awaiting review
Not My Shame
“There’s something really empowering about telling your own story” So begins this powerful, mixed-media graphic tale. It is a phrase that encapsulates one of the principles of narrative medicine, and so graphic medicine, too. Many graphic stories deal with trauma; the ones I find most powerful tend to come from first hand experience, told in raw, unfiltered words and images. This is one such work. Hats off to Singing Dragon, purveyors of some excellent comics, for publishing this book, which challenges the misogyny and rape culture that seem to permeate our popular media and society. Part visual diary, part interior monologue, the narrative is not… Read More
The Courage To Be Me
Nina Burrowes’ illustrated book is, primarily, a self-help tool for people living with the psychological consequences of sexual violence. The work was originally conceived and produced to be viewed, free, on Burrowes’ website, and it can still be found there. It has also been published using Amazon’s print-on-demand platform and, although this means the finished printed object lacks the finesse of graphic narratives produced by publishing houses, this format serves to emphasise that The Courage To Be Me is a determinedly practical document, with utility for its intended readership at its core. Burrowes has styled herself as ‘The Cartooning Psychologist’… Read More