May 15, 2015
The Graphic Medicine Manifesto is a creative collaboration by six “pioneers” of graphic medicine whose layered essays and original comic narratives introduce readers to the principles of the field. As a manifesto the project resists the idea that there is one universal subject, experience, or point of view; instead, it points to the need for offering a more inclusive perspective of medicine, illness, disability, caregiving, and being cared for. Esssays in this volume consider how research in graphic medicine has begun to challenge the boundaries of conventional academic disciplines and how graphic medicine narratives have the potential to engage healthcare workers, patients, and educators in life-changing ways. The volume draws the conclusion that creating graphic narratives in various health contexts is an important social practice, and that, to this end, comics are a valuable rhetorical medium. The comic introduction and collusion to this volume feature avatars of the authors and of a host of other key contributors to the field. Two bibliographies – of comics and scholarly references – provide a valuable resources for further study.
The Graphic Medicine Manifesto is the inaugural volume in the Graphic Medicine book series edited by Susan Squier and Ian Williams and published by Penn State Press.
Hello Graphic Medicine Pioneers,
I will be completing my 3rd year of Graduate School for a Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling. I am currently at a children’s hospital in which I would like to create a graphic novel/comic for the medical staff. My thoughts surrounding it are an informative graphic novel (very similar to Graphic Medicine Manifesto) but is focused on Art Therapy and the services it offers in the medical field. I was hoping to get input from you all in what I should do, and if possible get a couple interviews that I would be able to quote in my thesis/comic. I appreciate any form of help in this matter. Thank you so much! And I love this movement! I have a background in nursing and wish this was incorporated back when I did schooling.
Thanks again!
Best, Crystal Swenson, MAATC Candidate 2019
Crystal, post this to the Graphic Medicine Facebook group and you will get feedback more immediately!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1841731169229683/
If you don’t, email me via comicnurse.com and I will connect you with a few people I have in mind.
And a small superficially quiet run down town in North Wales played a part in the beginning of graphic medicine! Congratulations Ian Williams on being an amazing doctor (I still have patients telling me how wonderful you were to them) and a pioneer in graphic medicine!
There’s a great book called Bibliotherapy by Liz Brewster that talks about this book & other graphic novels as a means of helping bring healing to people.