“Making is a social practice.” – Moreton Simon Moreton is a cartoonist, writer and academic geographer based in Bristol. Simon runs Better, Drawn (betterdrawn.com), a blog where people can share stories about experience of long-term mental or physical illnesses in the form of comics. According to Simon, “The aim of this exploratory paper is to unpack a) how the collective constitution of stigma around physical and mental illness unfolds and b) how comics communities can be mobilised to challenge that process.” Download Podcast

The stigma surrounding mental health problems continues to be debilitating and destructive. This presentation (performance) aims to challenge negative and stereotypical attitudes through the narrative of the two presenters: one the cartoonist who authored Depresso and the other a mental health academic. There are few books about mental health written in the cartoon genre; Depresso is one of them. The protagonist, Tom Freeman has what might be described as “a breakdown” and the book is his recovery journey, at times bleak and painful but also funny. On one level, the story can be read as a hilarious true-life graphic novel,… Read More

Nicola Streeten has been working as an illustrator for 15 years. Her first graphic novel, Billy, Me & You, has been published in the UK by Myriad Editions. It first appeared in serialised form in Liquorice Magazine. She is in the final stage of a Master of Research in Art, Architecture and Design degree at The University of Lincoln, her research area is gender and the graphic novel. Nicola is co-director of Laydeez do Comics, a unique graphic novel forum, with a focus on autobiographical works. (streetenillustration.com) and (liquoricemag.com) and (laydeezdocomics.com) Download Podcast

Katie Green speaks on some of the common misconceptions surrounding eating disorders and sexual abuse, drawing on examples from her graphic-memoir-in- progress. Katie’s talk is followed by a Q&A with Andrew Godfrey. Katie Green is a freelance illustrator based in Bristol. She self-publishes a regular zine, the Green Bean, and is currently working on her first graphic novel. Lighter Than My Shadow, a graphic memoir of eating disorders, sexual abuse and recovery, will be published by Jonathan Cape in Autumn 2013. (katie@katiegreen.co.uk) (katiegreen.co.uk) Download Podcast

Karrie Fransman is a comic creator who lives in London. Her autobiographical comic strips have been published in The Guardian. Her comic serial, “The Night I Lost My Love” ran in The Times. Her new book, The House That Groaned is available from Square Peg. You can watch a fun video about the book here. You can see more of Karrie’s work at (karriefransman.com). Download Podcast

“There are people who may think that graphic memoirs about death, disease, and mental health problems…are nothing but depressing affairs. But for me, these memoirs are filled with laughter and hope and paint a much more fully formed picture of what its like to live with illness, better than any poster child can hope to portray. They remind us that even those who are meant to be unemotional, unbiased, and strong, such as doctors, are just as vulnerable and flawed as the rest of us. They (graphic memoirs) have the capacity to make the alien and unknown into something relatable,… Read More

In a panel moderated by Maria Vacarella, Vancouver writer and cartoonist Sarah Leavitt delivers her talk, “Documenting a Family’s Struggles with Alzheimer’s Disease: Using Comics to Break Through Stigma and Silence.” Sarah discusses three areas of stigma explored through comics in her book Tangles – anger and bad behavior, bodily functions, and sexuality. Her talk is followed by excerpts from the panel Q&A . Download Podcast

On 17 November, 2011, a one-day conference on Graphic Medicine was held at the Leeds Art Gallery. It was the second day of Comics Forum (comicsforum.org) 2011, organized by Ian Hague. All of the conference audio will also be available here. In the coming weeks, we will be posting many of the wonderful talks. In this episode, North Wales physician Ian Williams, curator of the Graphic Medicine website, and organizer of the Graphic Medicine day of Comics Forum, discusses the theme of the day, using comics to break through stigma and silence. Ian asks in his introduction, “Who are the… Read More