Where is Dystopia? Podcast/Presentation

Last week I had the pleasure of lecturing and leading a discussion on dystopic literature at the Oregon City Public Library. Several people in attendance came up to me afterwards and asked if I would be posting my presentation slides online, so here they are condensed as a single PDF (34.8 MB). I’ve also edited and uploaded an audio podcast of the event which includes both my talk and the short Q&A session afterwards (72 min, 66.5 MB). My lecture is part of a series of events organized by the fabulous Maureen Cole at the OCPL that will culminate on February 23 with a community reads event hosted by Daniel H. Wilson, author of the recent novel Robopocalypse.

Many thanks to everyone who attended, especially my boys Dmitri and Dante who tagged along and assisted, and also to Maureen and her amazing staff.

What We Talk About When We Talk About The Wire

Last fall, PopMatters published my essay on American noir as reflected in The Wire. The piece was written as my personal/critical capstone to an entire class dedicated to the television series; I taught it last spring at PNCA.

Scott McCloud: Oct 15 @ Clackamas CC

Zot! creator and Understanding Comics author Scott McCloud will give a keynote talk on writing and publishing in the digital age at 6:30 pm next Friday night, October 15 at the Niemeyer Center on Clackamas CC’s main campus in Oregon City. McCloud’s talk will kick off the Clackamas Story Jam, a 24-hour event featuring publishing workshops in comics, video and letterpress printing wherein participants will create a new project from start to finish within a single day.

The complete event is $150, and includes McCloud’s keynote on Friday night, a workshop, and lunch on Saturday. McCloud’s evening talk is free to current Clackamas CC students and $20 to non-students. To register for either the workshop or McCloud’s keynote, please contact the Clackamas CC registration office.