Power of Storytelling Through Art by Priya Huq
My debut graphic novel, Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab (Abrams Amulet) came out in November 2021. It is about a 14 year old in 2002, living with her Bangladeshi family in Portland, Oregon. She and her friend survive a hate crime, and the story is about her choice to wear hijab as way of reclaiming her sense of self afterwards. It is also about how her mother and grandparents survived the Bangladesh Genocide in 1971.
When neo-Nazis started being in the news more back in 2015, the things they were saying about immigrants and Muslims brought back memories of things said in the ‘90s and post-9-11, and about my feelings as a kid. I’ve been drawing autobiographical comics since I was a teen, but this subject was so intense, and a graphic novel so long, I thought it might be easier to write a fictional character who was very similar to me in circumstance and demeanor; that way I wouldn’t have to think about the specific traumas I experienced. This didn’t really work, but I’m glad I did it because now I have Nisrin in my life, and I adore her.
Working on any content about the things that traumatize and threaten us deeply as humans is incredibly stressful. Drawing these things adds an element of retraumatization. I advise ALL artists and creators- not just those writing about their own lives in some way (though this advice goes triple for you)- to learn about familial trauma, epigenetics, and self care for people exposed to death and misery. This work is clearly important. It’s hard for me to speak of myself that way, but I know that it is: Persepolis, Maus, March, Speak, any book that speaks to a survivor in some way is important for all of us. I know from experience- and from watching other creators, and listening to them- that the capitalist grind of making these books as quickly as possible is incredibly destructive. Let’s keep making comics about trauma, and let’s support the creators who make them as best we can- by taking action day by day to improve the world we share with one another.
-Priya Huq