BOOK PROPOSAL
[Contact Branta Studio, information below]
Book Description
When artist and author Suzanne Stryk finds herself caring for her husband, Dan, as he undergoes major surgery, numerous medical appointments, and chemotherapy, she discovers an unexpected source of solace and wonder: a small turtle. This yellow-bellied slider becomes a focal point, or a “third thing,” for their shared care and conversations. Over the course of a year, Suzanne documented her experiences through sketches of both Dan and the turtle, culminating in this unique book.
“Coming Up for Air” delves into the close relationship between caregivers and their care recipients. At the same time, the expressive illustrations and overall design make the volume an artbook. Stryk’s writing is clear and direct, effectively capturing the struggle, pain, joy, and even humor of her new circumstance. She explores the profound emotions tied to the challenges of illness while offering insight into the human aspects of medicine and the realities of recovery. Through the turtle character, Stryk pays tribute to the wonders of the world and our unique role as observers. For all these reasons, this book is likely to attract a diverse range of readers.
PDF of manuscript:
Coming Up For Air_Stryk_02-26-2025 [To view the PDF in a two-page spread so that the prose narrative corresponds to the relevant illustration, the manuscript must be downloaded.]
About the Author
Suzanne Stryk is the author of The Middle of Somewhere (Trinity University Press, 2022), a collection of essays and original artwork. Shortly after its release, she joined a panel discussion at the AWP Conference titled “Women Exploring Wild Spaces.” In 2023, the book was selected for the Carol Weinstein Lecture Series at the Library of Virginia and featured at the Virginia Festival of the Book.
Suzanne has shown her conceptual nature paintings and assemblages in solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including The National Academy of Sciences (DC), The Taubman Museum of Art (VA), and The Illinois Institute of Art (Chicago). Her paintings are in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (DC), The David Brower Center (Berkeley, CA), and The D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson Collection (Scotland). She has received a George Sugarman Foundation grant, a residency at Centrum Center for the Arts (WA), and a Virginia Commission for the Arts fellowship. Her images and writing have been featured in many journals, including Orion, Terrain, Shenandoah, Ecotone, The Kenyon Review, and Antennae: The Journal of Animals and Visual Culture (UK).
What Others are Saying
“There are times in our lives when we must slow down to grieve and take care of a loved one, ourselves, or the Earth. Suzanne Stryk’s tender and deeply-stirring poem-painting-story gives us a new way to understand and embrace these times—as turtle time. It’s when we’re forced to dive down into the deep muck of our own souls and wait, believing that one morning, we’ll paddle back up to a sunlit surface and splay out our legs and arms on a warm rock, as if in flight. A balm in times of trouble, this book is a love song for both Stryk’s husband who has cancer and for the little reptile they share their lives with. And it is a reminder that we and turtles are kin because we shared a reptilian ancestor 320 million years ago. Stryk’s beautiful spare prose shows us how that kinship means caring for each other.”
–Trish O’Kane, Birding to Change the World
“Heart work is crucial for maintaining balance in relationships, and a serious illness requires effort to sustain that equilibrium. The emotional depth of Suzanne Stryk’s Coming Up for Air: How a Turtle Helped Us Through Illness and Recovery shows us some of that heart work, interweaving text and image to share the intimate journey of a cancer experience. In this case, a turtle, Pab, mediates a new normal.
Beginning with drawings and journal entries she made during her husband Dan’s illness, Stryk draws out the imagery with a deftly composed narrative to share emotions as well as nuanced details about the experience. Cancer is complicated. Sometimes, talking about or tending to a turtle or another creature is not just about the creature but a couple’s underlying bond. For example, “We don’t talk about the surgery or what’s to come. We talk about the turtle.” Or, just after surgery, Dan asks, “How’s Pab?” In this case, I am heartened to see the resiliency of both caregiver and cancer patient, with the caregiving of Pab a symbol and a reality. Caregivers and future caregivers, as well as medical professionals who want more insight into what happens on the other side of a cancer diagnosis, will be drawn into this story of heart-wrought connections.”
–Felicia Mitchell, author of A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens: Journeying Together through Dementia and Trail Magic
Books Similar to Coming Up for Air
Apologia, by Barry Lopez with woodcuts by Robin Eschner (University of Georgia Press, 1998)
Poking Around, by Kathleen Dean Moore with art by Margo Voorhies Thompson (lone goose press, 2015)
Ephemera, written and illustrated by Briana Loewinsohn (Fantagraphics,2023)
Dancing after Ten, written by Vivian Chong with art by Georgia Webber (Fantagraphics, 2020)
Traces of Madness, written by Fernando Balius with illustrations by Mario Pellejer (graphic mundi 2024)
Down to the Bone, written and illustrated by Catherine Pioli (graphic mundi, 2022)
Last Things, written and illustrated by Marissa Moss (Red Wheel, 2017)
Tangles, a Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me, written and illustrated by Sarah Leavitt (Freehand Books, 2010)
Landings, written and illustrated by Arwen Donahue (Hub City Press, 2022)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, written and illustrated by Charlie Mackesy (Ebury Press, 2019)
About Branta Studio
After 15 years of being the co-director at RavenMark, a graphic design and communication
studio, Rebecca Davison launched a new creative venture focusing on book design and
packaging and freelance writing and editing. Before RavenMark, Rebecca worked with New
York and Boston publishers as a book producer. Branta Studio has been working with Suzanne
Stryk for three years and produced her book The Middle of Somewhere for Trinity University
Press in 2022.
As the packager for this work, we can provide the following:
Page layout
Cover and interior design
Print management—both digital and offset
Editing—both content and copyediting
Contact:
Rebecca Davison
26 Liberty Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
802.522.7600
email: brantastudio@gmail.com
website: www.brantastudio.com