The novel centres around the family of Awale, a taxi driver in Yellowknife who is saving money so he can bring his wife Warsan and son Afrah over from Somalia.
When he isn’t busy driving around a cast of colourful characters – some of whom have hostile intentions – he’s drawing parts of his own fantastical
graphic novel that he sends to his son.
The stories Awale sketches mirror Afrah’s struggles with loneliness and his temper that gets him into trouble at school. In that alternate Yellowknife universe, he becomes Prince Afrah, heir to the frozen Kingdom of Jayrikas. He trains under the master ninja warrior Kosugi, who teaches him to shun anger and “fight with a quiet heart.”
That training is in preparation for Afrah’s inevitable battle with the Water Dog and White Bahaals (“monster” in Somali), hideous creatures bent on dominating the kingdom and who guard the secret of what happened to King Awale.
The story of Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan, whose father is a taxi driver in Yellowknife, was also in Bulckaert’s mind when he drafted the original concept.
nnsl.com
When he isn’t busy driving around a cast of colourful characters – some of whom have hostile intentions – he’s drawing parts of his own fantastical
graphic novel that he sends to his son.
The stories Awale sketches mirror Afrah’s struggles with loneliness and his temper that gets him into trouble at school. In that alternate Yellowknife universe, he becomes Prince Afrah, heir to the frozen Kingdom of Jayrikas. He trains under the master ninja warrior Kosugi, who teaches him to shun anger and “fight with a quiet heart.”
That training is in preparation for Afrah’s inevitable battle with the Water Dog and White Bahaals (“monster” in Somali), hideous creatures bent on dominating the kingdom and who guard the secret of what happened to King Awale.
The story of Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan, whose father is a taxi driver in Yellowknife, was also in Bulckaert’s mind when he drafted the original concept.
New graphic novel King Warrior depicts struggles of Somali community in YK
January 20, 2021 - A new graphic novel set in Yellowknife tells the story of a Somali family separated by thousands of kilometres as they face loneliness, workplace dangers...
nnsl.com
