Interview: Briana Loewinsohn Talks New Graphic Novel, Raised by Ghosts

Raised by Ghosts is the new graphic novel by cartoonist and teacher Briana Loewinsohn. The author and artist behind Ephemera: A Memoir, Loewinsohn’s newest semi-autobiographical story published by Fantagraphics showcases her teenage years during the early ‘90s and the trials and tribulations she dealt with visualized through her unique storytelling and style.

I spoke with Loewinsohn about Raised by Ghosts; out February 5th, 2025. See our full conversation below:

Set in the author’s own teenage years, Raised By Ghosts begins in 1991 with semi autobiographical Briana in middle school. Classes are a bummer, but lunches are worse; either spent alone, or being teased. Traditionally a good student, Briana is not doing well in her academics, but keeps it a secret. Her parents (divorced) are a mess, and largely absent. She spends a lot of time by herself. By high school, she makes friends, and those connections are her only source of happiness as they help each other navigate adolescence. But life at home with each parent remains fraught. When her relationships at school begin to falter, she has no one to turn to, forcing Briana to grapple with her sense of self-worth, her longing for belonging, and her desire for authenticity in her relationships.

Raised By Ghosts is a powerful, affecting graphic novel for young adult readers. The story is told by shifting between Briana’s first-person class notes and diary entries. In her understated yet masterful approach to comics storytelling, Loewinsohn eschews dramatic confrontations and overt sentimentality, preferring instead to underscore the idea that sometimes acceptance and love can be communicated through quiet, everyday moments and close family bonds.

What inspired the title?

I sometimes joke about how I was "raised by wolves" because my parents were wild hippies. Not hippies like they ate granola and drove a Prius. Hippies like they bombed buildings in protest and were real real into drugs. I grew up in the 80's and 90's (the 1900's), which also tended to be a time when parents let kids have a long leash. Lots of unsupervised time. So, it was like there were adults milling around, you might bump up against them sometimes but it was a lot of figuring life out for yourself. Like living with ghosts might feel. Also, my parents are both dead n gone, and while i dont actually believe in ghosts, i sometimes like to imagine they are real. This is what led me to combine the phrase "raised by wolves" with ghosts. Plus, I always like a little magical realism, if possible.

How important was telling this story through different visual elements such as the diary/class notes? It adds a refreshing authenticity to the story. What other visual storytelling elements did you include to show the difficulties of growing up as a teenager? There are some really neat sequences throughout.

The number one thing I knew about this story was that it would be about notes. Writing notes was a huge part of our lives. I loved them. I saved all my notes from high school; I have garbage bags full of them in my attic. I read a million notes before writing this book. I took notes on everyone's different styles. I also read through my atrocious journals. My goal was to sound exactly how I felt as a teenager. Writing notes was such a unique way of communicating that really encapsulated that era. It's something that deserves to be thought about and appreciated. Some of the elements I used to show the semi-universal teen angst feelings were lots of moments of being alone or feeling alone in a crowd. Or how unpredictable home life can be. I used repetition at times. For instance, what it felt like to walk through the door of my house after school, unsure of what lay behind the door. I also used juxtaposition a lot. Like, notes about feeling alone but looking fine, or vice versa. Or the emotional fright/exhaustion from family right next to peace/joy I felt from friends.

Speaking of perspective, centering Briana, whether it was not showing your parents or visual language falling off with daydreaming, can you talk about how centering yourself was important?

There are a couple of reasons that this book is really centered around "Briana". I have some fairly complicated feelings around my family, so I mostly choose to either alter their looks or leave them off-screen in most of my work. I also wanted to get across the solipsism of the teen brain. Even though I was a people pleaser and walked on eggshells so as not to bother anyone at home, I was still pretty much just into my own life and my own perspective. Being a teenager is all about trying to see who you are in the world, so I guess that starts inside yourself. Hopefully, as we age we gain perspective and can see other people's point-of-view a little more. But this book is sort of just a tribute to teen years. Good or bad. At the end of the day, I can really only tell my story, so it felt important to mostly just show my perspective.

Was it a personal challenge at all to revisit some of the semi-autobiographical elements of the story?

That was really a mixed bag... In a lot of ways. A lot of writing this book was nothing but fun. I looked through so many old photos, references of places we used to go, talked to my good friends from that time and other friends who are similar ages, read notes, watched movies from the 90s, and listened to a TON of music from back then. Some of it was hard because I miss my pops, I miss the good parts of my mum, I miss friends who we lost too soon. So, I guess the ghosts were sad. For some parts of the book, I was very keen to be hyper-accurate about and for other parts I was totally happy to fudge details so the story would make more sense. We moved a lot, so drawing all the houses was sort of a challenge (most of the houses were left out of the book). Remembering the layout of a room or a house was challenging in the sense that I just could not remember where rooms were or the arrangement of items, but other locations were challenging emotionally. Rough memories, things I didn't want to write about.

What did you learn about writing your first memoir, and how did you apply things to Raised by Ghosts?

The best thing I got out of writing Ephemera was deciding that I got to choose how to write it. There aren't any rules. For instance, Ephemera is about my mum, my sibling, and me. However, the characters all look completely different. I also set it in a totally different setting (I can tell you we did NOT have our own personal greenhouse). What I did for that story was tell a very personal view of how it felt growing up with my mum. I felt like we lived in a giant house in a beautiful land and everything was magical. Any old photos will tell you this is far from reality. That is what is so gratifying about making comics. I get to choose the story I tell and how I want to tell it. For Raised By Ghosts, I wanted to try out the opposite visuals. It's messy and it's jumbled and filled with exact items and rooms and people. For this book I used the device of writing notes that are completely separate from the visual storytelling. This was my big experiment, my breaking of the rules.

How exciting is it to see the comic coming out and readers finally getting a chance to read it?

Bros. I am so excited for this book to be out and that people are gonna read it. It really is a love letter to the 90's, to teenagers, and to my friends. I am very close with a number of my friends from high school. Outside of my husband and kids and my work, my friends are my world. I love them a gross amount. I am so happy to have made this book to treasure them for all time. I am also excited for young people to learn about notes. It's a great way to pass the time when you are bored in class (I am a high school teacher, so I do not officially endorse this habit). It's a great way to document your time that you will never get back. It's a way to save a little slice of adolescence. I hope you all love it and please please write me a note, i promise to write back! KIT. xo, Briana