Maine Lit Fest Event - Day 3
Visiting writers and graphic novelists, Lynda Barry, Sharon De La Cruz, Robert Gipe, and Yao Xiao, will offer free workshops, answer questions, and read from their work. Books will be sold throughout the day by Oliver & Friends Bookshop. A free preview of Post Pardon: The Opera will occur at 7:30 PM at the Gordon Center.
9:15 AM - 10:45 AM - WRITING THE UNTHINKABLE -WORKSHOP LED BY LYNDA BARRY (2ND FLOOR)
This workshop is intended to create a sustainable writing practice for anyone at any level who is interested in writing, but has had a hard time figuring out how to do it. It’s based on using a common but extraordinary sort of memory almost everyone has- the instant kind that ‘floods’ you when a certain smell or a song triggers a vivid image of a certain place-in-time. It’s the kind of memory that is unwilled and vivid, something that feels somehow on-going and plastic, a living place where a story is happening. Participants will learn an easy method to create the circumstances for these kinds of images to come to us and Barry will demonstrate how to set them down quickly in writing. Participants will start by using autobiographical memory, and then begin to apply it to writing fiction.
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM - ROBERT GIPE READING + Q&A (1ST FLOOR)
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM - SHARON DE LA CRUZ READING + Q&A (1ST FLOOR)
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM - EXPRESS YOURSELF: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL COMICS - WORKSHOP LED BY YAO XIAO (2ND FLOOR)
This workshop will show various techniques and exercises for writing autobiographical comics with the goal of starting a personal graphic storytelling collection, or a graphic memoir. Starting to tell the story of your life can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! For ten years, I made one-page comics that expressed aspects of my life that resonated with a wide audience. It started with a sharpie drawing with not-so-perfect figures. In this workshop, I will share exercises for turning your daily life into graphic expressions, as well as tools for structuring a narrative in interactive, visual ways. Whether you are just starting to express yourself through comics, or you’re looking for inspirations to add to a growing project, in this workshop you will learn about creating spontaneous, expressive autobiographical comics.
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM - THE GOUGER- WORKSHOP LED BY ROBERT GIPE (4TH FLOOR)
In this workshop, participants (who are willing) will be generating writing using a combination of spoken and written word and will then reflect on how those words might be illustrated. Specifically, participants will look at how Gipe decides which lines will have the greatest impact when illustrated, that is, which lines will “gouge” the reader in the heart and/or gut, and then explore the possibilities of the technique for their own writing.
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM - LUNCH (1ST FLOOR)
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM - YAO XIAO READING + Q& A (1ST FLOOR)
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM - THE CARTOON SELF - WORKSHOP LED BY SHARON DE LA CRUZ (4TH FLOOR)
In this workshop, participants will transform themselves into unique cartoon characters, drawing inspiration from the techniques I developed while crafting autobiographical daily comics. The workshop will cover the fundamentals of storytelling in comics, showing participants how to create engaging narratives around their cartoon selves. Whether it's a single-panel image or a multi-panel strip, the aim is to tell a story that resonates. By the end of the session, participants will have created their own cartoon "selfies" and learned how to use them as a medium for storytelling, turning everyday moments into captivating and relatable comic art. The workshop is designed to be a fun, immersive experience that not only teaches cartooning skills but also encourages self-expression and exploration through the art of comics.
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM - FULL GROUP PANEL(1ST FLOOR)
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM RECEPTION AND BOOK SIGNING (1ST FLOOR)
7:30 PM - POST PARDON: THE OPERA PRESENTS “THE BLACK AZALEAS SONG CYCLE” (GORDON CENTER)
Conducted by Marshunda Smith, the evening performance presents “The Black Azaleas Song Cycle,” which introduces the group of eco-activists at the core of Post Pardon: The Opera. Featuring local vocalists and musicians, as well as Colby students and faculty, the concert brings this new opera's musical excitement and drama to audiences as a part of the Maine Lit Fest. In collaboration with Colby Arts and funded by the Maine Arts Commission, Post Pardon: The Opera is adapted from professor Arisa White’s eponymous poetry collection, published by Mouthfeel Press in 2011. With music by jazz composer Jessica Jones, the opera draws on African-diasporic spirituality and folklore to tell the story of Willow, a queer Black Azalea confronted with the ghost of her estranged mother.
To learn more about the production, visit postdardon.org.
Free with RSVP.
Lynda Barry has worked as a painter, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, playwright, editor, commentator, and teacher and found that they are very much alike. She lives in Wisconsin, where she is associate professor of art and Discovery Fellow at University of Wisconsin Madison.
Barry is the inimitable creator behind the seminal comic strip that was syndicated across North America in alternative weeklies for two decades, Ernie Pook's Comeek, featuring the incomparable Marlys and Freddy. She is the author of The Freddie Stories, One! Hundred! Demons!, The! Greatest! of! Marlys!, Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel, Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies!, and The Good Times are Killing Me, which was adapted as an off-Broadway play and won the Washington State Governor's Award.
She has written four bestselling and acclaimed creative how-to graphic novels for Drawn & Quarterly, What It Is which won the Eisner Award for Best Reality Based Graphic Novel and R.R. Donnelly Award for highest literary achievement by a Wisconsin author; Picture This; Syllabus: Notes From an Accidental Professor, and Making Comics, which received two Eisner Awards and appeared on numerous best of the year lists including the New York Times. In 2019 she received a MacArthur Genius Grant. Barry was born in Wisconsin in 1956.
Sharon De La Cruz is a multifaceted artist based in New York City, where she intertwines storytelling, education, and activism. Her work dives deep into the nexus of STEM education, artistic expression, and social justice. De La Cruz's journey into comic storytelling propelled her to participate in the Tin House Summer Workshop, leading to the creation of her inaugural graphic novel memoir, I’m a Wild Seed, published by Street Noise in April 2021. This memoir has been praised for its powerful depiction of the evolution of a woman’s queer identity, capturing the blend of fear and joy in embracing one's marginalized identity. Esteemed publications like Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly have lauded her narrative style and artistic promise, highlighting her debut's humor and vitality. Beyond her achievements in literature, De La Cruz holds a master’s degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University (NYU). Her academic and creative endeavors have been recognized and supported through prestigious accolades such as the Fulbright Fellowship, Processing Foundation Fellowship, a TED Residency, and the Red Burns Teaching Fellowship at ITP-NYU for 2021-22. Currently, she contributes to the academic community as an Assistant Arts Professor at ITP-NYU.
Robert Gipe won the 2015 Weatherford Award for outstanding Appalachian novel for his first novel Trampoline. His second novel, Weedeater, was published in 2018. His third novel, Pop, was published in 2021. All three novels are published by Ohio University Press. In 2021, the trilogy won the Judy Gaines Young Book Award. From 1997 to 2018, Gipe directed the Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College Appalachian Program in Harlan. Gipe is founding producer of the Higher Ground community performance series and has served as a script consultant for the Hulu series Dopesick and a producer on the feature film The Evening Hour. Gipe resides in Harlan County, Kentucky. He grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Yao Xiao is an award-winning author, cartoonist and illustrator. She is a MacDowell Fellow, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Ignatz Award Nominee, and author of the graphic novel Everything Is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid. She is the creator of Baopu, a cartoon column on Autostraddle running in its 10th year, and is a cartoon contributor to The New Yorker. She has spoken about being a queer immigrant at The Stonewall National Museum and Archives, Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, and Columbia University, and is named 100 Women We Love by GO Magazine. A prolific illustrator for clients such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and TIME Magazine, her work has been supported by Define American, Th!nk Chinatown, the Peter Bullough Foundation, and has received recognition from the Society of Illustrators. Yao Xiao currently teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City where she lives and creates.
