American-born cartoonist and illustrator Denise Dorrance worked in magazines in New York for twelve years (including at Cosmopolitan under Helen Gurley Brown) before moving to London in 1993. Her cartoons have run for decades in many publications, including the Mail on Sunday (UK). Polar Vortex is her first graphic novel. In the UK, it was shortlisted for the 2020 Myriad First Graphic Novel competition and won the LDComics 2020 Rosalind B. Penfold Prize.
"Dorrance's upbeat, airy linework packs an unsuspecting emotional wallop . . . A delicately drawn, unconventional chronicle of loss.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" Winner of the LDComics Rosalind B. Penfold Prize Short-listed for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition ""With gallows humor, visual ingenuity, and a whole lot of heart, Dorrance chronicles the two chilling months she returned home to care for her ailing mother--while a literal polar vortex looms in the background. --Oprah Daily Unsparingly honest and with an eye that refuses to waver, Denise Dorrance's graphic novel Polar Vortex is utterly original and unique, managing to both transcend and subvert its genre. Dorrance has rendered a story of geriatric elder care into something edgy, beautiful, visceral, irreverent and yet ultimately universal. I cannot recommend it highly enough. --Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Paper Palace"