Eyes Too Dry: A Graphic Memoir About Heavy Feelings

by Alice Chipkin, Jessica Tavassoli

The Authors' decision to make this work public was fuelled by their struggle to find stories and artwork that spoke to their experiences of encountering depression, suicidal ideation and emotional weight. And from Alice’s perspective as a primary support person in particular, there was almost nothing at all. In a world that tells us to 'keep calm and carry on' the authors are offering a narrative that is vulnerable, honest and uncertain. They hope to add new ways to talk about, visualise and relate to these complex emotions.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Mental Health, LGBT, Queer, Comics

Paperback

First published September 1, 2017

About the author

Alice Chipkin is a writer, artist and educator currently living on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne. Her nonfiction and poetry has been published widely, including in The Lifted Brow, Archer Magazine, Cordite Poetry Review and South African publications Carapace Poetry and Tiny Press.

She is passionate about the medium of visual storytelling as a tool for processing the hard stuff. In 2015 she was awarded the Dwight Prize for English from the University of Melbourne for her thesis on comics and queer autobiography.

Alice works as an educator, running creative writing and drawing workshops for teenagers. She has been a teaching artist with the Stella Prize for Girls Write Up festivals around the country, LitFest 2444, Melbourne Writers Festival and the Emerging Writers’ Festival. Until recently, she was the Schools Program Producer at Express Media and has since begun her training as a secondary school teacher.
In her spare time she draws things, enjoys taking film photographs (mostly of faces and trees) and has a penchant for power tools.

Reviews

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girlfriend gave this to me to borrow, basically describing it as this comic book these two girls from Melbourne wrote as a way to cope while one of them was suffering from severe depression.

I was exactly where Tava was (mentally) in this book and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that’s come so close to examining depression and suicidal ideation as I’ve experienced it. And more then that, I’ve never read a book about “recovering” and choosing life that has come as close to my experience of this as well.

The fact that it’s an Australian book is also just a massive plus. But the fact that it was written by Australians and I, an Australian, had never heard of it is just nuts!! If it hadn't been given to me, I never would have read this and I honestly don’t think I’ll read anything so similar to my own experiences with mental illness ever again. I’m literally going to recommend it to my therapist at my next appointment as A Thing because he once asked me how I pulled myself out of my darkest, lowest period and I couldn’t really describe it and I think this is the closest I’ll get.

[Sez · Rating 5 out of 5]

very moving. written by 2 melb jewish queers about mental illness. raw, intimate and confronting

[Kassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in full, feverishly, on my way in to work this morning. It encapsulates the terrifying intimacy of relationships between queer women, share house feelings, and trying to help someone suffering depression. These are all things I have experienced, although of course not in exactly the same way as Ali and Tava have drawn. There is nothing to describe the feeling of being known through another person's work though, and this felt like that to me.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

often I find myself in what I call my 'emotional black hole'
very little can penetrate when I'm there
I just have to wait
I don't know if there's anything harder than that wait
A lot of damage can be done then

[Christen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tav's art style & especially her abstract ways of depicting deep feelings were so beautiful. Every once in a while i took a photo to show my husband & say "yes thiss feeling!" Also really special to switch between perspectives of someone struggling with depression & someone caring for them.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pacing in here was spot on -- deeply rhythmic! The movement between the two narrators made this book meditative, cathartic, and collaborative.

[sabsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

really captures the intensity of their relationship & intimacy not just with each other but also with mental health. also amazing art styles!

[✨ Brianna Raquel ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I found this last year 🥴

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Eyes too Dry the writers show us their experiences with depression, and the experiences of those on the sidelines, who try to help and try to stay upright themselves through all of this.
It stands out for how candid it is. Reading felt a bit like intruding in a private space.
And maybe that is what it is, because this comic starts out as a private project between the writers. To deal with their mental health and what it means for their relationship.
The drawing does not move me emotionally, the story itself really does the heavy lifting.

Though I felt privileged to get this peek inside other peoples lives, I didn’t feel like I learnt anything new or gained anything from this story. It is a beautiful project that perhaps should have remained private.
But perhaps it will be of service to others, you never know.

[Sam Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eyes Too Dry tackles the heft and unspeakability of depression, through the lens of close friendship. This graphic memoir traces two friends' experiences of having and/or caring for a friend with depression while living together, and later while living far apart. The book's dual narrators provides an openness to the story, and the different drawing styles help indicate whose story is whose. Never cliched, descriptions of difficult feelings are super honest and relatable. I found this immensely moving and generous.

[bronberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply a beautiful and cathartic book to read. I read it while standing in Readings in Melbourne and found myself hungrily turning the pages. Once finished, I read it again, this time paying attention to the drawings. I work with people who live with mental illness and I look forward to sharing the book with them. Thank you for publishing this very honest memoir of heavy feelings as they take place in the individual and in a relationship.

[Iona Harmony · Rating 5 out of 5]

'It's not like the ritual warded off your lows. But getting absorbed in the motions helped you momentarily... and made me feel useful.'

'As someone seeing the intensity of your daily struggle, I added a yes voice to your crisis-mode motto... "Do whatever you need to stay alive". I held my breath, and you held on.'

'And that was it. After 8 scary and intense months, you were just gone.'

[AlwaysReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

"and Tav, you also have to acknowledge that you're a perfectionist! Even when it comes to depression you want todo it all by yourself."

[kkirkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hefty but also so very good and tender and I loved the interacting art styles.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

mental health has two sides and these friends can capture them perfectly

[Django · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the blending of art styles and how they personified each character's inner world.
Felt wonderfully Melbourne. The Naarm culture shines through.

[Tilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A devastating and moving depiction of female friendship through serious depression. It didn't iron out the edges and showed these dynamics in all their complexity and awkwardness. The connection to Melbourne gave the book a warm familiarity.

[J. Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot damn, this is a fucking good book. Highly recommend.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A intimate and resonant graphic memoir by two friends, written/illustrated by both and told from their alternating perspectives. Tava's side of the story is about living with depression and suicidal ideation; Alice's is about loving and caring for someone who is struggling with their mental health, and figuring out how to do so without going under yourself. The generosity of sharing their experiences publicly is admirable, but it's also clear that the process of creating Eyes Too Dry was cathartic for them both. This is a beautifully-produced, personal book, Alice and Tava's respective illustrative styles are distinctive and evocative, and it has revived my faith in self-publishing.

[Penni Russon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing act of love and generosity and art. My eyes were not dry.