In 1980, Sylvie Rancourt and her boyfriend moved to Montreal from rural Northern Quebec. With limited formal education or training, they had a hard time finding employment, so Rancourt began dancing in strip clubs. These experiences formed the backbone of the first Canadian autobiographical comic book, Melody, which Rancourt wrote, drew, and distributed, starting in 1985. Later, she collaborated with the artist Jacques Boivin, who translated and drew a new series of Melody comics for the American market-the comics were an instant cult classic.

Until now, the Rancourt drawn-and-written comics have never been published in English. These stories are compelling without ever being voyeuristic or self-pitying, and her drawings are formally innovative while maintaining a refreshingly frank and engaging clarity. Whether she's divulging her first experiences dancing for an audience or sharing moments from her life at home, her storytelling is straightforward and never sensationalized. With a knowing wink at the reader, Rancourt shares a world that, in someone else's hands, might be scandalous or seedy, but in hers is fully realized, real, and often funny.

About Drawn & Quarterly

Over the past thirty years, Drawn & Quarterly has grown from a single-issue magazine to an internationally renowned publisher of the world’s best cartoonists. D+Q has published many North American luminaries of the medium including Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry, Nick Drnaso, Kate Beaton, Chester Brown, Aminder Dhaliwal, Ebony Flowers, and Seth, as well as international authors including Tove Jansson (Finland); Guy Delisle (France); Tom Gauld (UK); Astrid Lindgren (Sweden); Yoshiharu Tsuge (Japan); Rutu Modan (Israel); Shigeru Mizuki (Japan); Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (Korea); Zuo Ma (China); and many more cartoonists from across the globe. The company’s dedication to high production values, editorial integrity, and artistic autonomy has led to it being described by Time as “the most elegant comics publisher in North America.” D+Q books have been nominated for the Man Booker Prize, Governor General’s Literary Awards, Giller Prize, NAACP Image Award, Lambda Literary Award, the Story Prize, and many Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Awards.

Photos, excerpts and copy by Drawn & Quarterly.