Join poet, literary critic and translator Sepideh Jodeyri and graphic novel and comic artist Karrie Fransman in a conversation about free speech, LGBTQ rights and the power of comics to transcend cultural boundaries.

Last year, Karrie Fransman’s comic Over Under Sideways Down detailing an Iranian refugee’s story was published, a powerful example of the impact of illustrations and words. When Sepideh Jodeyri translated a graphic novel herself, Julie Maroh’s Blue is the Warmest Colour, she became the target of the conservative press of Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by 100 lashes or, at worst, death.

Canan Marasligil is a writer, translator and editor.