When Joan Steacy graduated from High School in 1974, she left her small town behind to embark on a lifelong quest for education. In Aurora Borealice, Steacy explores her personal journey through alter-ego Alice, a functional illiterate with a creative mind and an astonishing amount of artistic skill. The book is a lesson in perseverance and ultimately believing in yourself regardless of the challenges thrown your way. The story follows Alice as she winds her way through art college, marriage, an art career in Toronto, parenthood, and a major move to Victoria. Along the way, she draws encouragement from her partner, Canadian comics artist Ken Steacy, insight from media theorist Marshall McLuhan and mentor Eric McLuhan, and inspiration from Jean Moebius' Giraud, and Jack King' Kirby. The more Alice learns, the more confident she becomes - until she's accepted into the University of Victoria. There, she's faced with one of the most important questions of her life: what is the true value of a university education?

Joan Steacy grew up in southern Ontario, and is a graduate of Sheridan College, The Ontario College of Art & Design University, and The University of Victoria. With her husband Ken Steacy she co-created the Comics and Graphic Novels program at Camosun College in Victoria, BC, where she taught from 2012 to 2020. Her first graphic novel Aurora Borealice: a Graphic Memoir, was published by Conundrum Press in 2019, and was listed as one of “Ten Canadian Comics to Read Right Now” by the CBC, and won the sequential magazine award for best graphic novel of 2019. Joan also produced the illustrations for a biography of our greatest canadian, titled A Boy Named Tommy Douglas which is published by Midtown press as well.

Joan Steacy's profile page

"The Alice of Aurora Borealice is brilliant, talented, and a functional illiterate who believes what she's been told all her life, until with the aid of a supportive boyfriend and a healthy dose of Marshall McLuhan, she breaks free of her labels. Aurora Borealice is wittily written and charmingly drawn." - Trina Robbins
"Joan Steacy's Aurora Borealice is a whimsical, heartfelt and insightful look at the burgeoning Toronto art scene of the 1970s. A natural storyteller, her vivid characters come to life with her beautiful cartooning." - Jeff Lemire, author of Essex County and Secret Path
"Joan Steacy offers up an interesting new door into a moment in cultural history now up for re-evaluation. A gentle and thoughtful look at the recent past that feels far away at the same time." - Douglas Coupland