Postcard Dispatch from the land of Vikings

Fulbrighting and teaching it up in Denmark

I’m smack in the middle of my third week of teaching and exploring my own Fulbright project here at the Graphic Storytelling program in Viborg and it’s going pretty great so far. The students are brilliant. It’s nice to be overseas and elsewhere. I’ve been having meetings with folks here who are exploring the intersection of performance and new tech like VR and AR. I’m having great conversations about the different ways that stories can be told. Of course, I’m trying to add the extra element of comics to that mix. I find that my fundamental question is am I trying to integrate this all with performance or is it better off as an experience? I flip flop between the two. I long to make a live thing to offset the coldness of our digital world. But I also want to think about what’s best for telling THIS story.

As a base framework for my project, I’m working with a novel called THE WIND by Dorothy Scarborough. It was published in 1925 and it was made into a silent film in 1928. The film changed the ending because it was too dark. The premise is that a young woman goes to live with her cousin in Sweetwater, Texas in the late 1800s and is driven to madness and murder by the isolation, the desolate landscape, and the wind. I am changing that story to take place on another planet. Because, if you know me, of course I am.

It’s interesting to talk about my own struggles with creating a new piece of work that is taking me way out of my comfort zone while teaching and asking the students to make new work out of their comfort zone. We’re in this together, I say! And I’m really excited that some of them are game to contribute to conceptualizing what I’m trying to investigate.

I am keeping myself busy and Viborg is a good place to just get things done because it is a sleepy place and a good incubator for artistic thoughts and exploration. But still, I’m a big city girl and a traveller, so I’ve gone to other towns, like Vejle, where I did some fine dining. I also went to the Book Festival and to see two shows in Copenhagen: PJ Harvey and the Royal Copenhagen Ballet who did a ballet about Dante’s Inferno. Both shows were excellent.

The days are getting darker in Denmark and it’s gray all the time and when I first arrived there was a once in a century wind storm. Of course. So on the nose, universe! These weeks of darkness and gray make me realize I am a flower who loves the sun and so this past week I’ve felt a bit homesick for that good bright Los Angeles sunlight and warmth. I am also so happy that the strike is over and wish I was back there for a day to celebrate with my peeps! I’ve been in solidarity from over here, but now that it’s (fingerscrossed) done, I can’t wait to see all the brilliant stories that are going to be coming down the pike. We need stories more than ever. These days I open the news and despair. But I keep repeating my mantra “Art Saves”. I do what I can to put goodness out there and wishes for peace.

Some news to drop! A whole lot of STAR WARS

I’m writing an original graphic novel about Obi-Wan Kenobi for Dark Horse Comics! This was annouced at NYCC and I’m very excited about it. Art will by by Lucas Marangon who is the person who also drew my upcoming Star Wars Hyperspace issue 12 which centers around The Return of the Jedi. I’m very excited about that one. That issue comes out December 13th. You can also pre-order Star Wars Hyperspace: Scum & Villany that compiles issues 5-8 by me, Amanda Deibert and Michael Moreci.

Things I’ve been crushing on!

This Fool on Hulu. Laugh out loud funny and heartfelt. And so Los Angeles.

Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. There’s a good storm sequence in there.

Totally Killer on Prime. Super fun time travel light horror film.

What are you crushing on? Let me know.

I am sending love,

peace and solidarity to all of you.

Cecil