Margaret Hawkins, author and sibling of a sister with schizophrenia.

Margaret Hawkins

Margaret Hawkins is a writer and critic who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has a sister with schizophrenia.

She is the author of two novels: A Year of Cats and Dogs and How to Survive a Natural Disaster. 

Her memoir, After Schizophrenia: The Story of My Sister’s Reawakening After 30 Years, won the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award in 2011, in the Family Memoir category.

To hear more from Margaret Hawkins: 

Posts by Margaret Hawkins

When ordinary is extraordinary

02 April 2012 | Posted by Margaret Hawkins | 2 comments
Topics: Siblings, Family and friends, Recovery

Yesterday afternoon I went to see my sister, as I do most Sundays. When I arrive we hug, kiss. She does a funny dance move that suggests she’s glad to see me. I’m glad to see her.

Breaking the silence: my family and schizophrenia

14 February 2012 | Posted by Margaret Hawkins | 2 comments
Topics: Siblings, Carers, Family and friends, Stigma and discrimination, Recovery

When my 89-year-old father died, in 2006, my life changed completely. He’d taken care of my older sister Barb, who had as yet undiagnosed schizophrenia, for over three decades. She had returned home at the age of 31, after living an independent, full and somewhat glamorous life.