Coma (Paperback) - Zara Slattery

By the time necrotising fasciitis was diagnosed, it was almost too late to save artist Zara Slattery. Her husband and three children prepared for the worst. This astonishing graphic memoir shows how she lived to tell the tale of life inside and outside her coma.

In May 2013 Zara Slattery's persistent sore throat turned into a deadly bacterial infection, after the paracetamol and ice pack prescribed by her GP failed to work. The world of Zara's 15-day drug-induced coma, which she describes as 'being trapped in a nightmare state that you can't wake up from' is rendered as a full-colour fantasy, with mythological creatures appearing out of nowhere as she battles to protect her three children against the forces of evil that threaten to engulf her. Meanwhile, her husband Dan tries to keep family life going as he faces the most difficult task of all: preparing the children for the likely loss of their mother. His diary, and that of the nurses in the Intensive Care Unit, who kept of record of Zara's illness, interweave to make a heartbreaking graphic memoir. Coma was shortlisted for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018, the Arts Foundation Futures Awards 2020 and longlisted for the LDComics Awards 2019.

About the Author

Zara Slattery is a graphic novelist, illustrator and tutor. Her first full length graphic memoir, Coma Comic, was shortlisted for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018 and longlisted for the Laydeez Do Comics Awards 2019. Zara is a comics finalist in The Arts Foundation Futures Awards. Having studied an MA in Design Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University exploring the interplay between illustration and theatre, Zara has brought her interests together in the form of graphic narratives. Her self-published comics include Two Birds (a graphic short collection with Myfawny Tristram) and Don't Call Me A Tomboy (A WildSlattern Production with Kirsten Wild). Her work playfully explores identity, art and feminism. Zara was commissioned in 2012 to run Sketches By Boz comic workshops for the British Council in Greece and Malta. She teaches comic art, drawing and painting at the Friends Centre, Brighton and runs community workshops in Sussex and around the UK. She lives in Brighton.