Home > Letters to CR

Marissa Walsh on SPLAT! (PR)
posted February 12, 2008
 

The New York Center for Independent Publishing is venturing into a new medium with SPLAT!, our first annual Graphic Novel Symposium, featuring panels, workshops, discussions and a Q&A with Scott McCloud (Zot! and Making Comics). The event will take place on Saturday, March 15, 2008. Registration is now open and is $125.

Addressing the graphic novel's upsurge of growth into the general public consciousness, the SPLAT! Symposium will provide an intensive educational forum for the publishing community, educators, librarians, and people eager to find out more about the comics universe. It will also supply prospective creators with a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to be a graphic novelist.

The symposium is being sponsored by the NYCIP. The programming committee includes: Lance Fensterman, BEA & New York ComicCon; Gina Gagliano, First-Second Books & MOCCA; Sharon Ma, MOCCA; Dallas Middaugh, Del Rey Manga, Random House; Calvin Reid, Publishers Weekly & PW Comics Week; John Shableski, Diamond Book Distributors; and Leah Schnelbach, MOCCA.

In addition to Scott McCloud, the conference will feature Jim Killen, Barnes and Noble; David Saylor, Scholastic; Raina Telgemeier, The Baby-Sitters Club; Ted Rall, Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists; CB Cebulski, Marvel Comics; Bob Mecoy, Bob Mecoy Literary Agency; R. Sikoryak, The Seduction of Mike; Nick Bertozzi, The Salon; and Charles Brownstein, CBLDF.

SPLAT will consist of three different tracks of panels, seminars, and workshops designed for the publishing industry, would-be creators, and librarians. The first track will feature panels on topics including "Who Reads Graphic Novels" and "How to Get Published;" the second track will consist of hands-on workshops on subjects such as "Storytelling" and "Where to Start with Art;" and the final library-oriented track will include seminars on "Using Anime & Manga to Light the Fire in Your Young Adult Collection" and "Defending Your Graphic Novels Collections from Challenges and Censorship."

Hope you might be interested in running something about this event. Thank you!