Archive of Monthly Programs

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels

Location: Spider House, 2908 Fruth, Austin

One of the hottest areas in publishing is comics, graphic novels, and manga. Paul Benjamin heads up a panel of writers in the field to offer an insider's look at the popular art form and the creative process. Panelists include Scott Kolins, Alan Porter, Tony Salvaggio, and Matt Sturges.

Paul Benjamin is a writer, editor, and video game producer whose Tokyopop manga series, Pantheon High, debuted at New York Comic Con 2007. Paul has developed comics-to-film projects for Hollywood, produced video games, edited graphic novels for Humanoids/DC Comics, and is currently writing Marvel Adventures Hulk. He's also producing video games for Austin-based Amaze Entertainment.

Tony Salvaggio has been an almost life-long fan of anime and manga. He has worked as an artist, animator, and designer in the video games industry. He is currently co-writing Psy-Comm (an original graphic novel series for Tokyopop) as well as the anime/manga influenced story "Clockwerx" (for Humanoids Publishing). As a freelance journalist, Tony has penned the column "Calling Manga Island" for Comic Book Resources, and worked on various video game and manga related writing projects. When he isn't playing with his band Deserts of Mars, he regularly hosts movies and events related to martial arts, sci-fi, and horror from the East in Austin. He is fueled by music, coffee, Big Red, video games, and his passion for all things anime and manga is only excelled by his quest to become King of the Monsters.

Alan Porter, writer and pop-culture historian, writes about comics as well as writing a few himself. His current project is God Shop for Tokyopop (coming later this year), and his book on the history of James Bond in comics will be in stores in October. He also writes promotional comic books for a variety of companies. Find out more at
http://alanjporter.com.

Matt Sturges writes several books for DC Comics, including House of Mystery, Blue Beetle, and the Eisner-nominated Jack of Fables (with Bill Willingham). His first novel, Midwinter, will be published by Pyr Books in 2009. Matthew lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and their two daughters.

Scott Kolins was raised in central Wisconsin. After high school and one year of college, Scott attended the prestigious Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art and Graphic Design and has studied art and the craft of comics under: Dennis Jensen, Bart Sears & Kim DeMulder. He has been a freelance artist for 18 years working with: Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Malibu Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Valiant Entertainment, Wizard Entertainment, Random House Publishing & Lucas film. For the past five years Scott has been under contract to either DC Comics or Marvel Comics and has worked regularly on titles such as: The Flash, The Avengers, Green Lantern, Superman-Batman, Wonder Woman, Marvel Team-Up, Thor, and Omega Flight. He is currently under Exclusive Contract with DC Comics working on Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge and will next join the Superman team for their next story in Action Comics. Scott moved to Austin TX two years ago with his wife Kim, three children, and dog.

Taming the Tangle of Too Much Tech: Roping in the Rocket Science of an Authentic Space Thriller

Bob Mahoney—ex-rocket scientist, father of five, cancer survivor (so far!), and recent middle school science teacher—offers his thoughts on how to maintain the thrill in the technothriller while keeping the physics (and the hardware) as accurate as any engineer could want. While his own specialty is spaceflight (he taught astronauts how to fly the shuttle for nearly ten years), his lessons learned apply to any author whose passion for their subject matter runs the risk of overwhelming their narrative: historical fiction, spy thriller, or CSI-driven mystery.

While a few of the usual creativity-dampening things have hindered his progress on actually TYPING his second space-thriller novel—more kids, chemotherapy, needing sleep—his first novel Damned to Heaven (conceived more than six years prior to the Columbia accident, about a shuttle crew trapped in orbit by debris-induced heat shield damage) is still out there impressing folks both in and out of the space program. He has also written for The Space Review and other publications. His passion for spaceflight is only matched by that for his other loves: his family, writing, and teaching.

Bob's reaction to learning that he had cancer ("Oh, great, more medical crap!"), is only one hint that his unique perspective promises some interesting discussion. "We learn from our mistakes," Bob notes. "And I've had quite an education." Come join us as Bob shares some of his education.

Beginning in July, 2008, the monthly programs will be held at the League office, 611 South Congress, Suite 130, Austin. (one block south of the intersection of South Congress and Riverside Drive). Social time is at 7 PM and the program begins at 7:30 PM.

Murder 101

You are going to kill someone! How do you do it and what really happens when you kill the poor victim? You are a writer and want to kill someone (on paper). How do you do the drastic deed? What do you use, how do you actually do it and what will the intended victim and murder site look like? How does the method you chose work? How fast
will the victim die? Will there be a mess? All these are good
questions, unless of course you've actually killed someone by the method chosen. The average writer gets their murder instruction from movies and television. These sources are not known for their high degree of accuracy. They even get the simple things wrong. Movies are
made for visual entertainment and not necessarily to "gross-out" the viewer. There are exceptions. So, where does the mystery writer get his or her information? The answer is simple, from this seminar on Murder 101. Every would-be (fiction) murderer needs this seminar!

Dr. Dave Ciambrone is a retired scientist, Oceanographer,
archaeologist, professor, magician and author living in Georgetown, Texas, with his wife, Kathy. Dave has published five Virginia Davies Mysteries, Laguna Treasure, Napa Nights, Pelican Cove and Castle Finlaystroke. He has also published three management books: Waste Minimization as a Strategic Weapon, Environmental Life Cycle Analysis and Effective Transition from Design to Production.

Celebrating Texas Writing Month

Dougherty Arts Center
1110 Barton Springs Road, Austin
7 - 9 PM 

Join the League at its annual celebration of Texas Writers Month Thursday, May 15, from 7- 9 p.m. The informal evening of readings and conversation with five Texas authors features Liz Carmack, Carol Dawson, Dave McNeeley, Marsha Moyer, and Joe O'Connell.

Mary Gordon Spence emcees, and Jo Virgil of Barnes & Noble Westlake will sell copies of the authors' books, which can be signed during the evening. Come enjoy coffee and sweets and visit with these popular writers.

Dawson, author of four critically-acclaimed novels, made her non-fiction debut with the 2007 Violet Crown Nonfiction Prize winner House of Plenty, the story of Luby's Cafeterias and the cafeteria industry as a social paradigm of Middle America.

Carmack, a freelance business and technical writer, writes about Texas travel and traveled more than 17,000 miles around the Lone Star State to research her book, Historic Hotels of Texas: A Traveler's Guide.

McNeely, co-author of Bob Bullock: God Bless Texas, recently retired from the Austin American-Statesman.

Moyer is the author of four critically-acclaimed novels: The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch, The Last of the Honky-tonk Angels, Heartbreak Town, and the recently released Return of the Stardust Cowgirl.

O'Connell is the author of Evacuation Plan, a novel-in-stories based on his experiences at Hospice Austin's Christopher House.

Spence, author of Finding Magic in the Mundane, is a popular speaker, Austin American-Statesman op-ed columnist, and KUT public radio commentator.

The event is free and nonmembers are welcome. No need to RSVP. Parking is available in the lot directly behind the Daugherty Center.

Creative Nonfiction: Jazzing Up Real Life?

Gail Folkins speaks about the seeming oxymoron of creative nonfiction and her book of that genre, Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit. The book introduces you to the eighteen historic dance halls throughout Texas, as well as the surrounding culture and the people who keep them hoppin'.

Gail has worked as a journalist, a writer/editor overseas, and a writing instructor. She worked as a writer/editor in both Austin, TX and Switzerland before joining the graduate program at Texas Tech University in 2003 and completing her PhD in creative nonfiction in 2006.

Stories From Stories: Finding Meaning in People's Narratives

Barbara Trepagnier's debut book, Silent Racism, discusses the subtleties of racism inherent in our culture today and its sociological implications. She "persuasively demonstrates that silent racism—racism by people who by all accounts would be classified as "not racist"—is instrumental in the production of institutional racism." Barbara will read excerpts from the book and focus on the interview-based research she did for the book.

Barbara was born in 1940 in Houston, Texas. She attended college at the University of Houston in her forties—after several of her four daughters had already graduated. She completed her doctoral work in sociology at University of California in Santa Barbara in 1996, and at that time returned to Texas. She teaches sociology at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Book Reviews: What Do They Mean to You?

Irene Watson will discuss the ins and outs of getting book reviews and what to with them once you've got them. Irene is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, a one-stop book review, publicity, video, literary awards, networking & proposal service where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team of reviewers carefully reads each book and posts their honest opinion.

Born in Northern Alberta in Canada, Irene's career took her from career counseling, to business ownership, to working in management for a police force, to spiritual counseling, to teaching at a college, to retreat/seminar/workshop design and facilitation to her most recent - owning/managing Reader Views. She obtained her B.S. in psychology at St. Edward's University in Austin, TX and her M. A. in psychology from Regis University in Denver, CO.

Newspapers: Writers in the online future

Fred Zipp will discuss how the emergence of online journalism has changed the playing field for writers.

Zipp has spent 28 years in daily newspaper journalism, the last seven as managing editor of the Austin American-Statesman in Austin. He began his career in Beaumont, Texas, and has also worked for the Palm Beach Post in Florida. Zipp graduated from Duke University in 1977 with degrees in history and French. He lives in Austin with his wife Jodi and their three children.

 

Amanda Eyre Ward wrote her first novel, Sleep Toward Heaven, in a Texas Writers' League novel-writing workshop. She has since published three novels, two of which are optioned to film. Amanda will talk about writing and publishing, agents and editors, book tours and blogs. Please come with questions!

Amanda was born in New York City, and graduated from Williams College and the University of Montana.

Her first novel, Sleep Toward Heaven, was optioned by Sandra Bullock and Warner Brothers. Her second novel, How to Be Lost, was chosen as a Target Bookmarked pick and has been published in 15 countries. Amanda's new novel, Forgive Me, was published by Random House in June, 2007, and is available in stores now.

 

Irwin Tang talks about growing up as one of the few Asian kids in College Station, Texas and how it shaped his writing. He talks about the truths behind the title of his story collection, How I Became a Black Man and Other Metamorphoses, which the Austin Chronicle called “brilliant and heartbreaking.”

Tang talks of his triumphs and tribulations in writing and publishing his first book, an honest look at the history of Texas A&M University and its traditional bonfire.

He is best known nationwide for his 2003 public tangle with Shaquille O’Neal. He unrolls the entire yarn of how he and Shaquille O’Neal battled over Shaq’s “ching-chong” taunts and how Tang won. His tale reveals dirty truths about American sports media, but also how it has changed since publication of Tang’s opinion column telling Shaq to “come down to Chinatown.”

Tang speaks on his latest book, When Invisible Children Sing: the true story of five street children, an idealistic young doctor, and their dangerous hope, and his collaboration with a high-profile medical doctor. Finally, Tang unveils his latest work, Asian Texans: Our Histories and Our Lives.

He currently works as a freelance writer for magazines and for NPR’s Pacific Time. He is writing a film adaptation of Karl Taro Greenfield’s Speed Tribes for an independent production company.

Meet the man who changed Texas A&M University, American sports media, and, in some ways, how Americans see Asian Americans.

Joe O'Connell, author of the recently released Evacuation Plan: a novel from the hospice, is the featured speaker at the August monthly program. (Topic to be announced soon.)

Joe O'Connell has met a mass murderer, prowled a crack house, and spat seeds at a watermelon thump. He’s a Texas native whose early career focused on small-town journalism. He earned an MFA in creative writing from Southwest Texas State University where he worked long distance with the late short story master Andre Dubus.

O’Connell’s stories have appeared in The G.W. Review, Other Voice, Confrontation, Lullwater Review and many other journals. His stories have taken first prize at both the Deep South Writers Conference and in the Louzelle Rose Barclay Awards.

Of late, he teaches writing to graduate students at St. Edward’s University and to undergraduates at Austin Community College. He turned a budding career as a movie extra-otherwise known as “scenery”-into a gig as a film industry columnist for the Dallas Morning News and The Austin Chronicle. He also has contributed to Variety and Texas Monthly.

The July monthly program features Dr. Mark Busby, co-editor of the recently released book John Graves, Writer from University of Texas Press. Renowned for Goodbye to a River, his now-classic meditation on the natural and human history of Texas, as well as for his masterful ability as a prose stylist, John Graves has become the dean of Texas letters for a legion of admiring readers and fellow writers. Yet apart from his own largely autobiographical works, including Hard Scrabble, From a Limestone Ledge, and Myself and Strangers, surprisingly little has been written about Graves's life or his work. John Graves, Writer seeks to fill that gap with interviews, appreciations, and critical essays that offer many new insights into the man himself, as well as the themes and concerns that animate his writing.

Dr. Mark Busby is Director of the Southwest Regional Humanities Center and the Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State University-San Marcos, where he also serves as Professor of English.

WRITERS AT THE UT CLUB

Revised Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2007

7 - 9 PM

The University of Texas Club

2108 Robert Dedman Drive

(The club is located on the East Side of Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium on The University of Texas campus; the entrance has an orange and white awning. Free on-street parking should be available. Pay-parking is available at tha garage across the street from the University of Texas Club.)

In celebration of Texas Writers' Month, The University of Texas Club will host the May program. Featured authors will read from their works and share their insights into the writing life. A book signing will follow the program, and books will be available for purchase, courtesy of Barnes & Noble La Frontera.

The evening includes a free appetizer buffet and a cash bar. Business casual attire.