About Mushroom Head

Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Claire. I started writing Mushroom Head in September 2023, mainly as a way to keep in touch with friends and family. We had just moved from Cambridge, MA, to Oak Park, IL, our third move in seven years (we moved to Cambridge from Brooklyn, NY, in 2016). The pandemic in particular left me feeling disconnected from friends. A newsletter struck me as one way I could remain connected.

The other reason I began Mushroom Head is to publish my comics. I usually post comics about our life here in Oak Park, but I also post comics on other topics. I'm currently working on Study Hall, a comic about my experience tutoring at MCI Concord, a medium-security in Massachusetts. Comics are a great form for serialization. Newsletters are a great vehicle for serialized comics.

About Me

For over twenty years I made a living writing about art and architecture and editing art magazines and museum catalogues. I worked for Artforum and Modern Painters and spent about three years writing art reviews for "Goings On About Town" in the New Yorker. I loved my work but always felt restless, like I'd rather be the one doing something creative instead of evaluating it. When we lived in Cambridge, MA, I went back to school to get my MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College. It was there that I decided to pursue an interest I'd long held but never felt confident pursuing: pairing images with text. There are many beautiful ways to do this; writing comics comes the most naturally to me.

Why is your newsletter called Mushroom Head?

What a great question! There's a story behind the name which I hope to tell in comic form. Please be patient, I promise to get it done eventually.