Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor - Softcover

Lynda Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770461612 ISBN 13: 9781770461611

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, 2014

Synopsis

Award-winning author Lynda Barry is the creative force behind the genre-defying and bestselling work What It Is. She believes that anyone can be a writer and she has set out to prove it. For the past decade, Lynda has run a highly popular writing workshop for non-writers called Writing the Unthinkable - the workshop was featured in the New York Times magazine. Syllabus: Notes from an accidental professor is the first book that will make her innovative lesson plans and writing exercises available to the public for home or classroom use. Barry's course has been embraced by people of all walks of life - prison inmates, postal workers, university students, teachers, and hairdressers - for opening paths to creativity. Syllabus takes the course plan for Lynda Barry's workshop and runs wild with it in Barry's signature densely detailed style. Collaged texts, ballpoint pen doodles, and watercolour washes adorn Syllabus' yellow lined pages, which offer advice on finding a creative voice and using memories to inspire the writing process. Throughout it all, Lynda Barry's voice (as author and teacher-mentor) rings clear, inspiring, and honest.

About this title

About the Author

Lynda Barry has worked as a painter, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, playwright, editor, commentator, and teacher and found that they are very much alike. She is assistant professor of art and Discovery Fellow at University of Wisconsin-Madison; the author of acclaimed graphic novel One! Hundred! Demons!, the cartoonist behind the long-running Ernie Pook's Comeek, and the author of creative how-to memoir comic books What It Is and Picture This.

From the Back Cover

Award-winning author Lynda Barry is the creative force behind the genre-defying and best-selling work What It Is. She believes that anyone can be a writer and she has set out to prove it. Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor is the first book that will make her innovative lesson plans and writing exercises available to the public for home or classroom use. Barry teaches a method of writing that focuses on the relationship between the hand, the brain, and spontaneous images, both written and visual. Syllabus takes the course plan for Lynda Barry's workshop and runs wild with it in Barry's signature densely detailed style. Collaged texts, ballpoint pen doodles, and watercolor washes adorn Syllabus's yellow lined pages, which offer advice on finding a creative voice and using memories to inspire the writing process.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“Lynda Barry [is] one of the greatest visual artists of our time . . . Syllabus makes not only tangible but also practically attainable the idea that keeping a notebook or a diary, whether visual or otherwise, is one of the most consciousness-expanding ways of bearing witness to our experience and our journey through this world.” —Brainpickings

Writing exercises and creativity advice from Barry’s pioneering, life-changing workshop

The award-winning author Lynda Barry is the creative force behind the genre-defying and bestselling workWhat It Is. She believes that anyone can be a writer and has set out to prove it. For the past decade, Barry has run a highly popular writing workshop for nonwriters called Writing the Unthinkable, which was featured inThe New York Times Magazine. Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor is the first book to make her innovative lesson plans and writing exercises available to the public for home or classroom use. Barry teaches a method of writing that focuses on the relationship between the hand, the brain, and spontaneous images, both written and visual. It has been embraced by people across North America—prison inmates, postal workers, university students, high-school teachers, and hairdressers—for opening pathways to creativity.
Syllabus takes the course plan for Barry’s workshop and runs wild with it in her densely detailed signature style. Collaged texts, ballpoint-pen doodles, and watercolor washes adornSyllabus’s yellow lined pages, which offer advice on finding a creative voice and using memories to inspire the writing process. Throughout it all, Barry’s voice (as an author and as a teacher-mentor) rings clear, inspiring, and honest.

Edition details

• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1770461612
• ISBN 13: 9781770461611
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120