Hi Wallis wonderful to have a chance to meet before “The Stories of Comics” event at Quay Words Custom House Exeter on Nov 13. So tell us a bit about yourself?
Wallis: I’m a 49 year old comics creator, mentor and workshop facilitator specialising in autobiography, based in Devon. Luckily I’m big lover of rain, although I could do with some more waterproofs.
Gnash: What drew you to comics as a medium to work with?
Wallis:I needed to draw, and I needed to write. With comics I could do both.
Gnash: LDComics paved the way for more women creators to get published what was/ is your involvement ?
Wallis: I first got in touch with LDC in 2013 with a few drawings I’d made, and the founders, Drs. Nicola Streeten and Sarah Lightman invited me to present! This really helped to establish in my own mind that I’m someone who does comics, and I went avidly to every LDC event for the next two years, getting to know and love the community. In 2015 I became a volunteer to help with admin tasks, and then I co-lead it with Keara Stewart while Nicola and Sarah finished their PhDs. It wasn’t long after they returned that we received a large amount of funding from Arts Council England which helped us to implement a lot of our current offerings. Now we are a CIC and I’m on the Board of Directors. We each take turns to host the monthly events, and my particular unique strand is Safe Space for Hard Stories.
Gnash: I am really interested in your work on exploring trauma using illustration and the format of comics can you tell us more about how that came about ?
Wallis: My first forays into autobio comics making were about difficult experiences, and people I’d known in the past who kept popping into my head, like they were haunting me. These memories would arise with intense waves of emotion, and I intuited that if I drew and wrote about them, my current, rather stuck, situation would shift – and it did. I didn’t bank on these memories settling, but that happened too – I stopped being ‘haunted’.
Gnash: What’s next on the horizon ?
Wallis: I am now building on working with trauma in comics as part of my PhD at Kingston University, looking specifically at the therapeutic benefits of creating an autobio comic, and how they may be helped or hindered by imagining a future audience. Also, my long form graphic narrative, ‘Like an Orange’ is almost ready for publication through Cast Iron Books. This came about through working with brain injury survivors during a residency with the charity, Headway. It’s been a long time coming!
Thanks Wallis – Really looking forward to chatting more at “The Stories of Comics” Quay Words Custom House Exeter on 13 November!
For Tickets Book at quaywords.org.uk