Papa Drew a Thousand Birds: A Memoir

Maren Amini’s graphic memoir brings a father’s life story into conversation with his daughter’s, following Ahmadjan’s dream of becoming an artist as he leaves Afghanistan and later returns amid war. The narrative also retells the Persian poem *The Conference of the Birds*, linking personal history with a wider literary tradition. Its subject matter spans displacement, conflict, artistic ambition, and questions about life’s meaning; the publisher also describes a range of illustration forms. The book’s framing as a story told jointly by father and daughter makes family memory part of its central structure.