Hooray! My little whales and I are hot off the presses in The Creative Ethnographer’s Notebook I was very happy that I was able to contribute to this amazing book. It’s unique because it speaks to both brand new and wise and seasoned ethnographers who …
Our award-winning CBR exhibit has returned from the Hong Kong opening and is now in Vienna at the WU! This time both Marie-Pierre and I were able to be in Vienna to talk about carework, and comics-based research, with the students, faculty and community, first …
Hey y’all. It’s the best time of year– autumn in New England and also Vermont Folklife’s Non Fiction Comics Fest! This is the best fest, and so many amazing people attend– don’t miss it! CBR Lab, and yours truly, will be hawking our wares (honestly–what more do you need?) I can’t wait to see you there. Bring your dollars and venmo and get ready to buy some zines. I will have copies of everything and even some paper to make on the go!
I will also be doing a little lecture.
As a comic artist, I found my home in the world of non-fiction comics. I was never a big Marvel or superhero or Mad Magazine-genre artist. None of those things spoke to me as a young female artist coming up loving the world of editorial cartoons and Far Side single panel treats (this may have been because of the deep sexism that characterized a lot of that stuff— certainly the ‘underground’ comic movement, which was not as groundbreaking as it was misogynist). I immediately fell in love first with Art Spiegelman, because even though MAUS was raw and brutal, it was a true story that used the comic affordancees to bring a hard story home. Then I discovered Alison Bechdel and the whole world of what you can do with comics and real life stories (especially women and girls’ and queer stories!) opened up. And Dykes To Watch Out For was the visual and comic soundtrack for my four years writing Stating The Obvious. This was the 90s, when non fiction comics were just peeking into the mainstream, and it was through their work that I came to know what I wanted to do– even though I would go on to have a long career as a funny cartoonist. It wasn’t until I circled back around (and got a PhD in social science) to non-fiction comics and comics-based research did I rediscover the power of the true story in words and pictures. I am still working and writing and drawing and chewing over these ideas.
Since MAUS there have been so many great non fiction comics, including the great Marjane Satrapi. Here’s a list if you want to read more. But what you really should do is come up to Burlington for the NFCF and meet the best and the brightest right there.
It’s been a busy few months, running zine fests hither and yon, and then discovering myself in the pages of my brilliant friend New Zealand author Megan Dunn‘s The Mermaid Chronicles. (We were both attending a mermaid conference (yes! there is such a thing!) in …
Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and I are delighted to see this work become a permanent legacy exhibit at Middlesex. I’d like to give special thanks to Nathan Fretwell, Christiana Rose and of course Marie-Pierre Moreau for making this happen! If you are interested in this exhibit …
It’s springtime and comics-based research is popping up everywhere kind of like those tulip bulbs we forgot we had planted in an odd shape on the front lawn!
First of all I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the GloTech (Global Technology for Social Justice Lab) Launch, hosted here at UMass Amherst this past Friday. Hosted beautifully by Professor Seyram Avle and Professor Matt Bui, I offered a quick and dirty guide to using hand made folded paper zines to support election integrity. After all, drawing and making your own books is action. I learned so much from my fellow presenters and also from the participants. There is a lot to learn here for me. Check out the amazing work they are doing: https://glotechlab.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Custom-Built-_-Feito-Sob-Medida-GloTech-Workshop-Draft-apr17.pdf
Secondly, the nice people at SEAMEO have invited me to talk about comics and cartoons and teaching and research in the context of early education and care. I have so many friends in this part of the world, and so much to learn from the innovative, powerful work SEAMEO is doing. Can’t wait!
The arts-based, comics-based research exhibit, “Fostering A Sense of Belonging For Higher Education Staff and Students With Caring Responsibilities: What Works” from Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and myself has left Middlesex University and is now showing at University College Cork as part of the 2024 Athena …
That’s right! When I am not skating the Rideau Canal I will be a lucky guest at Carleton Uni/ University of Ottawa giving a lecture and a workshop on comics based research, and promoting the work of CBR Lab. I look forward to seeing everyone …
The arts-based Carers in Higher Education project from Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and myself has been to lots of exciting places, but this past week saw it installed at Middlesex University London. I am so pleased that it is up and generating some productive conversation amongst academics, admin, and community members alike. To learn more about the project and our work together, please visit either Professor Moreau’s brilliant website here or seek out my previous post here or here.
