Teva Harrison
Teva Harrison was a Canadian-American writer and graphic artist. She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 37, and began to document her experiences with the terminal illness using illustrations and essays. Her works were compiled into a graphic memoir called In-Between Days. The book was a finalist for the 2016 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction, and put Harrison on the list of 16 Torontonians to Watch. Harrison won the 2016 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and was a finalist for the 2017 Joe Shuster Award for Cartoonist/Auteur.
She also published The Joyful Living Colouring Book in 2016, and a posthumous collection of poetry of drawings, Not One of These Poems is About You was published in January, 2020.
She wrote for The Walrus, Granta, and HuffPost, and was featured in the Globe and Mail, Creative Mornings, HuffPost Canada, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times, and WNYC. She also spoke on CBC Radio about her experience. She became a respected voice on issues around metastatic breast cancer, opioids, and the power of nature.
Harrison's art was featured in a solo exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2017, and she was the lead illustrator of Draw Me Close, a virtual-reality theatre production, created by Jordan Tannahill and co-produced by the National Theatre and the National Film Board. Sections of Draw Me Close were featured at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Draw Me Close will have its North American premiere with Toronto's Soulpepper in 2020. Harrison died at home from metastatic breast cancer, sparking a national outpouring of grief.
