Keynote abstracts! Dylan Horrocks

Dylan will provide two keynote spots, bookending conference. His keynote topics are:


Keynote on Sunday 2 November:
The rise and rise of the graphic novel: comics as a literary form. 50 years ago, librarians were prominent among those calling for a ban on comics. Today, they are among their most enthusiastic promoters. This talk will ask how a much-maligned social problem became a cutting-edge literary form - and an extremely popular category on library shelves. And for those who still can't see what all the fuss is about, maybe.

Keynote on Wednesday 5 November:
Stealing, sharing or borrowing? Art, literature and piracy in the online age. Like many other media, comics are going online. The internet offers cartoonists a chance to reach potentially limitless audiences; however, it also exposes authors and artists to the risk of so-called "piracy" - the unauthorised copying and distribution of media. While some struggle to find technological solutions to protecting their work, others - especially younger artists - are embracing the idea of free distribution and sharing and are experimenting with new ways of earning money from their work. But there's no question that the internet changes everything - just as did printing, industrialisation and other technological developments in the past. More importantly, the internet has raised important questions about how we conceive of ownership, distribution and access of art and literary works. In this talk, I will explore my personal perspective on these issues, as author and audience, producer and consumer, professional and citizen.

Guess who's coming to conference ...

You should be! And why? Because Poropitia - Outside the box will make you want to change the way you work.

And because this is likely to be the only conference you'll attend this year which has its very own Comics Laureate as a keynote.

Dylan Horrocks, Comics Laureate to the conference
Dylan Horrocks is a New Zealand comic artist and writer, born in 1966. His published work includes the graphic novel Hicksville (1998), which has been translated into French, Italian and Spanish; the comic book series Pickle (1992-1997) and Atlas (2001-); and "Milo's Week," a weekly political comic strip published in the New Zealand Listener (1995-1997).

He has also written comics for DC Comics and Vertigo, including a 25-issue run on Hunter: the Age of Magic, 19 issues of Batgirl and 3 issues of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

He has won an Eisner Comics Industry Award and his work has been nominated for other awards in America and Europe. He was awarded the University of Auckland-Creative NZ Literary Fellowship in 2006.

Dylan has lectured widely on comics, art and writing. His essays have been published in magazines and books in New Zealand and overseas. As an illustrator, he has contributed to a number of children’s books and magazines, including the School Journal and Nickelodeon magazine.

Currently Dylan is working on the serialisation of Atlas and on a short graphic novel called The American Dream. He lives in Maraetai with his wife and two sons.