In celebration of the passage of House Bill 1828 and the resulting survival of the Free Library, author of the acclaimed comic The Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, spoke at the Central Free Library last night.
Satrapi kicked off the “One Book, One Philadelphia” program, which promotes reading and libraries by encouraging the greater Philadelphia area to read and discuss a single book — and this year, that book is Persepolis.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter himself introduced Satrapi. He praised the work of the Free Library in the prevention of Plan C, a “doomsday” scenario that would involve the closing of the Free Library system. In recent weeks, the Library’s board and staff worked to encourage Philadelphia residents to come into the Library to write letters in support of the Bill, which were then sent to Harrisburg.
And that work seems to have paid off, with an audience of 800 present for Satrapi’s talk live in the small auditorium, as well as a simulcast in the lobby.
Satrapi began by discussing the philosophy behind her work. She insisted that although adults find drawing to be a practice that “belongs to childhood,” her comic is not any less of a book.
Satrapi said she sees drawing as the “most international language.” She explained that she chose humor and comics as her media because that was the way she felt she needed to tell her story. Her goal was to provide a different view of the Middle East to a Western World indoctrinated with images of Iran as the axis of evil.
Satrapi also addressed her ideas on poverty, human rights and global conflicts.
“I believe that most of the pain in this world comes from ignorance,” she said, adding that art itself can counteract that ignorance.
A group of Penn students attended the event thanks to the organization of Gregory College House faculty master and English professor Heather Love and English Undergraduate Advisory Board co-chairman Dalglish Chew, a College senior.
After incorporating Persepolis in her “English 390: The Burden of Representation” class and hearing Satrapi last spring at Penn, Love said she felt Satrapi was “a dynamic speaker that students would enjoy.”
She also saw the event as well-timed, as it corresponded with the recent Plan C scare: “We wanted to bring students to the main branch to see what is at stake.”
College freshman Emily Goghey said she enjoyed the event.
“After having studied both books and the movie it was refreshing to hear what [Satrapi] had to say, not just what my teachers and fellow students thought,” she said. “It was exciting to hear the author speaking about her own work.”
