Barbara Stok

Barbara Stok wrote stories as a child, and read her brother's collection of comic books. In her twenties she discovered the American "underground" comics. She did not read non-comic books until she was in her thirties, and says the Harry Potter books were the first prose books she read. She is a member of a book club, but after proposing a Robert Crumb book (too long) and one by Daniel Clowes (too experimental) is no longer allowed to bring in comic books.[2]

Much of Stok's work is autobiographical; she began drawing comics in the 1990s and self-published Barbaraal, a series of books set in Groningen, often in and around Vera, a former student organization's building and now a center for popular music.[3] She never attended an art or design school, wary that she might lose her personal style.[3] Her 2003 novel Je geld of je leven ("Your money or your life") deals with her work as a journalist and the burn-out that followed it.[3] She won the 2009 Stripschapprijs[4] for the autobiographical novel Dan maak je maar zin, which deals with the death of the author/main character's brother-in-law and probes the meaning of life.[3][5]

Also in 2009, Stok was commissioned by publishing company Nijgh & Van Ditmar and the Van Gogh Museum to write a book on Van Gogh.[6] Her Vincent is a graphic novel depicting Vincent van Gogh's years in and around Arles; it is translated into a number of languages including English. James Smart, in The Guardian, praised it as "a vibrant, sad account of Van Gogh's move to Arles and his struggle with mental illness".[7] That same year she was given a weekly slot in the national daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad.[6]

• Official website