Twelve Panels Press

06/08/2024

The State Library NSW has acquired a collection of Safdar Ahmed's sketchbooks, original drawings, and other precious ephemera to live in perpetuity for readers and researchers. It's currently on display so check it out if you're in Sydney!

13/12/2022

Don't forget to watch the live stream of the Prime Minister's Literary Awards today at 12.30pm!

The Prime Ministers Literary Awards will be livestreamed here on 13 December from 12:30pm AEDT. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/subs...

07/11/2022

Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers on this year's PM Literary Awards shortlist! We are thrilled that Safdar Ahmed's Still Alive has been shortlisted in the Young Adult category. The judges say:

'Still Alive' does not shy away from uncomfortable and difficult questions; bringing together the voices and art of refugees and their advocates with a forensic account of Australian refugee policy. It evokes the idea of horror in art and music as a motif to convey the idea of abjection and to portray the impact it has upon the mental and physical health of those caught in the system.

The work is illustrated in black and white. However, it refuses to take a similarly binary approach to its subject matter. Instead, the moral and ethical questions raised are treated with nuance; refugees are neither valorised nor demonised but are portrayed as humans; messy, complex and lost as they struggle to maintain their connections and a sense of self in a system designed to silence and conceal their stories.

Towards the end of the work, Ahmed asks the reader: 'As an Australian citizen, aren't I implicated in the abuses of my government? Aren't we all?' It is this feature of the book - the way it raises significant questions of culpability without didacticism or judgement, and asks the readers to carefully consider their own standpoint - that makes it an important and powerful piece of cultural memory. As a work of literature, Still Alive is a significant contribution to the ongoing national conversation.

17/10/2022

Safdar Ahmed will be appearing at the Blue Mountains Writers Festival in Katoomba this Sunday October 23rd on a panel titled 'Human Rights, Art, Philosophy', with Nam Le and Behrouz Boochani. It looks glorious - get your tickets at the link!

This special event with Behrouz Boochani (livestreamed from NZ) and Safdar Ahmed is not to be missed. Hosted by Nam Le.

05/09/2022

A new long-form review of Still Alive is up on the Sydney Review of Books. Review is by the wonderful Suvendrini Perera.

https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/ahmed-still-alive/

This book is perhaps one of the most distinctive artefacts of the Australian detention system.

16/05/2022

We are utterly thrilled to share that Safdar Ahmed's graphic novel Still Alive: Notes from Australia's Immigration Detention System won both the Multicultural NSW Award and the Book of the Year at last night's NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

In his public comments on social media last night, Safdar says: "Massive thanks to everyone who collaborated with me on this comic - to all the people who spoke to me in the Villawood detention centre over the years and to Amir Taghinia whilst he was on Manus Island. To my friends in the community art organisation Refugee Art Project, who I’ve collaborated with on multiple works. To the whistle-blowers and refugee supporters who gave me so much guidance and inspiration. To my lovely publishers at Twelve Panels Press for their wonderful support. I hope Still Alive educates and contributes somehow towards a decisive policy change, to completely scrap Australia’s cruel and unconscionable imprisonment of refugees in favour of something more just and humane. My mum has supported my art 'career' over many years and as I've struggled with chronic illness in the shape of Crohn's Disease, so the prize money is to thank her."

We couldn't feel more privileged to have been part of bringing this book into the world.

Artist, writer and educator Safdar Ahmed has won Book of the Year and the Multicultural NSW Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards for Still Alive.

05/04/2022

Totally delighted to share that Still Alive has been shortlisted for the Multicultural NSW Award in the 2022 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Congratulations to all shortlisted books, and with great thanks to the judges Sarah Ayoub, Sheila Ngoc Pham and Omar Sakr.
https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/multicultural-nsw-award

Sarah Ayoub is a journalist, author and academic researching intersectional literature. Her work has been published in The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, SBS, ELLE, Marie-Claire, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books and more. She has worked as a lecturer and tutor in journalism and writing....

20/03/2022

Don't forget to watch ABC Compass at 7.30pm tonight, or catchup on iView. The show is dedicated to 's work with Refugee Art Project, music, and of course his graphic novel Still Alive. Can't wait! ❤🖤

19/12/2021

Thank you to Leah Jing McIntosh for this mention of Still Alive in their small press roundup in The Saturday Paper. 🖤❤️

Support small press publishers and local artists when you're holiday shopping this week! Head to our website for local stockists of Still Alive around Australia or to pick up directly from Brunswick Melbourne. 🖤❤️

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/books/2021/12/31/small-press-gems/163974600013084

Small press is often overlooked in this country. It seems an odd oversight, particularly in a place so enamoured with the Western literary canon; I am thinking here of Hogarth Press, founded in 1917 by Virginia and Leonard Woolf, publishing works by writers such as T.  S. Eliot, Auden, Katherine...

12/10/2021

We are thrilled to announce that Still Alive by Safdar Ahmed will be published in French by Éditions Cambourakis who have acquired world rights to the French language edition. We are so excited to join Cambourakis's stellar catalogue and can't wait to see Safdar's book in European bookstores. A huge *merci* to for paving the way for this collaboration. - Douze Panneaux.

24/09/2021

Please sign this petition in support of a motion asking that the amazing Refugee Art Project be granted secure tenancy at Thirning Villa.

Support The Refugee Art Project - Keep them at Thirning Villa

29/05/2021

Did you miss out on our Melbourne launch event with Safdar Ahmed last week? The good news is you can now watch Safdar's reading from Still Alive and the full Q & A with Maria Tumarkin on our Vimeo channel. Click this link for both videos ---> https://vimeo.com/showcase/8517816

25/05/2021

Our Still Alive event tomorrow Wednesday May 26th 6.30pm at The Collective with Safdar Ahmed and Maria Tumarkin is absolutely still going ahead! As per DHHS Covid-safe guidelines please bring a face mask to wear and make sure you check in to the venue.

21/05/2021

Safdar with the incredible Liminal Magazine !

“I hope Still Alive makes some contribution to a cultural and political sea change in this country, away from policies that exploit racism and fear. Ultimately we need to dismantle and overturn the entire immigration and ‘border protection’ system if we are to ever treat people humanely.”

18/05/2021

Join Safdar Ahmed in conversation with Dr Lucia Sorbera at the University of Sydney via Zoom, this Thursday May 20 at 4.30pm as part of the AraBooks online seminar series.

https://slc-events.sydney.edu.au/calendar/arabooks-paola-rivetti/?occurrence=2021-04-22

AraBooks | Political Participation in Iran from Khatami to the Green Movement – Paola Rivetti The Department of Arabic Language and Cultures presents AraBooks: Literature, politics, society and the arts from the Arab world, the Middle East and its diasporas Political Participation in Iran from Kha...

10/04/2021

Eloise Grills reviews Safdar Ahmed's Still Alive for The Saturday Paper. "Still Alive exemplifies the graphic novel’s capacity for juxtaposition as resistance. His intricately layered pages demonstrate the effects of government policies on real people." Thank you, Eloise!

I first became familiar with Safdar Ahmed’s work through his webcomic about his fraught relationship with his father, The Good Son. It showed Ahmed’s knack for illustrating the mind’s landscape, his death-metal-inspired illustrations giving an outlet to his turmoil.

04/03/2021

If you're a teacher or librarian interested in working with Safdar Ahmed's graphic novel Still Alive as a text in your classrooms, take a look at our comprehensive Teachers Notes on our website. You'll find study notes, suggestions for writing exercises, class discussion topics, as well as links to further reading and resources. https://www.twelvepanelspress.com/reading-and-teaching-notes/

Resources Still Alive media release Still Alive Teachers Notes Still Alive Author Notes and References Still Alive hi-res cover Salty River media release Salty River Reading Notes Salty River in the Adelaide Review Salty River in the Saturday Paper Salty River in the Sydney Morning Herald Site © Co...

14/01/2021

An advance copy of Safdar Ahmed's extraordinary graphic novel 'Still Alive' fell from the sky today. We are thrilled to be publishing this book. You'll be able to pre-order it early March!