lystn

Multidisciplinary author and artist Julie Delporte (they/she) was born in a village in the French countryside, and describes herself as "someone who is late in life." One of the ways in which this manifested was that Julie did not realize she was a lesbian until the age of thirty-five, which, as she says, "is not so old, but it felt so old." In her newly released graphic novel, "Portrait of a Body," Julie traces the arc of her coming out story through both text and illustrations, and the result is beautiful and moving. Julie speaks candidly about the conflict she felt between her need to explore her sexuality and her fear of potentially hurting someone in the process, and we have a vulnerable conversation about why we sometimes feel like we're "not sexual enough" as lesbians. Also, Julie tells an incredibly relatable story about how sometimes the slightest glimpse of a friend's shoulder can clarify everything...

Follow Julie on Instagram at @juliedelporte_, and buy her GORGEOUS book "Portrait of a Body" at https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/portrait-of-a-body/, or wherever gorgeous books are sold!