Scottish student writes graphic novel about her own war-torn family

Kyra Gibeily, a third-year marine biology student at the University of Glasgow has used letters written by her grandfather that were stored in her parents’ attic to create Dear ETC., a graphic novel showing his experience of war.

The letters provide a snapshot into Gibeily’s family history and depict her grandfather’s perspective of the 15-year conflict through the correspondence he sent to other members of his family.

Kyra Gibeily illustrated the graphic novel herself (Image: Kyra Gibeily)

For Gibeily, a stand-out excerpt from the letters is a passage that reveals the stark contrast between the day-to-day living of her grandfather and grandmother during the war.

Gibeily says that the passage shows that “he loves her” but also viewed her as “not as intelligent as him”.

She continued: “In this letter, it shows that while he was just stuck in his room, she was going out because she was a nurse. She was going out helping people. She was driving to the port every day, avoiding getting shot by snipers - her car was riddled with bullet holes.

“So while he was inside and just kind of writing to people, she was actually out doing those things. I think it's kind of revealing of his character. There is love but he was kind of blind to those kinds of sacrifices that she made.”

Ultimately, the constant thread through the letters and Gibeily’s graphic novel is of her grandfather’s hopes that the following generations of his family could have an education and a better life than his own.

The family had kept the carbon copies of Gibeily's grandfather's letters in their attic (Image: Kyra Gibeily)

And now the tale has come full circle since Gibeily is managing to tell their story while a student at university: “I think this is exactly what he would have been dreaming of and probably wished he had the opportunity for himself - but he was able to give that opportunity to his children.

“My dad is a naturalised Scot; my uncle lives in Canada now; my aunt lives in Lebanon still. They're all successful in their own way because of what they were given through my grandfather.

“It's really quite beautiful. The love and wanting the best passed down and it culminating in me and my brother being able to actually go to university - people forget how much of a privilege that is and what a leg up that is in life as well.”

Gibeily hopes that the graphic novel will help dispel some of the modern-day attitudes attached to people who have fled war: “I think that there is a lot of unnecessary stigma surrounding the topic of refugees. It allows for a more culturally accepting kind of society when people in need are helped to integrate. It really enriches it and that can't really be a bad thing in my opinion.

“Empathy does seem to be severely lacking in these times. The way that some people talk about it, it seems like it's almost expected that in certain places, in certain cultures these things just kind of happen and that people just deal with it but that's not the case."

DEAR ETC. is set during the Lebanese civil war (Image: Kyra Gibeily)

She adds: “What if something happened here? Surely, we'd expect other cultures and other places to be accepting and help us but people don't get that help.

“I hope something like this could help people find a more empathic voice. It's really so undeserved when people need help for something that's not under their control whatsoever and they're just constantly discriminated against.”

DEAR ETC. by Kyra Gibeily will be published by Akkadia Press in January 2023.