A Birkbeck Contemporary Fiction Seminar/International London Comics Grid Bootleg Joint
From off the streets of Cleveland comes...
“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff”
In celebration of Harvey Pekar (1939-2010)
Birkbeck, room 152,1st floor main building, Torrington Square,
Tuesday August 3rd 2010, 6-8 pm
A short discussion of Pekar’s life & work followed by a screening of the film American Splendor (2003)
Harvey Pekar, comics writer and jazz fan, first published his autobiographical comic American Splendor in 1976 in collaboration with Robert Crumb. Subsequently working with a variety of artists, Pekar mined the drama and comedy of everyday life. His dedication to a poetics of commonplace realism was tempered with neurotic introspection, jazzy rhythms, and the immediacy of stand-up comedy. A good introduction, general overview, and prelude to the evening can be found at the online obituary by UCL’s Ernesto Priego.
Fans/artists/scholars will talk briefly about their favourite Pekar pages/moments/stories. Joining Ernesto will be the artists/scholars Sarah Lightman (Glasgow), and Sina Shamsavari (Goldsmiths). Master of Ceremonies is Paul Gravett (journalist/broadcaster, curator of Comica at the ICA). Following the screening we will reconvene for a celebratory wake at the Institute of Education bar.
For more information contact Tony Venezia ([log in to unmask]) or Ernesto Priego ([log in to unmask]).
Or just turn up...
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