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Nate Powell Author Visit - Diana Graphic Novel Book Release
With Caitlin McGurk
Thursday, October 08
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Library AuditoriumNational Book Award-winning cartoonist Nate Powell visits the Bexley Public Library to celebrate the release of his latest graphic novel, Diana. Caitlin McGurk will moderate the conversation.
National Book Award-winning cartoonist Nate Powell visits the Bexley Public Library to celebrate the release of his latest graphic novel, Diana, described as "an intense time-tripping graphic novel capturing the transitional 1990s and the weird kids who fall through the cracks—perfect for fans of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Killing Eve, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me. Nate will be joined by Caitlin McGurk, Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, for this book release event.
About the Author:
Nate Powell is a National Book Award-winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992.
Creating both fiction and nonfiction, his work includes Fall Through, Save It For Later, Come Again, civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy, Swallow Me Whole, Any Empire, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and stints on The Twilight Zone, Sweet Tooth, and Black Hammer.
He has published comics and writing for The Washington Post, The Nib, Popula, Lit Hub, Booklist, In These Times, Scholastic, CNN, and The Weather Channel.
Powell’s work has received multiple Eisner and Ignatz Awards, ALA and YALSA distinctions, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, the Jack & Roz Kirby Award for Independence, the CXC Transformative Work Award, and is a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next graphic novel, Diana, will be released October 6, 2026 by Abrams ComicArts. Visit Nate's website for more information.
About the Moderator:
Caitlin McGurk is the Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. She leads the education and outreach efforts at the library, organizes community events, curates exhibitions, works with artists, and mentors students who are inspired to study the rich history of comics. McGurk’s scholarship and exhibitions center around the work of women in comics, alternative and underground comics, and early American comic strips. Her recent exhibitions include Ladies First: A Century of Women’s Innovations in Comics and Cartoon Art; and Man Saves Comics: Bill Blackbeard’s Treasure of 20th Century Newspapers, which was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. Her writing has appeared in publications including Journal of Lesbian Studies; Slate; The Comics Journal; Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society; and IDW Publishing’s Library of American Comics Essentials. Caitlin has also worked for The Center for Cartoon Studies’ Schulz Library, Marvel Comics, and serves on the council for the annual Cartoon Crossroads Columbus festival. Her bestselling book, Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, was published by Fantagraphics Books in November 2024 and received the 2025 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book, and the 2025 Broken Frontier Award for Best Book On Comics.
About the Book:
From the National Book Award–winning, bestselling author Nate Powell comes an intense time-tripping graphic novel capturing the transitional 1990s and the weird kids who fall through the cracks—perfect for fans of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Killing Eve, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me.
The year is 1992. Diana Bogue is a personality too big for her small Arkansas town—a runaway who dyes her hair platinum, studies the occult, sings like an angel, and dominates the local punk scene through the force of her personality.
Even when being in the "cult of Diana" is too much for them, her friends Jody, Steff, Napoleon, and Todd can't help but be pulled into her vortex.
But under the surface, Diana struggles to outrun damage from a repressive religious past. She only shares these struggles with her dearest long-distance pen pal—who she keeps hidden from her other friends.
Until one day, he's never heard from again.
Untethered and fiercely protective of what she considers hers, Diana turns even more inward, blending music and homegrown sorcery in hopes of outrunning reality. But even she can't turn back time . . . or can she?
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Books Reading and Storytelling | Art Music and Culture |
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Public Library was founded in 1924 and first housed in Bexley High School, now Montrose Elementary School. The present building opened in 1929 and was designed by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves who drew upon French and Italian architecture from the 17th century for the design.
The library is located at 2411 East Main Street, at the intersection of East Main Street and Cassady Avenue. Parking is available in our parking lot on Euclaire Avenue and in front of the library on Main Street. Main Street is a No Parking Tow Zone from 4:00-6:00 p.m. weekdays.