In this workshop with Maja Milkowska-Shibata, we will explore the advantages of comics as a medium, highlighting their various applications, such as simplifying complex concepts to enhance understanding and knowledge retention. We invite participants to focus on personal encounters with illness and disability exploring the genre of graphic medicine. These applications will be illustrated with examples from published graphic medicine works, showcasing various visual styles and diverse authors.
As a hands-on exercise, the workshop participants will choose a memorable or challenging topic to transform into a short comic strip. We will start by developing a written narrative, which will then be adapted into a script and illustrated as a one-page zine. Participants will learn the basics of creating comics and relevant terminology. No drawing experience will be required, and participants will be able to use publicly available images for reference.
After completing the comic, we will discuss participants’ impressions of using a visual format to convey information, share experiences, and express emotions. Participants will be encouraged to complete and publish their works as zines, which can be copied and distributed at Surel’s Place community spaces, the local libraries, or submitted to short comic calls.
BIOGRAPHY
Maja Milkowska-Shibata (Illinois) was born and raised in Poland. She is a public health professional and medical interpreter by training, using writing and art to share stories and perspectives. Over the past few years, she began seeking a deeper connection to humanity in her work, which led her to discover the field of graphic medicine, which uses comics to discuss health-related topics. [I removed the mention of the conference as less relevant and not precise, as the memoir is still a work in progress.] Her comics have been featured in Sequential Artists Workshop Anthologies (2023, 2024), as well as in the journals The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (2023), Intima (2024), and Tendon (2025).
Maja has an exhibit and art talk at Surel's Place on Thursday, September 25th, 7pm - 8:30pm.
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