Enemy Alien: a true story of life behind barbed wire
Publishing Information
Title: Enemy Alien
Subtitle (s): a true story of life behind barbed wire
Author: Kassandra Luciuk
Artist: nicole marie burton
Publisher: Between the Lines
Pages: 96
ISBN: 9781771134729
Awards: KOBZAR Book Award, 2022 (Short-listed)
This graphic history tells the story of Canada’s first national internment operations through the eyes of John Boychuk, an internee held in Kapuskasing from 1914 to 1917. The story is based on Boychuk’s actual memoir, which is the only comprehensive internee testimony in existence.
The novel follows Boychuk from his arrest in Toronto to Kapuskasing, where he spends just over three years. It details the everyday struggle of the internees in the camp, including forced labour and exploitation, abuse from guards, malnutrition, and homesickness. It also documents moments of internee agency and resistance, such as work slowdowns and stoppages, hunger strikes, escape attempts, and riots.
PRESS for Enemy Alien
November, 2020
SpringMag: Book review of Enemy Alien
June 2020
Ukrainian Canadian Congress Virtual Talk: Kassandra Luciuk, Canada's First Internment Operations from 1914-1920
May 2020
Wilson Institute for Canadian History Virtual Lecture series: 'Enemy Alien: A True Story of Life Behind Barbed Wire 'with Kassandra Luciuk and Nicole Marie Burton
Beyond Borders blog: Chatting with Kassandra Luciuk and nicole marie burton about their new comic, Enemy AlienFebruary, 2020
CBC Books: Enemy Alien book review
CBC Books: 17 Canadian comics to watch out for in spring 2020
PRAISE for Enemy Alien
“This graphic novel tells a great story in an innovative format which is a ‘spot-on reflection’ of the Ukrainian-Canadian experience. The material was presented with integrity and in a format accessible to a wide audience.”
– KOBZAR Book Award Jury
“In legend, the First World War marked the birth of Canada. In reality, it represented the apogee of one brutally militarized version of a particular vision of ‘Anglo Canada.’ Vividly told from the perspective of Ukrainians detained in concentration camps, and then sent as forced labourers to Cape Breton, Enemy Alien brilliantly reveals both how these men were victimized as ‘aliens’—and how they stubbornly resisted as flesh-and-blood human beings.”
– Ian McKay, historian and chair of the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, McMaster University