Migrants and Migration Writers: Graphic Novels and Journals on Migrants’ Stories in Italy

One of the most pressing and controversial issues facing Europe in recent decades, has been the ever-increasing migration of people fleeing conflicts (especially from Syria, Libya, and sub Saharan Africa), or political crises, poverty, and unemployment (especially from Africa and in particular from or via North African Arab countries). This issue mainly concerns Italy, which, due to its geographical position as a real “bridge” between Mediterranean countries, has seen the number of migrants increase from 26,817 in 2000, to 127,207 in 20231. In this regard, in Italy, the intolerant and intransigent positions of various people and groups are counterbalanced by the conviction of many, that the contribution of migrants is an indispensable condition for the development of societies, not only economically, but also culturally. And that every migrant must be considered first and foremost as a person with a story worth knowing. Those who share this belief include many transnational authors having experienced migration firsthand and others having documented it through interviews, reading and research, who tell the stories of migrants and migration in different ways. This article documents first of all the presence of many transnational authors (in particular those of Arab origin) in the various fields of contemporary Italian literature and information. It then presents those authors who choose the medium of comics to speak about migration. Their graphic novels and journals illustrate an increasingly composite Italian society, in which different stories, customs, languages and cultures are intertwined, and convey the contribution of migration and diasporic communities to the formation of a new – and richer – Italian culture.