Live Through This, by Sabrina Chap (Seven Stories Press, 2012)

This book is an edited collection of pieces by women artists, describing their creative journeys, with images of art work and memoirs of emotional experiences – including whilst writing this book.

One writer who stood out for me was ‘Fly’, who was very open and honest about her manic depression – this was a refreshing and interesting read. She talks of the extremes of her bipolarity and the difficulties she had in carrying on making her art despite being either deeply depressed or manic. Drawing became a ‘stabilising force’ within her life and she was always documenting her emotions and experiences through her art.

I also enjoyed Cristy C. Road writing about using cocaine, the human connections whilst on the drugs, then the after-effects, where she describes herself as a ‘corpse with a newly opened can of worms’. Her language is bold and to the point and the graphic images that accompany her writing are similar to that of graphic novels. The honesty in her descriptions of her recreational drug use is very informative and paint an interesting picture of her different emotional and psychological states.

More information about this book can be found at http://sabrinachap.com/

Reviewed by Shelley Jamaine