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WORK TITLE: Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lorinamapa.com/
CITY: Hudson
STATE: QC
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY:
http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/2017/lorina-mapa-qa/ * http://www.cbc.ca/books/how-a-great-loss-inspired-lorina-mapa-s-graphic-memoir-about-growing-up-in-the-philippines-1.4060565
RESEARCHER NOTES: Married with children according to a blog post
PERSONAL
Born in the Philippines; immigrated to the United States with family; married; husband’s name Daniel; children.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and illustrator.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Lorina Mapa was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when she was 16 years old. Her family eventually returned to the Philippines, but Mapa settled in Canada with her husband. A writer and illustrator of comics, Mapa created a monthly comic book called “The Adventures of Big Boy,” which was distributed in the Bob’s Big Boy chain of restaurants in North America. She is also author of the graphic memoir titled Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, which was initially funded by a Kickstarter campaign before picking up a publisher.
The memoir was inspired by her relationship with her father, who died in a car accident in 2005. Over the years, Mapa continued to have difficulty dealing with her father’s death. On her Kickstarter website page, Mapa noted she not only lost her beloved father but also her own inner child. Mapa used drawing as a type of therapy to deal with her father’s death as she illustrated memories of her and her father in the past. These drawings eventually formed the basis of her graphic memoir, which Mapa sees as a way to honor her father and rekindle the child within her. As to why she chose the comic form for her memoir, Mapa told a Duran Duran Official Website contributor: “I believe there is a certain intimacy with comics in the same way there is with radio or subtitled foreign language films; an active participation occurs precisely because not every bit of information has been given. In the case of a graphic novel, … a reader also has to interpret and imagine things, and that can lead to powerful connections. So for me, it’s just a different way of connecting.”
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me features various vignettes of Mapa’s life with her father. Noting that the stores are “full of poignant and silly moments,” Jane van Koeverden, writing for the CBC – Radio Canada website, went on to note that the tales create “a portrait of her childhood … as a Duran Duran–loving tomboy, apple of her father’s eye and politically outspoken teenager during the turbulent 1980s.” The memoir starts off with a phone call telling Mapa of her father’s death. As she begins her trip back to the Philippines to be with her mother and extended family, Mapa begins to reflect on the memories of her father, from her happy childhood until her teenage years when the Marcos regime in the Philippines was overthrown and her family moved to the United States.
Mapa also reflects on the cultural touchstones of her life in her memoir, such as her love of the pop group Duran Duran. “When I was telling my story, I didn’t want our culture to be so different and inaccessible to people in the west reading it,” Mapa noted in an interview with Jane van Koeverden for the CBC – Radio Canada website, adding: “There are a lot of similarities and that’s why I included a lot of the pop culture references.” Throughout the memoir, Mapa features her beloved father but also addresses a wide range of issues, such as her Filipino identity, political dissent, and women’s place in society. Maya’s “upbringing in the political upper class in an overwhelmingly poor country gives her an interesting, albeit privileged, perspective on events,” wrote Emilia Packard in Xpress Reviews. Mapa’s memoir addresses the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, a political exile from the Philippines. She also portrays the growing resistance to the Marcos government that led to a nationwide protest demanding the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos.
“The emotion shines through on every page,” wrote Summer Hayes in a review for Booklist. A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked that the author “uses the directness of comics to introduce a history and culture most Americans are unfamiliar with.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Mapa, Lorina, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, Conundrum Press (Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2017.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2017, Summer Hayes, review of Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, p. 44.
Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2017, review of Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, p. 49.
Xpress Reviews, October 20, 2017, Emilia Packard, review of Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me.
ONLINE
CBC–Radio Canada website, http://www.cbc.ca/ (August 8, 2017), Jane van Koeverden, “How a Great Loss Inspired Lorina Mapa’s Graphic Memoir about Growing up in the Philippines.”
Duran Duran Official Website, http://www.duranduran.com/ (October 10, 2017), “Lorina Mapa Q&A.”
Kickstarter, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1137711500/original-princess (April 18, 2018), author Kickstarter campaign.
Lorina Mapa Website, http://lorinamapa.com (April 18, 2018).
How a great loss inspired Lorina Mapa's graphic memoir about growing up in the Philippines
Jane van Koeverden · August 8, 2017
Lorina Mapa is the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me. (Conundrum Press/Courtesy of Lorina Mapa)
0 comments
After the sudden death of her father, Quebec artist Lorina Mapa began drawing her early memories of him as a form of therapy. The collection of stories, full of poignant and silly moments, formed a portrait of her childhood in the Philippines, as a Duran Duran–loving tomboy, apple of her father's eye and politically outspoken teenager during the turbulent 1980s.
17 writers to watch in 2017
The result was Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me, Mapa's first book. Below, she describes how it came to be.
Inspired by tragedy
"My dad died suddenly in a car accident and years later I was still having a hard time with it because we were very close. I started drawing stories about my dad, trying to bring those memories back to life in my mind. It was very therapeutic. As I continued, I realized maybe I could create something out of this.
"One of the little stories at the beginning of the book is about the time that I wanted to buy some flip flops. I went to the store with my mom and dad and I didn't like any of the flip flops I saw, which were all flowery or with butterflies. I saw a pair of men's flip flops with rabbits on them and said, 'Oh those are the ones that I want.' They ended up being the Playboy bunny icons and my dad thought it was hilarious that I was so innocent. And of course he bought them. I just started remembering things like that and then sketched it out. They made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes."
Lorina Mapa with her father. (Courtesy of Lorina Mapa)
A literary assist from Ken Dryden
"I actually hit a road block at one point in the book. I had bits and pieces and stories, but I was wondering how to put it all together and keep it feeling organic. I was worried that putting the pieces together would seem too mechanical or forced. I didn't write for maybe a month, but in a period of two weeks I read The Game by Ken Dryden and watched The Artist. Those two things freed me up because they were very creative and you could see the people behind it restructuring things very deliberately. Especially The Game by Ken Dryden. He does a lot of back and forth from the present and to the past. It's so well done and such a great book."
Breaking the barrier of the "other"
"One of my favourite books is probably My Name Is Asher Lev by a Jewish writer named Chaim Potok. I read this book when I was 13 and it changed the way I saw the world. It was about a Hasidic Jewish boy growing up in 1950s in Brooklyn. He was an art prodigy in the manner of Picasso. Nothing about his life was the same as my life. I was a Catholic girl growing up in the Philippines in the 1980s. Yet, there were things about how he saw the world, which were so similar to how I saw the world. I could relate to the emotions he was going through. It made me realize how we are all individuals and that every single person in the world has a story to tell. I learned that early on and kept it with me. I think I related to it so much because there were many similarities in the differences.
"When I was telling my story, I didn't want our culture to be so different and inaccessible to people in the west reading it. There are a lot of similarities and that's why I included a lot of the pop culture references. That was very important to me because that was how I grew up. If someone living in the U.S. is reading about a girl in the Philippines, they might have some assumptions of them. But when they read about what she's going through and find similarities to their own childhood, all of a sudden it breaks that barrier of the 'other.' Maybe it will break a few stereotypes of what people think girls growing up in different parts of the world are like."
Lorina Mapa's comments have been edited and condensed.
LORINA MAPA Q&A
October 10th, 2017
“A graphic memoir about growing up in the Philippines in the 1980s with Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and the EDSA Revolution. Mapa returns to Manilla as an adult for the funeral of her father and come to terms with her past. A graphic love letter to her parents, family, friends, country of birth, and perhaps even to herself.”
The Duran Duran Fan Community spoke to author Lorina Mapa about her new graphic novel, DURAN DURAN, IMELDA MARCOS & ME. Here is an excerpt from that interview:
What was it like growing up in the Philippines in the 80s?
300 years of Spanish colonization plus American liberation during World War II and its continued involvement has resulted in the Philippines being one of the most westernized countries in Asia. My parents and even my grandparents grew up speaking English and were all influenced by western pop culture. By the time I came along, my generation was just as immersed in that world as people living in North America and Europe.
My family also had its share of politicians so I was quite involved in political events, culminating in a famous 1986 People Power Revolution which some say was the spark that eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was an exciting time, and my book is all about those experiences.
What first attracted you to Duran Duran?
Their songs were very catchy, to begin with, but like other girls my age, the true obsession likely developed due to a combination of hormones and MTV! I would even draw comics about my friends and me being stuck with them on a desert island. My favourite band member was Simon and I named my teddy bear after him.
How would you say being a music fan affected your teen years?
The teen years are such a time of growth and I was very open to new experiences and emotions. I felt intellectual when listening to Sting’s lyrics, politically informed when I heard U2, full of angst with Tears For Fears, unsettled and excited by Depeche Mode, and stimulated by Peter Gabriel (my all-time favourite musician).
Like many teens, I had a very personal relationship to everything I listened to. No one could tell me how I should feel, and the safety of music allowed me to feel anything I wanted to, which is quite freeing.
Tell us about your book, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me?
It is a graphic memoir written as a response to my beloved father’s sudden death from a car accident in the Philippines. My return trip for his funeral sets of a powerful string of memories, from my carefree childhood and 1980s, pop culture obsessions to my teen years, when a People Power Revolution overthrew a dictatorship regime. “Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me” (“touching and joyous” – Publisher’s Weekly; “the emotion shines through on every page” – Booklist) has been nominated by the ALA as a Great Graphic Novel for Teens.
Why a graphic novel? Why did you want to tell the story that way?
I believe there is a certain intimacy with comics in the same way there is with radio or subtitled foreign language films; an active participation occurs precisely because not every bit of information has been given. In the case of a graphic novel, although the artist/writer can draw their world since it isn’t in a realistic style, a reader also has to interpret and imagine things, and that can lead to powerful connections. So for me, it’s just a different way of connecting.
Since you are an illustrator, what is your favorite piece of Duran Duran artwork?
Naturally the iconic Rio cover by Patrick Nagel. I loved it so much that as a teen I recreated it using acrylic paint on a 3x3-foot illustration board.
What do you think makes Duran Duran so unique to their fans?
As I think about it now, they do seem different from other typical boy bands. They were slightly older than musicians like Justin Bieber, One Direction, Menudo etc. As a result, they had a sophistication and worldliness which attracted older teens. At the same time, they were clean cut and so still considered “safe”, especially for less rebellious type teenagers. In that way, they were more like the Beatles than either so-called teeny-bopper bands or groups like the Rolling Stones.
To learn more about Lorina, please visit her website, www.lorinamapa.com. You can order her book, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me, here.
Hello, my name is Rina Mapa. I was born in the Philippines and in 1986 when I was sixteen, I moved with my family to the United States. A few years later I met my husband Daniel and eventually settled in Canada, while my family moved back to the Manila.
In 2005, my dad was killed in a car accident, and as the years went by, I had difficulty with his death.
When my dad died, I felt as if the best part of myself, the child that had been kept alive in his eyes all these years, had died too.
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me
Summer Hayes
Booklist.
113.21 (July 1, 2017): p44.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me.
By Lorina T. Mapa, Illus. by the author.
Sept. 2017.140p. Conundrum, paper, $18 (9781772620115). 741.5. Gr. 9-12.
After a phone call brings news of her fathers death, author-illustrator Mapa returns to the Philippines to
grieve with her mother and extended family. The trip sets off a powerful string of memories, from her
carefree childhood until her teens, when the People Power Revolution overthrew the Marcos regime and her
family immigrated to the U.S. Weaving together her obsession with movies and music, family stories, and
the huge cultural shifts taking place during the 1980s, Mapa captures the excitement of living through a
cultural revolution, the security of growing up in a stable, loving home, and the emotional anguish that can
only be experienced by a 14-year-old girl listening to the Polices "King of Pain" on endless repeat.
Illustrated in a sequential panel layout, the expressive figures are well served by clean outlines and
grayscale palette. Though the small panels and abundant text can occasionally feel crowded, the emotion
shines through on every page. Heavily nostalgic and told from an adult perspective, this will appeal to older
teens and adults.--Summer Hayes
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hayes, Summer. "Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me." Booklist, 1 July 2017, p. 44. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499862793/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d3698896.
Accessed 24 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A499862793
3/24/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1521929056562 2/3
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me
Publishers Weekly.
264.24 (June 12, 2017): p49+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me
Lorina Mapa. Conundrum (Consortium, Dist.), $18 trade paper (140p) ISBN 978-1-77262-011-5
In her debut graphic novel, Mapa returns to Manila, her childhood home, for her father's funeral. Her past
rushes back to her, not at the taste of a madeleine but with the rhythms of the '80s pop songs she grew up
with. Her memoir of life in the Philippines is both touching and joyous, with vivid recollections of food,
matriarchy, family, and politics told in an Herge-inspired style that's deceptively simple but apt for its
subject. As she assembles the jigsaw puzzle of her Filipino life, Mapa recollects both pop culture
touchstones and her upbringing against the turbulent background of the 1986 Fernando Marcos/Corazon
Aquino "Snap Election" and its resultant People Power Revolution. As with Sonny Liew's more complex
The Art-of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, Mapa uses the directness of comics to introduce a history and culture
most Americans are unfamiliar with. The book was originally funded by Kickstarter but this edition will
give it the wider distribution and attention it deserves. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me." Publishers Weekly, 12 June 2017, p. 49+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495720687/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c435abf2.
Accessed 24 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495720687
3/24/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1521929056562 3/3
Mapa, Lorina T.: Duran Duran, Imelda
Marcos and Me: A Graphic Memoir
Emilia Packard
Xpress Reviews.
(Oct. 20, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Mapa, Lorina T. Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me: A Graphic Memoir. Conundrum. Sept. 2017. 140p.
ISBN 9781772620115. $18. MEMOIR Coming of age during the 1986 Filipino People Power Revolution
was no small thing.
Here, creator Mapa (with Wendy Pini, Elfquest) revisits the political moment through her personal history,
framing the story with the sudden death of her father, which she hears about at her home in Canada, where
she's raising her own family. As she travels back to Manila, she reflects on aspects of her Filipino identity,
such as religion, the place of women in society, and political dissent. Her upbringing in the political upper
class in an overwhelmingly poor country gives her an interesting, albeit privileged, perspective on events of
the day. Beginning with the assassination of political exile Ninoy Aquino, the corrupt (and U.S.-supported)
Marcos government became increasingly threatened by a growing populist resistance, culminating in
Filipinos of all stripes taking to the streets to demand the president's resignation. Though the structuring
device of the family tragedy of a woman far from home is imperfectly integrated with the central historical
narrative, both are poignant and thought provoking in their own right.
Verdict A solid historical recollection, with a smattering of personal narrative, Mapa's memoir enlightens
readers on a lesser-known and stunningly successful moment of peaceful protest.--Emilia Packard, Austin,
TX
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Packard, Emilia. "Mapa, Lorina T.: Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me: A Graphic Memoir." Xpress
Reviews, 20 Oct. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514158214/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e31605b0. Accessed 24 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A514158214