Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, will visit Laramie April 30-May 1 as a guest of the University of Wyoming MFA Visiting Writers Series and the Albany County Public Library.This trailblazing comic artist will give a lecture, "Comix 101," at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 30 at the Cavalryman Supper Club, 4425 S. 3rd Street (U.S. 287). Following that, he will answer questions from the audience. The event is free and open to the public.
On Thursday, May 1, noon-1:30 p.m., Spiegelman will join a lunchtime conversation about his writing, also at the Cavalryman. Attendance is free, but seating is limited. To reserve tickets, please call 721-2580 ext. 5456 or email albypr@will.state.wy.us.
In 2005, Time Magazine named Art Spiegelman one of their "Top 100 Most Influential People." Spiegelman is universally credited for having single-handedly invented the form of the modern graphic novel. His comics are best known for their shifting styles, their formal complexity, and controversial content. A major figure in the underground comics movement, in 1980 he and his wife Francoise Mouly founded the avant-garde comics magazine RAW.
In 1992 Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for his masterful Holocaust narrative Maus — which portrayed Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. Maus II continued the remarkable story of his parents’ survival of the Nazi regime and their lives later in America. The book also received an Eisner Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction.
In advance of Spiegelman’s visit, the Albany County Public Library will host a series of book discussions of Maus. In addition, the University of Wyoming Libraries will provide free copies of Maus for students in Laramie middle and high school classes.
Spiegelman’s visit to Laramie is funded by the Wyoming Arts Council. Additional support is provided by the Wyoming Humanities Council, the Laramie Jewish Community Center, UW Libraries, UW Office of the President, UW Art Department and the Albany County Public Library Foundation.
FMI: http://www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting.
