Tsunamis - by Danica Novgorodoff (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A graphic memoir that explores with humor and honesty one woman's insatiable longing to be immersed in creative pursuit.

What does it mean to live and make art as a feminist? The author looks to her own life and a host of eminent artists and writers for answers.

Tsunamis is a book about the tensions between making art and nurturing a child; between the durable self and a surrender to impermanence; between ecstatic creativity and patient, mundane labor. From her earliest impressions of the world, to her formative years in college and beyond, to the responsibilities of raising a family, Novgorodoff's notions of freedom continually shift. She asks, Is there not some ferocity and single-mindedness necessary for art-making that is incompatible with the selfless generosity of a mother?

Throughout the book, Novgorodoff searches for models of motherhood in art history and literature, in self-help and science, in family and chosen family. She explores gender and sexuality, the economics of motherhood, the transformation of the self, the terror of raising children in an age of climate crisis, and the artist's need for solitude counterbalanced by a baby's complete dependency--all with great humor and curiosity.

Interwoven into her story are biographical vignettes of some of the fierce, talented, and sometimes tortured artist women who are her guides--Catherine Opie, Alice Neel, Adrian Piper, Elaine DeKooning, Sally Mann, Simone Leigh, Louise Bourgeois, Senga Nengudi, Frida Kahlo, Anne Truitt, and Alice Walker. To read Tsunamis is to walk with Novgorodoff towards a place of greater understanding.

Review Quotes

​"A fierce and sensitive book that captures the ever-changing river of what it means to be an artist and a mother. A must-read for anyone who's either or both of those things, or contemplating. Also, it's gorgeous."
--Liana Finck, author and illustrator of Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir

"In Tsunamis, Novgorodoff offers an honest look at the complex nature of being both artist and mother, which, for me, sheds a revelatory light on the nature of creation. What does it mean to bring something into the world? What does it mean to make? We all wrestle with these questions differently, but what's certain is that after experiencing this story, I'm so grateful it was born. A gift!"
--Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author

"A virtuosic spectacle of color, insight, intimacy, and action--the lovechild of poetry, graphics, and prose. Danica Novgorodoff has done it all in these bright pages."
--Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, editor of Notes to New Mothers

"Gorgeous. Complicated. Funny. Sad. Impossible. Messy. Ugly. True. In Tsunamis, Danica Novgorodoff asks what it means to be a mother, an artist, a human being, and in creating this book, she may just help everyone move a little closer to finding their own answers."
--Brian Selznick, creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the Caldecott Medal.

About the Author

DANICA NOVGORODOFF is an artist, writer, and New York Times best-selling illustrator. Her books include the graphic novels Long Way Down, adapted from the novel by National Book Award winner Jason Reynolds; Slow Storm; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; and Refresh Refresh; the cookbook The Simple Art of Rice with Chef JJ Johnson; and the picture book Alexander von Humboldt: Explorer, Naturalist, and Environmental Pioneer. Her most recent project is the nonfiction graphic novel A Better World is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis, created with Meera Subramanian. In 2022, Danica was awarded the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal, the UK's most prestigious award for children's book illustration. Her art and writing have been published in The New Yorker, MoMA Magazine, The Believer, Artforum, VQR, Orion, and others. She lives with her family in Louisville, Kentucky.