Grief Cartoons
Susan MacLeod’s Grief Cartoons
Susan MacLeod is a Nova Scotian artist writing and drawing about health care issues. Her humorous book, Dying for Attention: A Graphic Memoir of Nursing Home Care, follows her nine-year journey shepherding her mother through a callous long-term care system amid family strife, which inspired her interest in end-of-life issues. The book was given an “Outstanding in its Genre” review by the American Library Association publication, Booklist and was nominated for a Creative Non-Fiction Award by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. Her illustrations have been published by Kaiser Permanente, Halifax Magazine, Lion’s Roar Magazine, Maisonneuve, The Fold, and The Globe and Mail.
Follow her work on Instagram and at susanmacleod.ca
Sharing Grief With Strangers!
When Stephanie Levac's mother invited her to a musical about death in Toronto, "In Dreams", she leapt at the chance. Roy Orbison! Live Theatre! Death! Stephanie is a musician and a trained hospice volunteer; her mother is an oncology pharmacist. As experienced as they are with grief, they were surprised at all that can arise when grief is shared in a public space.
Grief is much more than one person, alone...
Our Grief Matters initiative, in part, aspires to move grief from the personal realm to the community space.
We see our social, public lives and spaces as essential hosts for grievers and for creating a common understanding of grief and its complexities. (This is explained in more detail in this month's blog.)
Introducing Susan MacLeod, Cartoonist-in-Residence at Grief Matters!
Recently, my drawing practice has turned to creating grief and death stories in the hope my cartooning can lessen my real fear of death, grief, and loss as I age. I’ve been drawing people in nursing homes for well over ten years now.
*Photo by CBC