by Felix Cheong War memoirs usually announce their scars, complete with bandaged words that barely conceal old wounds. Elisa Macellari’s Papaya Salad does something quieter, and perhaps more effectively. Her debut graphic biography retells the picaresque life of Sompong, her Thai great-uncle. When the young Macellari meets him at a family gathering, he regales her with his rags-to-rattled story—one so dramatic that it could only be true. Born to a humble family, Sompong applies for and lands a Thai military scholarship. But before he can be sent abroad to a military academy in Berlin, World War II breaks out,… Read More
Spotlight: VEOLI
Graphic Medicine doesn’t always take the form of a book: sometimes it can be a collaboration. This is the case for the Visualizing End of Life Issues group (VEOLI). This international group of graphic recorders, artists, facilitators, death doulas, grief specialists, and authors have practiced listening to people describe their end-of-life thinking and, in real-time, capture these thoughts by making drawings and using words. Members of VEOLI have devoted over a year to creating and fine-tuning a process for leading people through a journey to capture their thoughts and feelings about their dying and death. Undertaking the very personal experience… Read More