Mary Catherine Starr
Co-sponsored by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.
Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine. This is what Mary Catherine Starr learned back in 2020 when she started making comics about motherhood and sharing them to Instagram. Five years later, she published her first book, a comic memoir all about her marriage and her journey through the early years of parenting. In this talk, Mary Catherine will share her story—including why her messages about the double standards of parenting and the mental load of motherhood have struck a chord with so many parents all over the world—and she’ll discuss the creative process of writing and drawing a very personal, illustrated memoir about the most challenging parts of motherhood and marriage.
CLICK HERE to buy festival books locally from Dotters Books.
MARY CATHERINE STARR is a mother-of-two and a graphic designer, illustrator, yoga teacher, author, and the artist behind the viral Instagram account @momlife_comics. Mary Catherine's work focuses on the challenges of marriage, motherhood, double standards, and inequality in both the household and the workplace. She is passionate about speaking up for women and bringing awareness to the mental load and the invisible labor of motherhood. Her first book, a comic memoir entitled Mama Needs a Minute!, came out in March, 2025. Mary Catherine lives in Massachusetts with her husband, her children, and her son’s large collection of plastic dinosaurs.
Learn more about Mary Catherine Starr at marycatherinestarr.com.
Socials: @momlife_comics
