Nicola Streeten is an anthropologist-turned-illustrator and comics scholar. She is the author of Billy, Me & You (Myriad, 2011), an acclaimed graphic memoir about her bereavement following the death of her two-year old son. It was initially serialised in Liquorice Magazine, a comic Nicola produced with her daughter, and it received Highly Commended in the Popular Medicine category of the 2012 British Medical Association Medical Book Awards.
Streeten is co-founder (with artist Sarah Lightman) of Laydeez do Comics, a graphic novel forum with a focus on the new wave of comic work based on the drama of everyday life, which has been called ‘a combination between a book club and a series of TED talks’ (Julie Davis, A Woman’s Art Magazine, 2013).
In 2013 she was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council Scholarship from the University of Sussex to undertake a research doctorate on British women’s comics from 1970 to the present. She continues to work on commercial illustration commissions. Every Friday, she adds to a regular cartoon strip series #ayearat50 on her blog.
Nicola Streeten is co-editor with Cath Tate of The Inking Woman, published by Myriad in March 2018.
Interviews and Features
Make It Then Tell Everybody
Nicola Streeten and Dan Berry talk about memoir and autobiography, the necessity of community and opening doors into the world of comics. Listen here or download the podcast.
Precarious Migration
Read Nicola Streeten’s comic Precarious Migration relating the experiences of Cambodian migrants produced for Migrating Out of Poverty Research at the University of Sussex for DFID and launched at WOMAD 2016.
Nicola Streeten interview on BBC Radio Lincolnshire
‘Listen to an interview with Nicola Streeten about the making of her graphic novel.’
Nicola Streeten interviewed for Strange Alliances
What I personally like about the comic form is its immediacy. In one panel you can convey a meaning very quickly. I think that if people who are in a state of shock in a hospital, recovering from some trauma, can sit down with a book that takes an hour to get through and has pictorial prompts is much easier than reading text…‘
Nicola chats with Elaine Aldred about the ways in which comics and graphic novels can talk about life, in a blog interview for Strange Alliances.
Nicola Streeten attends Comics and Medicine conference
Nicola recently attended the third annual Comics and Medicine conference in Toronto, co-organised by Ian Williams, whose graphic novel The Bad Doctor will be published by Myriad in 2014. Paul Gravett opened the conference with a rousing speech about graphic medicine, including a mention of Myriad’s own contribution to the field. Ian and Nicola were later interviewed for Canadian CBC Radio’s Sunday book show, featuring Billy, Me & You. Listen to the podcast here
Nicola Streeten discusses graphics in medicine
As part of the Ethics in Performance series at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Nicola joined fellow graphic novelist Nye Wright and geriatrics specialist Dr Muna Al-Jawad to discuss the importance of Graphics in Medicine. Hear her discussing Billy, Me & You and the interchange between ethics, comics and medicine at the Graphic Medicine Comics Forum in Leeds, November 2011.
Nicola Streeten on BBC World Service
‘Nicola discusses the circumstances of Billy’s death and the grieving process with Matthew Bannister – (about 15 minutes in).’ – Outlook, BBC World Service
Comica Conversation at Orbital Comics
‘On 26 November 2011 the Orbital West Wing hosted a Comica conversation between graphic novelists Nicola Streeten and Sarah Leavitt. Nicola and Sarah have each used comics to address traumatic, highly personal experiences in their lives – Sarah Leavitt’s moving graphic memoir Tangles, published by Jonathan Cape, chronicles how Alzheimer’s disease transformed her mother, and those around her, forever. Nicola Streeten’s Billy, Me and You is a retrospective reflection of the experience of losing her two year old child thirteen years ago. In this fascinating conversation, they talk about both their books, share their experiences and discuss the use of comics to address such emotional subjects. The Orbiting Pod, ably hosted by Camila at Orbital Comics, recorded the whole thing for your listening pleasure. This is an enhanced podcast, with embedded images accompanying the audio. It’s best viewed on itunes or quicktime.’
You can listen to the podcast here.
Nicola Streeten on BBC Radio Lincolnshire
‘Listen to an interview with Nicola Streeten about the making of her graphic novel.’