Matthew Forsythe

Matthew Forsythe was born in Toronto, Canada, and works as a writer, comic artist, animator, and illustrator.

His debut work, »Ojingogo« (2008), was originally published as a webcomic. The comic, which tells the story of a girl, her octopus, and the creatures the two encounter, won the Pigskin Peters Award, the prize for best experimental or avant-garde comic, at the 2009 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning, held annually at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The heroine from »Ojingogo« returns in Forsythe’s 2012 comic »Jinchalo«. Without words or panels, Forsythe creates a fantastical world inspired by Korean folktales, where hummingbirds are bigger than people, bears give piggyback rides, and a sad furry monster with a bowler hat can come around the corner at any time. In Los Angeles, Forsythe worked as the lead designer for Cartoon Network Studios’ animated series »Adventure Time«. He also participated in the creation of a number of shows, including the Netflix series »The Midnight Gospel«. He has illustrated several children’s books, such as »The Gold Leaf« (2017) by Kirsten Hall and »The Brilliant Deep« (2018) by Kate Messner. His first solo picture book was published in 2019 under the title »Pokko and the Drum«. Pokko, an adventurous frog girl, is given a drum by her parents. However, she is not allowed to play it at home. As she wanders through the forest with her instrument, she soon has company: a raccoon with a banjo, a rabbit with a trumpet, a wolf who has yet to learn that you don’t eat your bandmates, and many other musical animals. The »Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung« commented on the book, stating that »The fact that the pictures, rendered in earth tones as if painted with crayon or wax crayons and in some places painted in watercolor, tell as much as they conceal leads to at least one surprising twist in the book«. »Pokko and the Drum« was named among the best books of 2019 by Publishers Weekly and National Public Radio.

Matthew Forsythe regularly lectures and gives workshops. His current projects include illustrations for the stop-motion animated film »Robin, Robin«, which opens in fall 2021. His next book, »Mina«, will be published in spring 2022. Matthew Forsythe lives in Montreal.

Ojingogo

Drawn & Quarterly

Montreal, 2008

Jinchalo

Drawn & Quarterly

Montreal, 2012

Pokko und die Trommel

Rotopol

Kassel, 2020

[Ü: Rita Fürstenau]