Sikkim Stories

On 2 September 2026, French graphic novelist Simon Lamouret published Sikkim Stories, the first graphic novel to emerge from a Villa Swagatam residency, created in collaboration with Sikkimese journalist Pema Wangchuk Dorjee, and published by Éditions Sarbacane with support from the centre national du livre.

In 2023, during the very first edition of Villa Swagatam, Simon Lamouret travelled to the Indian Himalayas for a residency at Rachna Books in Gangtok, Sikkim. His immersion in the former Himalayan kingdom offered him the opportunity to explore its landscapes and the profound transformations reshaping the region. It was there that he met Pema Wangchuk Dorjee, journalist and consulting editor of the Summit Times. Their conversations and shared exploration of Sikkim became the starting point for Sikkim Stories.

About the book

Set against the spectacular landscapes of Sikkim, the graphic novel follows three intertwined lives: Sangay, a nomadic yak herder confronted with the gradual disappearance of his way of life; Pema, a botanist based in Delhi who returns to the land of her origins; and Jaspreet, a young Punjabi soldier discovering the realities of the Himalayan borderlands.

Their paths cross for one night, on the eve of the catastrophic South Lhonak glacial lake outburst flood of October 2023. Through their stories, Sikkim Stories explores a territory facing climate change, rapid development and the erosion of ancestral ways of life, while capturing the deep attachment of those who continue to inhabit and preserve it.

Sikkim Stories will be available in bookstores across France from 2 September 2026.