Hannah Eaton is an artist and writer. She is the author of Naming Monsters, a graphic novel published by Myriad Editions and shortlisted for the First Graphic Novel Competition and the Ninth Art Prize. She has been a barmaid, a teacher, a support worker, one half of a comedy duo, a learning mentor, a carer for young people and a graphic novelist. She was born in London and lives in Brighton with a teenager and a black dog who, as far as she knows, is not a death omen.
Author photograph by Tiffany Kubani.
Interviews and Features
Hannah Eaton on Books for Sussex Life
The book I’ve never finished
I hated A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara so much I threw it in the recycling to take it out of circulation. I like a lurid, kitschy abuse melodrama as much as the next person, but I’ll stick with Flowers in the Attic, which has deadly doughnuts, a better villain and doesn’t demand tearful reverence.
The book that moved me most
Beloved by Toni Morrison. The adapted film is a soul-rending companion piece… the ghost-laying chorus of holy grandmas at the end. And Oprah as Sethe.
The book I’m reading now
I have four on the go: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, Theodore Zeldin’s The Hidden Pleasures of Life, Rebecca West’s The Fountain Overflows and Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel. I read the last two every year because they’re like amazing panopticons, not only of their particular positions in history and place, but also in a way that reflects your own shifting interiority each time you revisit them.
Author of Blackwood and Naming Monsters, Hannah Eaton talks books with Sussex Life magazine. Read in full.
Panel Borders Podcast: Myriad Authors Hannah Eaton and Sabba Khan
On the latest Panel Borders podcast, Hannah Eaton discusses the folk horror and factual influences on her forthcoming graphic novel Blackwood. We also hear from architect and artist Sabba Khan, who relates how her culture, family history and background as an architect are combined in her new book, which we are set to publish in 2021. Listen again now.
Graphic Reportage at International Women's Day
Artists and graphic novelists Ottilie Hainsworth and Hannah Eaton became graphic reporters at this year’s International Women’s Day event at Brighton Dome, running from one event to the next to capture as many as possible in artistic glory. They set up in the Founder’s Room with a dedicated artist space, allowing for those attending to take part and draw/write answers to a variety of tailor-written questions regarding wants, wishes and worries surrounding womanhood, then showcased their sketches from each event on a selection of easels.
The day was a total hit and featured a wonderful array of supportive charities, organisations and advocates for women’s rights. Over 3000 people attended the event, The Feminist Bookshop had a huge pop-up shop and Myriad authors Ruth Figgest and Umi Sinha featured in an author talk on belonging. We were incredibly proud to be part of such a brilliant event and thank Brighton Women’s Centre for organising it.
Head over to our Facebook page to view an album of photographs and video’s taken of Hannah and Ottilie’s work.
Appearance on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour
In a feature for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on children and bereavement, Hannah was interviewed by presenter Jenni Murray. She talked about her role as learning mentor at a primary school and about her debut graphic novel, Naming Monsters.
Podcast on publishing and graphic medicine
Recorded as part of the 2013 Brighton Graphic Medicine conference, Hannah discusses graphic medicine with fellow graphic novelists Nye Wright (Things to do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park), Woodrow Phoenix (Rumble Strip) and Nicola Streeten (Billy, Me and You), alongside Myriad Creative Director and Graphics Editor, Corinne Pearlman.