Salt Green Death

The documented experiences of Joseph O’Dwyer, a young man who was institutionalized at one of Canada’s most notorious historic psychiatric institutions.

On November 21, 1948, Joseph O’Dwyer’s suicide attempt was interrupted when a bystander pulled him out of the Kitsilano Pool in Vancouver. This set a series of events in motion that ends with O’Dwyer’s institutionalization at British Columbia’s first forensic psychiatric facility, Colquitz Hospital.

Still reeling from the untimely wartime deaths of O’Dwyer’s siblings, O’Dwyer’s parents reach out to the institution repeatedly, requesting permission to bring him home. When they finally succeed in their request, the visit takes an unexpected turn. O’Dwyer is sent away once again, to an institution that used procedures that were considered unconscionable even then.

But what circumstances brought O’Dwyer to the Kitsilano Pool in the first place? In Salt Green Death, researcher and artist Katarina Thorsen delves into 15 years of Joseph O’Dwyer’s life via patient files and other historical documents. This is her attempt at piecing together meaning and context in the experiences of the O’Dwyer family—a small slice of historical graphic medicine brought to life in coloured pencil and graphite.

“This is a testament to curiosity and following the rabbit down the hole,
wherever it may lead.” – Matthew Noe for Booklist

“Katarina Thorsen has pushed creative non-fiction in astonishing new directions. Salt Green Death invites the reader to take an active role in sorting through documents and correspondence, drawing their own conclusions and inferences along the way. And she weaves (sometimes literally) the sorry saga of the O’Dwyer family together with her vivid charcoal drawings and buoyant, color renderings of the natural world, lending poetry and grace to this tale of utter heartbreak.”
—Matt Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style

“This is a remarkable book: a graphic novel that will challenge your notions about the meaning of the genre. In essence, it is an investigation into a history of family trauma but Thorsen’s presentation of the material that has constituted her research turns Salt Green Death into a catalogue of innovations: ingenious compositional turns and strategies make every page a delight, a map of visual possibilities. Doctor’s reports, family letters, administrative records join in a dance with feathers, fur, yarn, bone: you will not find another book so lovingly devoted to textures of such variety. Thorsen has the mind of an archivist, the eye of a painter and the heart of a poet.
— Bishakh Som, Apsara Engine

“Katarina Thorsen’s extraordinary talents as a writer, artist and researcher shine through in every page. This book is a visual delight that assaults the senses. I loved every inch of it!”
— Eve Lazarus, Cold Case BC, Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck

About the Author

Katarina Thorsen is a visual artist, passionate in her belief that art can build connections. Salt Green Death is informed by her work with youth and adults who experience significant mental health challenges and trauma. Studying mental health treatment history and best practices has taught her to view treatment through the context of history, not to judge but to understand.

Born in Sweden, Katarina is deeply grateful to live, work and play on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish).

Publication Details

ISBN: 9781772621068
196 pages, 8 x 10 inches
Full colour, trade paper
May 2025