When Dana Walrath’s Armenian mother, Alice, came down with dementia and moved in with her, little did she know that this would lead her to start making comics. Creative writing, visual art, medical anthropology and comics? Who knew that they were connected? But through watching Alice devour every graphic narrative that came into the house, Dr Walrath discovered the healing power of this visual storytelling form and put it to work in her just released graphic memoir Aliceheimer’s (Penn State University Press 2016). Coming to us straight from the 7th International Comics and Medicine Conference in Dundee Scotland, she will lead participants through a series of hands–on interactive exercises that explore how visual storytelling works, and how healing works, and most importantly how to combine them in order to start your own graphic medicine journey.

Dana Walrath will be signing her books Aliceheimer’s and Like Water on Stone at the Armenian Institute stall during the Armenian Street Festival, Iverna Gardens W8, this Sunday, 17 July, between 3 and 4 pm. 

Dana Walrath’s BA is from Barnard College, Columbia University, MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and PhD in Anthropology from University of Pennsylvania.