S3E18 - Update + Illustrating Bipolar, with Matt Ottley (Re-Run)

Hello everyone, it’s Will here.

As you know, Ellie and I have had to take a break from the podcast due to some ongoing health issues. We are still hoping to bring you new episodes in late Spring or Summer 2026 but in the meantime, we thought we’d go back through our archives and bring you some of our favourite episodes from the 3 years we’ve been doing the show.

And so, here is an episode from May 2024. Matt Ottley is a multi-award winning graphic novelist and composer, who was Australia’s nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen award. Matt joined us for a conversation about how he interprets his experiences of bipolar and psychosis through art, words and music. We focus on his book: The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness which had just been released at the time and you can find links to more information about, in the show notes.

Just a heads up that there is a brief reference to a suicide attempt in the episode, but we don’t go into any detail.

I hope you enjoy the show, and please do remember it would really help us out if you could rate or review us via your podcast app.

You can find out more about The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness by following these links
Matt Ottley’s website
Publisher: One Tentacle’s website

Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com