THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING RESOURCE CENTER (IPRC) recently
announced the creation of a year-long course in “Writing, Comics, and
Independent Publishing,” dedicated to the idea that as e-books and
digital readers gain a foothold in the industry—as all
predictions suggest they will—and content becomes ever more
available in digital form, well-crafted “books as objects” will be
increasingly valued.
The course is geared toward teaching students to produce
high-quality books that contain content that they themselves have
created. To that end, a full semester is purely content-oriented, and
students will choose between two tracks—one dedicated to creative
writing, and the other to graphic novels/comics. Instructors include
writers like Kevin Sampsell, Craig Thompson, and Ariel Gore. The second
semester, overseen by former Mercury Art Director Mark Searcy,
is devoted to production, design, publication, and new media, with
courses in letterpress, InDesign, screenprinting, binding, and web
design and social media instruction.
“What we’re shooting for,” IPRC Director Justin Hocking says, “is
the creation of a new ‘school,’ not only in the physical sense but also
a new school of writers, cartoonists, and graphic novelists with the
skills and resources to independently publish their own work. To me, it
feels akin to the local food movement, by which local growers derive
satisfaction and a superior product by using local resources and
landscape.”
Details on the IPRC’s new program can be found at iprc.org. For more information on supporting
your local literary community, check out portland.readinglocal.com—and
don’t forget about next week’s Portland Zine Symposium, July 24-26;
info at pdxzines.com.
I heard something the other day that I had never thought about before. The author I was speaking with mentioned how in a way the Northwest is lucky that we are so far removed from the “center” of the literary world, because it allows for organizations like the IPRC to pop up and support the writers located here who don’t have access to the east coast publishers.
I guess it depends upon your definition of lucky, but there is certainly some truth to that statement. Either way we are better for having the IPRC around.
Thank you for the link!
Gabe Barber
Reading Local