In German, her work has appeared in a number of issues of Spring, the annual anthology published by the eponymous women artists’ collective, with a short story also appearing in the anthology Pomme d’amour, published by Die Biblyothek. Gift [Poison], the depiction of a criminal case based on historical events, with a scenario by Peer Meter, was Yelin’s first graphic novel, published with Reprodukt Verlag in 2010. 

In 2014 Barbara Yelin published the graphic novel Irmina, recipient of a number of awards. Told in densely atmospheric images, Irmina is based on the true story of a life of discordant changes, with a focus on those who collaborated with, or turned a blind eye to, National Socialism. In the fall of 2016, in partnership with the Goethe-Institut in Israel, Yelin created Vor allem eins: Dir selbst sei treu–die Schauspielerin Channa Maron [This above all: to thine own self be true–the actress Channa Maron]. Working together with author Thomas von Steinaecker, Yelin published the serial web comic The Summer of Her Life in Hundertvierzehn, the lit-blog of S. Fischer Verlag. It was published in reworked book form by Reprodukt Verlag in fall 2017.

Yelin has drawn comic strips for the German newspapers, the Frankfurter Rundschau (Rieke’s Notizen [Rieke’s notes]) and the Tagesspiegel, led international workshops, and served as reporter-illustrator in Cairo, Bali, New Delhi, Tel Aviv, and Pristina. In 2015 she was awarded the Bavarian Prize for Literature, and in 2016, the renowned Max and Moritz Award for Best German-Language Comic Artist. She lives and works in Munich.