Tag Archives: writing

Kids: Make Art with Artists, Read With Authors, Write With a Writer

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Saturday, April 10th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.!

Join ReadThis and The Center for Fiction
at 17 East 47th Street in Manhattan
for a full day of events celebrating reading!

Your kid can help other kids, and have a great time doing it at this festival book-drive for kids in need. Hear stories from TAD HILLS of “Duck and Goose” fame, make art with RUTH ROOT, attend a children’s writing workshop with SAM SWOPE, among more than a dozen children’s activities throughout the day.

Just bring two or more gently used or new books (pre-K through grade 12) to donate to 11 schools and youth organizations that ReadThis and the Center for Fiction will be helping that day.

All programs begin promptly so come early so you can drop off books ahead of time.  Here’s a sampling of the events that are happening:

11:00 a.m. – Doors Open

Children’s Book Reading with VERONICA CHAMBERS and MIRIAM COHEN

Chambers, author of, Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme and Sisterhood, among other titles, reads from her picture book,Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, about the rise of the salsa star from the streets of Havana.

Cohen, an avid champion of the rights of children, will read from a few of her picture books that showcase young people whose positive spirits turn adversity into something constructive. Collaborating with illustrator Lillian Hoban, Cohen has penned the “First-Grade Friends” picture-book series, among dozens of other titles.

Children’s Writing Workshop with SAM SWOPE (ages 7-13)

The author of The Araboolies of Liberty Street and I Am Pencil takes children through the story-writing paces. This is a hands-on, pencils-up, 45-minute session which will take your child a little further toward becoming a writer.

Screening of the short children’s film, LOST AND FOUND

“Nothing short of stunning” – The Times in London calls this film adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ children’s story of the same name. Narrated by Jim Broadbent, the animated film trails the tested friendship of a boy and the loyal penguin that appeared one day on his doorstep.

Children’s Book Reading with TAD HILLS and FRAN MANUSHKIN

Tad Hills, the author and illustrator of the popular Duck and Goose series, and Fran Manushkin, the author of 17 books for children, including Baby, Come Out! and the Katie Woo series, read from their work and answer questions from curious little readers.

Children’s Book Reading with BOB MORRIS and ELISE BROACH

You may know Morris best from his long-running New York Times etiquette column or his hilarious memoir about overseeing his geriatric father’s dating life, Assisted Loving, but he is also the ukulele-playing author of the children’s book, Crispin the Terrible. He plays and reads for kids, along with Elise Broach, the author of the popular book Wet Dog, as well as Time magazine’s #1 children’s book of 2007,When Dinosaurs Came With Everything.

Children’s Book Reading With BRIAN FLOCA: To the Moon!

Michael Collins, the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 11 has said of Floca’s book, “Reading Moonshot gave me the feeling I was back up in space.” And now, without suffering the ill effects of zero gravity, your little ones can get the feeling too. Floca reads from his books and answers every out-of-this-world question for your kids.

Make Your Own Book With RUTH ROOT, REBECCA ODES, CHRIS DOYLE, CHRIS GENTILE, and (Parsons Illustration Adjunct) JEFF QUINN

Sure, your kid has done craft projects, but how many times have they worked side by side with an artist whose work has been projected on the whole side of a building at Columbus Circle? Distinguished artists Root, Odes, Doyle and Quinn provide hands-on guidance for your young artist to create a book or bookmark.

This children’s programming is only part of the days’ events. Visit www.booksfornyckids.org to see the full program including ELIZABETH GILBERT, SAM LIPSYTE, KURT ANDERSEN, RICK MOODY, JAMAICA KINCAID and many many more.

Hope to see you there.

Big News: Neil Swaab is a finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship

Illustration Faculty, News, , , ,

oscars
Parsons Illustration’s very own Neil Swaab [Adjunct Faculty and creator of the fantastic comic “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles”] is currently a finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting. His  movie script, EDDIE FANTASTIC!, was selected as one of the top ten of over 6,000 entries.

The Nicholl Fellowship is run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars) and getting this far is a very big deal. If you want to check out more info about the Nicholl Fellowship, you can read it here:
http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/index.html

Variety also has a write-up here on the current finalists (including Neil):
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118009717.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

The five recipients of the Nicholl Fellowship will be decided later this month. Winners get $30,000 and must write a screenplay in the next year.

Best of luck, Neil!  Go all the way!

[image by AMPAS]

Call for Visual Submissions by 12th Street magazine

Call for Entries, Current Students, News, Publications, , , , ,

12streetmagazine

12th Street, the literary magazine published by the Riggio Honors Program: Writing and Democracy, is seeking quality poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. It is also accepting submissions of photographs, paintings, or other visual material that can be reproduced in magazine format.

Prose submissions should not exceed 9,000 words and poetry submissions should not include more than seven poems. Submissions will be read anonymously. Please submit a cover sheet including your name, the title or titles of your works, and your contact information. Your name should not appear on any of the other pages of your work.

12th Street is committed to publishing the literary work of The New School’s undergraduate community. Our mission is to present literature that discusses the artist as intellectual and explores the role of the writer in the world. We want to promote literature as an engine of democracy.

12th Street is widely distributed in bookstores around the country and on the New School campus. Please send your work to juliecarl13@yahoo.com no later than November 15.

Hazel Santino illustrates for the Vera List Art Collection

Call for Entries, Current Students, Inspiration, Publications, , , , , ,

FINAL writing award poster 08.04.09

Click on the image above for a full-size version of Illustration Junior Hazel Santino’s fantastic poster illustration for the Vera List Art Collection Writing awards.  Look for the posters around the New School community soon!  We’ll also be blogging about the contest itself soon–it’s a great opportunity for students to express their analytical and/or their creative side by engaging some of the amazing art we have right here in our buildings.  So keep your eye out for those details.

Congrats, Hazel!

Writing for Children Forum at the New School

Current Students, Education, employment, Events, Illustration Industry, News, Talks/Lectures, , ,

Writing For Children Forum: Getting Published Panel
March 31st at  6:30 p.m.

Experts in the field of children’s book publishing discuss how to get your work published. Featuring Alvina Ling, senior editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Ben Tomek, marketing associate, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing; and Anna Olswanger, literary agent, Liza Dawson Associates.

Moderated by Deborah Brodie, editor.

Location
Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall
66 West 12th Street, room 510

Admission
$5; free to all students and New School faculty, staff, and alumni with ID

In-person ticket purchases
The New School Box Office
66 West 12th Street, main floor
Monday-Friday 1:00-7:00 p.m.

Reservations and inquiries can also be made by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu or calling 212.229.5488.

Brian Wood written up in the Village Voice

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, Interviews, Publications, , , , , , ,

Illustration Alum Brian Wood (’97) was recently interviewed for an article in the Village Voice.  He talked about why San Francisco just isn’t as good as New York (to him), how his artwork has developed, and the critical and social reaction to his art.  Here’s an excerpt:

Comic-book fame is a funny thing: Even as Hollywood pushes the medium further into the mainstream, a sense of geek solidarity remains. Writers and artists feel compelled to stay in touch with their fans; the fans, in turn, continue to treat creators like best friends. “I’m hesitant to compare him to an emo band, but I feel like Brian has that sort of connection to the audience,” says James Lucas Jones, an editor at Oni Press who worked with Wood on Local. “People feel emotionally invested in him.”

Wood’s own fame was cemented in the late ’90s, after the publication of the William Gibson–esque Channel Zero. He now calls it something of “an art student’s rant”—a ” ‘zine where everybody talks about what pisses them off.” But Zero led to a writing stint at Marvel’s Generation X and paved the way for the series Couriers, Couscous Express, and Pounded, about a rock band in New York. Eventually, Wood transitioned from occasionally drawing into writing full-time, mostly because he “had so many ideas, and not enough time to put them to paper.”

Make sure you read the rest of the article here.  Brian also has a list of other articles about his work here on his official website.  You can pick up a copy of his latest book, The New York Four here.

Congrats on your continuing success, Brian!

From the Vault: Writing Award Winners Meet with World-Renowned Artist

News, , , ,

The winners of the 2007-08 Vera List University Art Collection Writing Award, with prizes ranging from $200 to $400, are six students from Lang, The New School for General Studies, and Parsons.

On April 22, they celebrated their achievements in an informal gathering with artist and 2007-08 VLC Fellow Marjetica Potrc, whose work some had analyzed in their essays. In their conversation, they explored the relationship between visual and literary practice and the role of criticism for both.

This year, the prizes were awarded to the following students:

First Prize Creative Response: Julia Hermannsdottir, “The Butcher” (in response to Rirkrit Tirjavanjia, Untitled) [Illustration Sophomore!]

First Prize Critical Response: Hannes Steen Thornhammar, untitled text (in response to Earl Staley, Triumph of Bacchus)

Second Prize Creative Response: Brandon Johnson, “Warriors” (in response to Marjetica Potrc, Warriors)

Second Prize Critical Response: Kyle Garson, untitled text (in response to Rachel Harrison, Perth Amboy)

Honorable Mention Creative Response: Nicole Dular, “Somewhere Between” (in response to Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Untitled)

Honorable Mention Critical Response: Veronica Cassidy, “Trapped in the Intestinal Tract: Kara Walker’s Event Horizon”

The winners were selected by a jury composed of the following members:

Neil Gordon, dean of Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
Carin Kuoni, director of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics
Joshua Mack, member of the Vera List Center Advisory Committee; writer for Time Out New York and Modern Painters
Rosemary O’Neill, associate dean of Faculty Affairs and associate professor of art history, Parsons The New School for Design
Robert Polito, director of the Writing Program and the MFA in Creative Writing, The New School for General Studies
Silvia Rocciolo, co-curator of the New School Art Collection

The Vera List University Art Collection Writing Award honors the best critical and creative essays written by students in response to the university’s collection of more than 1,800 artworks. Established in 1996 by the late Vera List, a life trustee of The New School, it is presented once a year.

For further information on the award or the VLC, please contact Carin Kuoni, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, at kuonic@newschool.edu.

Congratulations to Julia and all the other winners on their accomplishments!