Nando von Arb

Nando von Arb was born in Zurich in 1992. He studied illustration fiction at the Lucerne School of Art and Design and fine arts in illustration at the LUCA School of Arts in Ghent. Von Arb is a trained graphic designer and works as a freelance illustrator and comic author.

In 2019, von Arb made his debut with the autobiographically inspired graphic novel »Drei Väter« (tr: Three Fathers). In it, he tells the story of growing up with his often overwhelmed single mother and three fathers from the child’s perspective: his biological father, his sister’s father, and his mother’s partner. With a lot of humor – the mother is a bird, the father a wild animal – and bold colors alternating with black and white drawings, von Arb creates a differentiated picture of the various relationships with the fathers. His second graphic novel, »Fürchten Lernen« (tr: Learning to Fear), is also designed in the author’s characteristic formal language with its large, bold color contrasts. Von Arb tells episodic stories of various personal experiences of fear and how they were overcome. At the same time, there are universal feelings, such as the fear of darkness, loneliness, illness, and death, which allow the reader to identify with them.

»Fürchten Lernen« was nominated for the Schweizer Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis 2024. In explaining the nomination, the jury wrote that »In an explosive, very unique visual language, the work deals with psychological suffering that currently affects many young people. It makes use of artistic references, but also uses a lot of humor and exaggeration (…)«. Von Arb also received a literary award from the city of Zurich. »Drei Väter« was awarded the zeugindesign prize in 2018 and the recognition grant from the Canton of Zurich’s Department of Culture in 2019. In 2020, »Drei Väter« was awarded the Schweizer Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis and was translated into French. The author’s works have appeared in Le Monde Diplomatique, Strapazin and Reportagen Magazin, among others, and have been exhibited at various venues, including various Goethe Institutes, the Kunsthalle Luzern, the Galerie Neurotitan Berlin, and the Comicfestival Hamburg.

The author lives in Zurich.

Status: May 2024

Drei Väter
Edition Moderne
Zürich, 2019

Fürchten lernen
Edition Moderne
Zürich, 2023