Amruta Patil defines herself first as a writer, not a comics artist, but pictures are as essential to words in her storytelling. In an interview with Paul Gravett, she discusses her debut graphic novel Kari, the many influences on her work (from Mughal miniatures to Tintin) and what she learned during a recent residency in Angoulême, France:

That I ought to stop apologising for my lack of exposure to "norms." My lack of familiarity with storytelling traditions, my gender, my foreignness -- these could all be assets. That I ought to be more meticulous about my artwork. That I need to exercise utmost discrimination in spitting things out into the print world. Bookshops are filled with swill -- one needs tell stories that matter.

Patil is working on Parva, a graphic novel distilled from the great Indian epic The Mahabarata. "Many Indian writers come back to the feet of these epics at some point in their career -- it is almost a coming-of-age ritual," she says.

You can see more of Patil's work, including her 24-hour comic Noah & The Ship of Fools, at her art blog.