From Collage to Comics: Making the Visual Essay

Additional Information

In this webinar, we will analyze the work of Claudia Rankine, Kristen Radtke, Lynda Barry, and other contemporary essayists who are using images to augment their writing. As we will see in their work, fusing storytelling with expressive photographs and drawings can make visible and concrete even the most abstract concepts, emotions, and ideas.

We will consider how an image can move beyond simply illustrating or reiterating the text, adding complexity and layers to a work, and how images can create or entirely change the tone of an essay. Whether lyric or literal, a thoughtful interdependence of words and pictures can invite the audience to re-read and re-examine your essay and garner multiple meanings from your work.

We will also discuss some practical challenges of incorporating visual elements into essays.

By the end of this webinar, you will be inspired to play with the page and experiment with combining text and images to make your own visual essays.

In this webinar, you will:

• EXPLORE combinations of text and image to understand how words and pictures can work together.
• CONSIDER examples of contemporary essayists working with images in different forms and media.
• ADDRESS some of the challenges of including images in your work.
• FIND inspiration for experimenting with your own creative work.

There will be time for a Q & A at the end of the presentation.

This webinar is ideal for writers at any stage of their career who want to experiment with images and play with the visual potential of an essay.

All registrants receive a recording.

Closed captioning will be available.