Women In Comics Month: Interview With Sylviane Corgiat

In honor of Women in Comics this March, PREVIEWSworld talks with writer Sylviane Corgiat! 

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us a little bit about yourself! What are you currently working on?

Sylviane Corgiat: I am a writer for both books and television, mainly writing thrillers and sci-fi as well as Young Adult novels.  I initially came to comics because I was asked. It wasn’t a given for me that I would like it because it was not a genre that I was familiar with. But I found out that you can tell stories with as much freedom as in a novel. Moreover, working with an artist is a source of renewed inspiration. I came to comics late, but I love it. Since The Swords of Glass with Laura Zuccheri, I haven’t started a new graphic novel project. I am waiting for potential opportunities there, and in the meantime, have come back to another of my favorite genres: YA novels.

PREVIEWSworld: How long have you been working with sequential art? What titles, companies, and creators have you worked with over your time in comics?  

Sylviane Corgiat:I’ve been interested in comics since the late 90s. I tried different genres. For example, Lune d’ombre (Shadow Moon) with the artist Christelle Pécout, tells the story of a redoubtable heroic female pirate who travels the seas searching for treasures. Elias the Cursed, drawn by Corrado Mastantuono, is about a fallen cruel King looking for his own face that was stolen by a sorcerer. That series and others have been published by Humanoids, the only European publisher that I know publishing their own catalog in the American market.

PREVIEWSworld: Did you have a mentor or hero in the industry that inspired you to pursue a career in comics?

Sylviane Corgiat: I like many artists, but my inspiration comes more from literature. Comics were more a case of opportunity than a chosen vocation.

PREVIEWSworld: In your opinion, how has the comic book industry evolved in terms of gender?

Sylviane Corgiat: On the French side, yes, there has been a timid evolution. The releases have diversified. Before, comics were only for men and children, but today it extends to all age groups and women. As a result, female authors have also appeared. They remain a minority, but let’s bet on the progress of mentality!

PREVIEWSworld: What stereotypes do you see surrounding women in comics? How could people of all genders go about breaking those stereotypes?

There are as many male stereotypes as female in comics and I don’t think that gender stereotypes are the problem. The only stereotype that bothers me – it is implicit in that question – is the one the confines women to the role of woman. To break it down, we just have to consider that woman is a man like any other and vice versa.

PREVIEWSworld: How do you want to see women represented in comic books 10 years from now?

Sylviane Corgiat: There is only one possible answer: women are as good of writers and cartoonists as men; comics can interest all age groups. So, within ten years why not imagine that there will be just as many male as female authors? Creating is dreaming!

PREVIEWSworld: If you could give advice to any aspiring editors, executives, writers, or artists, what would you tell them?

Sylviane Corgiat: Don’t listen to advice.

PREVIEWSworld: And lastly, are there any up-and-coming women creators who you would recommend readers check out?

Sylviane Corgiat: Florence Cestac and Marjane Satrapi. Recently Christelle Pécout drew a nice biography of Björk and I am impatiently waiting for the release of K- Schok’s graphic novel about Korean pop. And the next work by Laura Zuccheri. She is working on an adaptation of Robert Silverberg’s novel (Downward to the Earth).

See more Women In Comics Month interviews in our special section on PREVIEWSworld!