Portrait of a Body

Julie Delporte was born in Saint-Malo, France, in 1983. She presently resides in Montreal, Canada, and Portrait of a Body is her fourth graphic novel after This Woman’s Work (2019), Everywhere Antennas (2015), and Journal (2014). She holds a degree in cinema studies and was a fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. When she’s not working on comics, she makes ceramics, writes poetry and essays, and works on risograph and silkscreen projects. She loves animals, plants, and sometimes humans.

“Reading this portrait of a body is like being whispered to all night (by someone you love) while looking at a wonderful procession of images shot fleetingly against a darkened wall. She speaks to the aloneness and togetherness at once. It's ardently alive.” —Eileen Myles, Chelsea Girls“Queer liberation comes in many ways and Julie Delporte delicately writes about the subtleties of this experience and the process of beginning to accept a body that you once rejected. It is a beautiful, candid book that softly extrapolates how we can begin to love ourselves and others again.” —Fariha Roisin, Who is Wellness For?“Incredibly powerful... Delporte explores what it means to be in a queer body in a patriarchal society, the changing nature of desire, embodiment after trauma, and so, so much more.” —Andrea Richards, Shondaland“Dreamy colored pencil illustrations and gently flowing storytelling capture the beauty, trauma, and ultimate tranquility that comes with learning to exist on your own terms.” —Daniella Fishman, The Millions“Bathed in hues of blue and brown, her watercolor images and line-drawn pictures beautifully compliment her journey from yearning girl to a fully realized, content, and life-affirming queer woman.” —Jim Piechota, Bay Area Reporter“An artistic confessional of identity, sexual deliverance, and self-acceptance.” —Kirkus“Delporte (This Woman’s Work) reckons with sexuality, identity, and belonging in this searching and intimate graphic memoir.” —Publishers Weekly“Dreamy colored pencil illustrations and gently flowing storytelling capture the beauty, trauma, and ultimate tranquility that comes with learning to exist on your own terms.” —The Millions