Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes

2025 Eisner Award Nominee!

A graphic biography of Djuna Barnes: writer, artist, and queer radical of the Lost Generation in the Roaring 20s.

Djuna Barnes lived in a dazzling world filled with literary salons, innovative writing, and daring new art styles. But it didn't come easily. She managed to work her way out of an abusive childhood growing up in a polygamous rural utopian community on Long Island. She was determined to live an extraordinary life, and found herself socializing with the likes of James Joyce, Natalie Barney, Peggy Guggenheim, and T.S. Eliot in 1920s literary Paris. Called the most famous unknown of the century, Djuna Barnes stood out for her brilliant writing, her biting wit, and her unique style. Her novel, Nightwood is considered by some to be one of the greatest lesbian love stories ever written. But as the stock market crashed and the Lost Generation left Paris, her life began to unwind.

A fascinating window into the life of a woman whose enormous literary talent and provocative attitude were both celebrated and disdained by the world.