All The Weight

All The Weight is a graphic novel that alternates between author Charles Devany's father’s evocative poems addressing racism, family secrets, and teen angst during the '40s and Charles' own experience decades later, growing up as a Yankee in Austin, Texas in the late '70s. Their two voices weave together a biographical journey that is vividly brought to life through Mike Barrett’s striking hand-drawn images seen below. All the Weight cumulates with Charles taking his dad (who’d witnessed a lynching as a young man) to Obama’s inauguration.

Written by Charles Devany and illustrated by Mike Barrett, All The Weight is a graphic interpretation of two successfully produced short plays - EHD (2013) and All The Weight You Should Not Carry (2015).  Both plays were celebrated participants in the Best of the Week Frontera Festival at Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, Texas.

When you contribute to All The Weight, you’re backing a publication that unpacks themes of social justice, mental health, mindfulness and the cycle of dysfunction in a way that most pieces of literature cannot. Text can be a limited medium as some of life’s complexities can only be shown and felt, not simply written down. For this reason, All The Weight was originally 2 plays. Now, as a graphic novel, it uses emotionally stirring illustrations and two men’s truths to give readers a visceral understanding of adversity and the dynamism of the American zeitgeist.