Maya Zankoul

Maya Zankoul
Born	30 June 1986 Hasbaya, Lebanon
Nationality	Lebanese
Area(s)	Artist & Writer
Notable works	Amalgam , Amalgam vol. 2

Maya Zankoul (Arabic: مايا زنقول‎) (born 30 June 1986 in Hasbaya, Lebanon) is a Lebanese author, visual artist, blogger and television personality mostly known for her sarcastic cartoons and comics published in her books and her popular webcomic blog, Amalgam.^[1][2]

Early life

Maya Zankoul grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and in 2005 moved to her home country Lebanon, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design in 2007 from Notre Dame University – Louaize.

Career

In 2009, she started her comic blog, Amalgam, where she shares illustrations commenting on daily life in Lebanon from a socio-political point of view.^[3]

She self-published her first book, Amalgam, in 2009,^[4] reaching Top 5 in sales at Virgin Megastore.^[5]

In summer 2010, after touring Lebanon with her exhibition Amalgame,^[6] she published her second book, Amalgam Vol. 2.^[7]

In January 2011, she founded her own design studio in Beirut,.^[8] The Italian translation of her books is published by publishing house Il Sirente, in their Altriarabi series, and the books were launched at the Pisa Book Festival 2011.^[9]

In April 2013, she co-founded Explainer Video company wezank.^[10]

Books

Maya Zankoul's Amalgam Vol. 2 book cover

Author, Illustrator

• Amalgam (2009) ISBN 978-9953-0-1521-7
• Amalgam Vol. 2 (2010) ISBN 978-9953-0-1846-1

Illustrator

In the press

• Making it^[11]
• The Global Journal^[12]
• ELLE Oriental^[13]
• ArabAd^[14]

In books

• Nuits Beyrouthines^[15]

Television

Zankoul made her first major television debut with a segment aiming at teaching social media to stay-at-home women entitled Bwa2ta.^[16] The segment premiered in August 2012 and still runs every Tuesday on Future Television.

Exhibitions

• "Samneh w 3asal" (2011) At Tawlet Souk el Tayeb (Beirut)^[17][18][19]
• "Amalgame" (2009, 2010) At the French Culture Center, (Beirut, Saida, Tripoli, Deir el Qamar and Zahle centers)^[6]

Other work

Zankoul actively participates in illustration in local and regional events. She did live illustrations at the Arabnet 2010 conference^[20] and at the 17e Salon du Livre Francophone de Beyrouth^[21][22]

She has also lectured at the American University of Beirut,^[23] and has presented her work at the First Creative Commons Salon in Amman, Jordan^[24] and at Pecha Kucha Night 6 in Beirut.^[25]

In May 2010, she signed her book in Geneva, Switzerland.^[26]

In October 2011, she presented her book and work to Felipe, Prince of Asturias at a Campus Party event in Granada, Spain.^[27]

In September 2013, she participated to a talk titled "War, Not A Serious Issue" with Paolo Di Giannantonio in Lucera, Italy at the occasion of the Mediterranean Culture Festival.^[28]

References

1. "Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News - CNN.com". Articles.cnn.com. 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
2. "Maya's Amalgam". Mayazankoul.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
3. "Talking To: Blogger Maya Zankoul". Nowlebanon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
4. "Maya Zankoul's Amalgam Maya Zankoul's Amalgam: 9789953015217: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
5. "Maya Zankoul offers a slice of Lebanese life". GulfNews.com. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
6. "Expo: "Amalgame" de Maya Zankoul au CCF". Nowlebanon.com. 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
7. "Amalgam Vol. 2: 9789953018461: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
8. "Maya Zankoul: Lebanon's Media Wunderkind | Magda Abu-Fadil". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
9. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/20120425052405/http://www.pisabookfestival.com/press/comunicati%20espositori/csmaya_pisa.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. "Wezank, la vidÊo et l’animation au service de la communication" (in French). Lecommercedulevant.com. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
11. "Industry for Development". Making It Magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
12. "NGO rankings, Global Governance, Energy, Innovation, Issues". Global Journal. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
13. Bailey, Alyssa. "Fashion Magazine - Beauty Tips, Fashion Trends, & Celebrity News". ELLE. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
14. "Arab Ad February 2015". Arabadmag.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
15. Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
16. "ÇáäÔŃÉ ÇáÝäíÉ - "B ćŢĘĺÇ" ÝŢŃÉ ĘßäćáćĚíÉ ĚĎíĎÉ ááăŃĂÉ Úáě "ÇáăÓĘŢČá"". Elnashrafan.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
17. "Lebanese culture served on a plate - CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
18. "Cartoons meet cuisine at Beirut’s Tawlet | Life , Living". The Daily Star. 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
19. Carla Henoud (2011-08-15). "Samneh w 3asal... à déguster avec les yeux - Carla Henoud - L'Orient-Le Jour". Lorientlejour.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
21. https://web.archive.org/20101118081321/http://2010.salondulivrebeyrouth.org:80/. Archived from the original on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
22. https://web.archive.org/20101029214921/http://2010.salondulivrebeyrouth.org:80/animations/?id=151. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
23. Archived 26 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
25. "PechaKucha 20x20". Pecha-kucha.org. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
26. Archived 3 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
27. "Regalo al Principe Felipe, de campusera Maya Zankoul | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr. 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
28. "Gli autori dell’XI Festival della Letteratura Mediterranea 18/22 settembre 2013". Mediterraneoecultura.it. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2015-03-03.

External links

• Amalgam, Maya Zankoul's blog