Interview with Alissa Torres, the author of American Widow
Alissa Torres, the author of American Widow, tells about why and how she wrote a graphic novel about her very personal loss on Sept 11, 2001.
AMERICAN WIDOW is an autobiographical graphic novel written by Alissa Torres, who, when she was nearly eight months pregnant, lost her husband in the World Trade Center attack. The story and art powerfully portray a woman’s very private crisis against a backdrop of events that have touched us all. Ultimately, the book offers a universal message of hope and redemption in the face of tragedy.
On sale September 9, 2008 everywhere books or comics are sold
It was love at first sight for Alissa and Eddie Torres when they met in New York City in August of 1998. Within eight months, their whirlwind relationship led to marriage, a new house, and pregnancy. Eddie had come to the United States from Colombia as an illegal immigrant in 1995 and worked his way from a series of jobs in the garment district to become a high-paid currency broker. Eventually Eddie landed his dream job at Cantor-Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center. His first day of work was September 10, 2001.
Suddenly, Alissa was cast in the role of a “9/11 widow.” Seven and a half months pregnant and forced to deal with unimaginable challenges, she found herself tossed into a storm of bureaucracy, politics, patriotism, mourning, and new motherhood. Writing was Alissa’s way through the pain and AMERICAN WIDOW is the very personal story of how she endured a very public tragedy. After her husband died, Alissa wrote through her grief. She kept journals and published seven personal essays on Salon and one in Redbook magazine. All of the writing she did, the raw and the refined, kept her centered and sane. In 2007, Alissa won a State Farm Embrace Life Award, given to widows who inspire others with their achievements.
The development from essays into a graphic novel, however, was a very conscious choice. Much of what Americans remember about 9/11 are the images—billowing plumes of smoke, flags lining the streets, signs for the missing posted on every available surface—and as she grieved Alissa realized that this most graphic event needed the intimacy of a graphic telling. With art by Sungyoon Choi, AMERICAN WIDOW is a love letter to Eddie Torres that delivers a universal message of hope and redemption, about one woman who took hold of the forces—and images—around her to set off toward a brighter future.
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