Book Review: Liberated by Kaz Rowe
Riwe, Kaz. Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun. Getty Publications, LA: 2023.
Aside from seeing some of their art somewhere, I didn’t really know about Claude Cahun until I listened to the episode about them on the podcast History is Gay. Such a delightful podcast! After listening, I purchased this graphic novel and a coffee table book about Claude Cahun.
Recently, YouTube recommended a wonderful video called “Exploring the Secret Lesbian World of Interwar Paris.” To my surprise, the YouTuber is Kaz Rowe, the author of this graphic novel!
Alarmed by escalating fascism (if you don’t know about Project 2025, search online), I just updated my Antifascism Bibliography and purchased more resistance books and started reading some such books. I chose to read this book for fun — and it turns out to be another anti-fascist book. For example:
“Between 1932 and 1935, Suzanne and I took part in and helped form the revolutionary artist groups AEAR and Contre-Attaque.
“We intended to encourage creatives to battle fascism through art.
“I wrote some of my most powerful essays in these groups, and we organized protests against the growing imperialist and antisemitic crimes in Germany (p. 32).”