Workshops

July 10, 2008 — Writing and Drawing Comics and Manga with Gene Yang
Reservation required - call 858-8900
2:00-4:00 pm
Central Library Meeting Room (1 Lafayette Square , Buffalo, NY 14203)

July 15, 16, 17, 2008 — Flash Fiction: Learn How to Tell Your Story In Just a Few Lines — with    Forrest Roth
This 2 hour workshop will be repeated in 3 different locations

• July 15 - Dudley Library (2010 South Park Ave)
  3:00 - 5:00 pm (Reservations: 823-1854)
• July 16 - Crane Library (633 Elmwood Ave.)
  6:00 - 8:00 pm (Reservations: 883-6651)
• July 17 - Central Library Meeting Room (1 Lafayette Square , Buffalo, NY 14203)
  2:00 - 4:00 pm (Reservations: 858-8900)

August 7, 2008 — Artist Open House - Meet Comics artist Jason Youngbluth
– And learn techniques for creating comics
2:00 - 4:00 pm (Reservations: 858-8900)
Central Library Meeting Room (1 Lafayette Square , Buffalo, NY 14203)

Oct 4, 2008 – Daylong workshop on making comics with Scott McCloud
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Times and registration information – to be announced

All workshops have limited seating – Reservations are required. Call the numbers listed above to register.

Graphic Novelist Art Spiegelman spoke to an enthusiastic and rapt audience at the Central Library, Thursday, May 22nd. This must-see event kicked off the Get Graphic! author series with a bang.  Spiegelman spoke with humor, passion and intelligence of his early years and development as a graphic novelist as well as the evolution of this format. We’ll be talking about this event for quite some time!

Read a review of this event from Next Magazine click here http://www.buffalonews.com/lifearts/next/story/356990.html

Next up is Gene Yang, creator of the graphic novel American Born Chinese. Yang will appear at the Central Library on July 9th at 4:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public - more information will be forthcoming.

For a list of some of the books and authors Spiegelman discussed during his presentation click below.

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Gene Yang, whose graphic novel, American Born Chinese, won the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for young-adult literature, will present a talk on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 4:00 PM in the Central Library’s Mason O. Damon Auditorium. American Born Chinese, which tells the story of Jin Wang, a son of Chinese immigrants, who struggles to assimilate at a predominately white school after moving from San Francisco’s Chinatown to the suburbs, was named a 2006 finalist for the National Book Award in the young people’s literature category. This was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, recently appeared on PBS’s Tavis Smiley television show. Satrapi was born in Iran and  Persepolis is her story about growing up during the Islamic Revolution.  To listen to the interview and/or read a transcript, click here. Btw, Persepolis was made into a film. It received an Academy Award nomination for Animated Feature Film. The Associated Press   also spoke to Satrapi about her life and her new movie. The film is now playing in Buffalo area theaters.

“The appeal of comic books is as basic as an ancient cave painting. Comic books present a gripping narrative embellished by an artist’s hand. You might say that this is no different from a storybook, but it is. A graphic novel or comic book often addresses themes that are way beyond the comprehension a child. Some people will say that even though this is true, comic books do not possess literary merit. This is not true. Imagine if Charles Dickens and Pablo Picasso had collaborated on a creation. In fact Charles Dickens’ classic A Tale of Two Cities was originally published in a serialized format. The truth is comic books are social commentaries that are often times more accessible to readers than classic literature. If a true graphic novel is created perfectly you should be able to take away the pictures or the words and still have a complete story. That is the general appeal of comics.”

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