About

This fun, hands-on workshop taught by Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident Kate Reed Petty is for any writer interested in graphic novels, illustrated books, or any collaboration with visual artists. 

Visual mediums—from comics to hybrid online storytelling formats—can inspire new artistic experiments for writers and can provide exposure to new audiences. Collaborating with an artist or illustrator, however, requires specific writing skills. That's what we'll cover in this workshop. 

We’ll discuss the basic ground rules of visual storytelling, and we’ll play with prompts and exercises to stretch new writing muscles and hone our skills. Participants will leave with tools they can apply to their own work in any medium. The workshop is appropriate for both beginning and experienced writers, and no artistic talent is necessary—although artists are very welcome!  

Participants 16 years and older are welcome.

Instructor: Kate Reed Petty, a writer based in Baltimore, is a Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident. Her fiction and essays have been published or are forthcoming in American Short Fiction, Blackbird, The Los Angeles Review of Books blog, and Nat. Brut. She has a master's in fiction writing from the University of St. Andrews, and her work has been recognized with a Narrative Magazine "30 Below" award and a 2017 Rubys Grant. Her children's graphic novel with artist Boya Sun, Chasma Knights, is out May 15, 2018 from First Second Books.