I’ll be involved in the IPRC’s new comic certificate program. This is the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland Oregon. It is kind of like an art school except way better because it costs less and teaches you real things. There are only a limited number of students places available in these first classes, so sign up soon. If you were looking for a reason to move to Portland, here it is:
Certificate Program
Join us for the IPRC’s next creative odyssey: a year-long certificate program in Independent Publishing. Participants will choose between one of two tracks, Creative Writing or Comics/Graphic Novels, and will spend two semesters creating and publishing their work. Fall Semester will feature generative workshops with the following instructors, guest lecturers, and advisors: Creative Writing: Justin Hocking, Ariel Gore, Kevin Sampsell, Alex Wrekk, and Cheryl Strayed. Comics/Graphic Novel: Jesse Recklaw, Dylan Williams, Craig Thompson, Nicole J. Georges, Todd Bak, Annie Murphy, and Shawn Granton. Spring Semester will be facilitated by former Portland Mercury Art Director Mark Searcy, and will include intensive instruction in book design and layout, Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, use of our Bind-Fast bookbinding machine, letterpress and screen printing, as well as web design and New Media studies. Students will publish a collaborative book that anthologizes their creative work, and will go on to produce their own books and start their own presses. Many writing and cartooning programs cost roughly the price of a new BMW. Our program, on the other hand, costs about as much as a nice new bike. And as a program we are much like a bicycle: not flashy, but nimble. Human powered. Something old that is also new. The future. For more information or to apply e-mail justin@iprc.org
