Writer
Researcher
Artist
This Beautiful, Ridiculous City
My first book,
from Ten Speed Press (US)
and Jonathan Cape (UK)
Forthcoming January 2025
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753097/this-beautiful-ridiculous-city-by-kay-sohini/
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/456534/this-beautiful-ridiculous-city-by-sohini-kay
This region fueled India’s population boom. Now it’s in danger.
A comic I co-wrote (with Ruby Mellen) and illustrated for The Washington Post. It is on the world's most populous country, its most fertile stretch of land, and how climate change is affecting its food production. Edited by Hannah Good.
Read here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/india-populous-region-climate-change/
Stark Landscapes
A collaboration with Dr David Lo at UCR School of Medicine. We are working on a nonfiction comic about how the Salton Sea was formed, and how it turned from an agricultural oasis to a toxic wasteland. The story will look at how it is currently a health hazard for the marginalized communities living on the shores of the Salton Sea, how the environmental degradation has led to a very high incidence of childhood asthma in the region, among other research findings.
Sensational Stories
A comic book on Kalpana Chawla (first woman of Indian origin to go to space) and Sana Amanat (the illustrious comic book editor at Marvel) for the NYC Department of Education for the NYC Civics for All Comics Group.
Read here:
https://www.weteachnyc.org/resources/resource/sensational-stories-1/
In the Pursuit of Stardust
A short comic on the concept of "Crowds" for DenCity, a research project based at Durham University and funded by the European Research Council; edited by Jordan Collver and Colin Macfarlane. I look at Mumbai, and in particular, at the crowd that gathers outside "Mannat"--home to Shah Rukh Khan, India's most celebrated actor.
Read here: https://dencity.webspace.durham.ac.uk/comic-book/
Covid Comics Cubed
A series of illustrations for the upcoming immersive Graphic Medicine centric exhibition at Virginia Tech.
Work, Wages
A data comic for The Nib on how the minimum wage has not kept up with the rising cost of housing, on the wage gap, and how art contributes to the economy.
Read here: https://thenib.com/work-stats/
Grief Time
A comic where I use the "De Luca Effect" to express how time works in grief; for the cluster "Graphic Formalism" in ASAP Journal.
Read here: https://asapjournal.com/graphic-formalism-grief-time-an-excerpt-from-unbelonging-kay-sohini/
Graphic Interview
For INKS: The Journal of Comics Studies, I interviewed Meghan Parker, author of Teaching Artfully, and we co-created a comic based on the interview.
Read here: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/855075
Big History Project
A series of comics illustrated for the Big History Project.
To hire me
Contact me directly at kaysohini@gmail.com. I am not represented by any illustration agency.
