Mark your calendars for SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23rd because that’s the day of the B&ECPL COMICS FEST!
Confirmed guests include:
Alex Simmons & his KIDS COMIC CON roadshow
Jason Little (Shutterbug Follies, Motel Art Improvment Service)
George O’Connor (Journey Into Mohawk Country, Zeus: King of the Gods, Athena: Grey-eyed Goddess)
And more…stay tuned to learn about more authors, entertainment, and a super-special guest!!
Time is running out! If you have story you would like to tell and want to do it in graphic novel format, then this is your chance! Find out how your story and artwork can become a published piece of art. But don’t wait too long. The due date for sumbmissions is Monday, February 2nd 2009 .
Love to draw? Then help us create a cover for our soon to be published graphic novel! Check out our guidelines and your art can become the cover of a graphic novel. But don’t forget, the deadline for submissions is Friday, December 12th 2008, so get drawing!
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.
“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.”
Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus will speak at the Central Library on May 22, 2008. Save the date - more details will follow.