New Swedish Books. Spring 2016 1
NEW SWEDISH BOOKS Five Tales of Prostituters The
Chilean-Swedish comics artist Amalia Alvarez debuted in 2013 with the criticallyacclaimed Five Undocumented Women’s Stories. The sequel is Five Tales of Prostituters (and no, there’s no spelling mistake in the title), about the realities of sex-workers’ lives. In direct interviews – presented in parallel Spanish, English and Swedish – Serge, Anna, Mei and Corona talk about the reality they’re tied to. A day-to-day life that contains joy as well as oppression and assault, but in the case of those interviewed, no addiction, psychiatric diagnoses or glamorous lifestyles. For them it’s about survival. Alvarez’s sketchy, almost amateurish drawings are intense, lifting the documentary contents. There’s no place here for self-pity or glorification. It’s pragmatic and direct – a piece of no-holdsbarred social critique that hits you right in the heart. AMALIA ALVAREZ (WORDS AND IMAGES) FIVE TALES OF PROSTITUTERS SERIEFRÄMJANDET RIGHTS: SERIEFRÄMJANDET “a piece of no-holdsbarred social critique that hits you right in the heart.” 62 Photo: Seriefrämjandet