PORT ANGELES — Joe Sacco, hailed as the creator of war reportage comics, is Peninsula College’s 2019 Writer in Residence.
The cartoonist and journalist will be the featured guest at multiple events — including keynote speeches, forums and a live radio interview — from Tuesday through Thursday. These events are free and open to the public.
Most are at the Peninsula College Port Angeles campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
One event is planned Thursday at Fort Worden.
Sacco is known for his books “Palestine” and “Footnotes in Gaza.” His reporting has been featured in Time and The New York Times. He has won an American Book Award, an Eisner Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
The Guardian newspaper described Sacco as “a Maltese-American comic book artist and journalist whose work is a compelling combination of eyewitness reportage and graphic art storytelling techniques.”
Said Guardian reporter Sam Thielman: “Nobody is doing what Joe Sacco is doing; the writer-artist has visited some of the world’s worst war zones and not merely written movingly about them but carefully drawn them as well. … like the best journalists, he’s got an eye for the rich, contradictory, infuriating people who can make you care about something you ought to care about.”
Said Rich Riski, coordinator for the Writer in Residence Program and journalism professor: “It is an honor to have the Portland-based journalist share his skills as the 2019 Writer in Residence at Peninsula College.”
Here is his schedule:
Tuesday
• 10 a.m. — Room J-47 (PUB Conference Room); reception for Sacco.
• 11:30 a.m. — Room J-47 (PUB Conference Room); “Narrative and Graphic Comics,” Sacco with facilitator Professor Matt Teorey.
• 1:05 p.m. to 2 p.m. — KONP Radio Live interview of Sacco by host Todd Ortloff at AM 1450 or www.myclallamcounty.com/konp.
Wednesday
• 10 a.m. to noon — Elwha Native Heritage Center, 40o1 E. First St.; in a presentation titled, “The Dene First People of Western Canada, Exploring the Deadly Truth and Consequences of Resource Extraction & Colonialism,” Sacco will tell of aspects of his newest book, which is not yet published.
At the center, he will sign copies of earlier books —he has produced more than 20 — sold by Port Book and News.
• 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. — Room J-47 (PUB Conference Room); “Art in Publishing and the Public Arena with Joe Sacco;” facilitators — Professor Michael Paul Miller and Ceramic Artist Steve Belz.
Thursday
• 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Studium Generale Little Theatre; Sacco speaking.
• 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. — Room 201 at Building 202, Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend; facilitators — Professors Daniel Stengel and Riski.
For more information about the Writer in Residence Program, contact Riski at rriski@pencol.edu.
