop. There was a real sense that Persepolis had the potential to push quality comic art into the cultural and critical limelight in Britain and the United States.

Since then, Persepolis has enjoyed unprecedented critical and commercial success. Marjane and fellow artist Vincent Paronnaud spent four years developing her biographical story into a stunning hand-drawn animation, which this week won an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.