Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Tonight, I presented a talk for PechaKucha 12 at the beautiful Lakewood Theater. The PechaKucha presentation format is simple. 20 slides, 20 seconds each. This time, all the talks centered around the theme “This is My City.” We had lots of great people: Lily Smith-Kirkley, Stefan Reddick, Tom Dennis, Angela Mondragon, Catherine Cuellar, Cone Johnson, Robbie Good, Jenn Dunn, Alan Lidji, Jim Hart, Fred Holston, and me. Thank you Frances Yllana (via AIGA DFW) for inviting me to participate.

Here’s what I had written for my 6 minutes and 40 seconds. I went off script just a few times to better accommodate the timing of each slide.

Metropolis

1.
I love that word “metropolis.” It simply means the main city of a region, but thanks to Fritz Lang and Superman the word now carries the weight of terrifying grandeur. It’s a place to behold, to cherish, to protect, to be inspired by. It’s a utopia constantly on the brink.

2.
Metropolis was a German film, made in 1927, directed by Fritz Lang. It’s a story about the distant future, 2026, when industrialists rule the city from towering skyscrapers. It was a silent masterpiece of tremendous ambition and imagination.

3.
Twelve years later in 1939, Metropolis was reborn in Action Comics no. 16 as Superman’s New York-esque adoptive home. There, Superman fought the corruption of industrialists. While Batman’s Gotham was a dire place, drawn for the night, Superman’s Metropolis was the shining hopeful city of tomorrow. Read more →

Today is a good day for people who love the finer things. It’s Star Wars Day (“May the 4th be with you”). It’s Free Comic Book Day. And Iron Man 3 is out this weekend.

Zeus Comics (new location on 1334 Inwood Road) is celebrating it all.

May the 4th be with you! Happy Star Wars day. We have the wonderful Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) with us at Zeus starting at 10am. It’s Free Comic Book Day too! Come meet 8 other wonderful comic folk including Phil Jimenez, Stephen Sadowski, Randal Keith Milholland, Robert Wilson, Chad Thomas, David Hopkins, and Benjamin Hall! Zeus will be handing out over 5,000 free comics over the course of the day and our back-issues are half off today only!

I’ll be there with some free comics too. Come by and say hello.

Last year, I participated in an independent comics panel at Eastfield College This year, Iris Bechtol invited me to participate in the Eastfield Literary and Fine Arts Festival. I will be presenting a comics writing workshop on Thursday, April 19th at 12:30. We will be in either G-101 or G-102. I don’t see any registration or fees listed on the website. So let’s assume it’s free and open to the public. Grab your lunch and come join us. I won’t mind if you eat in front of me.

The first thirty minutes will be an overview of how comics operate as a form of visual storytelling–what comics do well and what they don’t do. The next thirty minutes will be about working with artists, script formats, tips and suggestions. After that, be prepared to write. I have several exercises designed to help you get comfortable with scripting comics. (Bring a laptop or pen/paper.) At the very end, I’ll talk for ten minutes about getting published and what options are available.

I promise this workshop won’t waste your time. I’m not going to ramble on and on about how I got into comics or where you can find my comics (uh, this website). I’m not going to eulogize the industry. This won’t be a workshop thinly disguised as an egocentric Q&A. We’re going to write, and we’re going to learn something.

Next Thursday, skip work and let’s level up on telling stories with pictures.

Today, we distributed copies of Fahrenheit 451 to the ninth and tenth graders at Trinidad Garza Early College High School. It was a great event. Mountain View College President Felix Zamora gave a few opening remarks, as well as Trini Garza principal Dr. Janice Lombardi. Dallas City Council member Delia Jasso was our keynote speaker. Best of all, the school’s step team performed a routine based on the book.

When in doubt: step team. They make everything more fun.

I also had the opportunity to say a few words. I talked about my love of reading. And to knowledge, it’s the first time I’ve spoken publicly about my dyslexia. Certainly, it’s the first time I’ve mentioned it on this blog.

Here’s what I said, more or less:

First, I want to thank Dr. Lombardi for organizing this event with us. You’re a great school. You should be proud of your education here.

My name is David Hopkins. I taught English and Creative Writing at Martin High School for twelve years, and now I write for a living. I’m a member of D Academy, the group behind the Big Read Dallas. Our hope is that you would join us and the rest of the city in reading Fahrenheit 451. That’s why we’re here. We’re counting on you, the ninth and tenth graders of Dallas ISD, to lead this charge. We’re going to give every single one of you a copy of the book. Once you get them, you’ll notice The Big Read Dallas logo and a note to you on the inside. This is a special edition of the book. And it’s yours. Read more →

I’ll be here on Friday.

The Big Read is giving free copies of Fahrenheit 451 to all ninth and tenth grade students in the Dallas Independent School District. It’s part of The Big Read’s mission to have the entire city reading and discussing Ray Bradbury’s classic science fiction novel during the month of April. To celebrate the book distribution, Trinidad Garza Early College High School is hosting a kick-off event on Friday, March 15th. Dallas City Councilmember Delia Jasso will be speaking, along with Principal Janice Lombardi and D Academy member David Hopkins. Trinidad Garza’s step team will perform a specially prepared routine inspired by Fahrenheit 451.

The event will be held at 3 p.m. on the Mountain View College campus in the outdoor foyer between buildings S and W. It is open to the public.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Trinidad Garza Early College High School, located at Mountain View College, is a unique public school that offers students the opportunity to earn an associates degree during their high school years. “Trini” Garza places a high priority on rigorous academic study and is a true success story in the Dallas Independent School District.

For more information about The Big Read visit: bigreaddallas.org

For more information about Trinidad Garza Early College High School visit: www.dallasisd.org/garza

Because what’s the fun in divorce, if you can’t turn it into a live performance as part of a storytelling series? I mean, am I right? High five? Anyone?

Next Tuesday, I’ll be talking about my divorce. If you’ve often thought, “Sure, I’ve heard David talk about his divorce before, but I’d really like it as a finely-crafted and well-delivered personal essay.” You’re in luck. I’m presenting my essay “One Request Before You Leave: How a road trip, the Beatles, and a motel in Missouri made me a better ex-husband” at the Oral Fixation Show, as part of their season two kickoff. Read more →

I didn’t attend this year’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, but I drank there. Tim Rogers invited me to join them at the hotel bar. He’s a fine hospitable fellow. I had a good time, arriving at around 9 PM and didn’t leave until 2 AM.

It was an interesting gathering of talented writers from all over the country. This happened. So did this. And this.

I need to register for next year’s conference. From what I heard, the workshops and seminars were all good. Plus, a hotel room might make the late nights less daunting.

I get a little skeptical about writing conferences. They sometimes cater to a desperate constituency. Maybe because the conference is hosted by UNT, and not Writer’s Digest, it reaches a different crowd. If I do attend a conference next year, I’ll give Mayborn a shot. If nothing else, they have the bar.

UPDATE: Peter Simek wins the Mayborn report. Forget what I’ve written and just go here.

Zeus and I have a special relationship. They keep my comics and graphic novels in stock and available through their online store (sales be damned). I do signings at their store whenever ANYTHING of mine is available. I put shameless self-promoting postcards and fliers on their counter. And in exchange… well, I haven’t quite figured out what they get out of this friendship. But they seem to like me, so we’ll go with that.

They like me.

And on Wednesday, July 11th, I will be at Zeus signing copies of the recently released, complete, and not available in any stores (that I know of) ASTRONAUT DAD. Also, for anyone too jaded to click the “Buy Now” button on the right-side margin of this website, I’ll charm you into a subscription for SHORT STORY OF THE MONTH CLUB.

Mark your calendar:
Signing at ZEUS COMICS
4411 Lemmon Ave, Dallas TX
Wednesday, July 11th, 11 AM to 6 PM

Thank you, Zeus. I’m sure someday I’ll be worthy of your love.

Success brings its own challenges. Now that Dallas Comic Con has moved to the Irving Convention Center and has expanded its guest list to include heavy hitters like Patrick Stewart and Stan Lee, the organizers have to figure out what to do with people who swarmed the two-day event. I once referred to Dallas Comic Con as “a small convention that feels big or a big convention that feels small.” Those days are over. The exhibit hall was crowded, and the lines were long. No one seemed to mind too much. Everyone was in good spirits. These problems are typical for large conventions, and Dallas Comic Con has graduated to elite status. Read more →