And thanks in part to this outpouring of support, our amazing little center has expanded.  Yes sir—with the addition of room 203, the IPRC is now 350 square feet larger. Our sparkling new conference room/art gallery is twice as big as the previous one, which means more workspace for members, plus bigger public workshops, readings and events.  For instance, we’re pleased to host the cast and crew of The Matter magazine on February 6 for a reading and “dramatic enactment” of select illustrated stories from their latest issue.  Also in February, we’ll christen the new gallery with a show by text-based visual artist Mia Nolting.

Our new conference room will also house our BindFast 5 bookbinding machine.  To learn the art of producing perfect-bound books using this amazing machine, sign up for one of our BindFast 5 workshops.  Also check out our Intro to Letterpress, Intro to Indesign or DIY Screenprinting workshops—taking a combination of these classes will give you all the skills necessary for making your own handcrafted books.  Registering for workshops is easy–simply click any workshop on the right, then follow the links to Brown Paper Tickets.

Hope to see you soon,

Justin Hocking, IPRC Director

P.S.  To make room for our new yearlong Certificate Program in Creative Writing and Independent Publishing, we will be closed to the public on Monday evenings starting at 7:00 pm.  Normal Monday hours will resume in May.

We are also pleased to announce that academic credit option is available through a partnership with the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon. This is 3 credits per quarter term, AAA 408 or AAA 508. To explore the credit option through the University of Oregon, please click here.  Only students officially accepted into the IPRC’s Certificate Program can choose this option.

Fall Semester will feature generative workshops with the following instructors, guest lecturers, and advisors:

Creative Writing:  Justin Hocking, Ariel Gore, Kevin Sampsell, Alex Wrekk, and Cheryl Strayed.

Comics/Graphic Novel:  Jesse Recklaw, Dylan Williams, Craig Thompson, Nicole J. Georges, T. Edward Bak, Annie Murphy, and Shawn Granton.

Spring Semester will be facilitated by former Portland Mercury Art Director Mark Searcy, and will include intensive instruction in book design and layout,   Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, use of our Bind-Fast bookbinding machine, letterpress and screen printing, as well as web design and New Media studies.

Students will publish a collaborative book that anthologizes their creative work, and will go on to produce their own books and start their own presses.

Many writing and cartooning programs cost roughly the price of a new BMW.  Our program, on the other hand, costs about as much as a nice new bike.  And as a program we are much like a bicycle:  not flashy, but nimble.  Human powered.  Something old that is also new.  The future.

For more information or to apply please send an e-mail with your mailing address to justin@iprc.org

Instructor and Guest Lecturer Bios

Creative Writing Track:

Justin Hocking was hired as the IPRC’s Executive Director in the fall of 2006. He has an MFA in creative writing from Colorado State University, where he also taught as an instructor of writing and literature. Before coming to the IPRC, he worked in the New York City publishing industry, and continues to acquire and edit countercultural books for Citadel Underground press.  He is the author of numerous zines and thirteen books, including Life and Limb (Soft Skull Press 2004).  His writing has also appeared in Thrasher, Open City, the Portland Noir Anthology, Transworld Snowboarding, Concrete Wave, Travel Oregon and others.  He is currently at work on a memoir about surfing in New York City.

Ariel Gore is well known for her DIY parenting works such as the zine Hip Mama, and the books The Mother Trip and The Hip Mama Survival Guide. She is also author of the memoir Atlas of the Human Heart, and How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead. She currently teaches the Memoir workshop at the Attic in Portland, OR.

Kevin Sampsell is a writer, editor, and self-publisher. He runs the independent publishing company Future Tense Books, and oversees the small press section at Powell’s Books.  His memoir A Common Pornography will be published by Harper Collins in 2010.

Alex Wrekk has published her zine, Brainscan, since 1997 as well as many other independent publishing projects along the way. She runs Small World Buttons and enjoys creative re-use and a good beer. She is the author of Stolen Sharpie Revolution, now in its second edition.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of Torch (2006) and has appeared twice in the Best American Essays. She is currently working on a memoir that will be published by Knopf in 2010.

Comics/Graphic Novel Track:

Jesse Recklaw has been drawing and publishing the weekly comic Slow Wave for over ten years and has been nominated twice for the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic. He also authored the zine Applicant, the autobiographic Ten Thousand Things to Do, and the book The Night of Your Life (Dark Horse Comics). He has taught comics courses at Portland Community College, the IPRC, and elsewhere.

Dylan Williams began self-publishing in the 1990s and is the author of the comic series Reporter. He runs the independent comic company Sparkplug Comics.

Craig Thompson is the author of Goodbye Chunky Rice and Blankets, and is currently finishing the much-anticipated Habibi. He has received the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz awards for Best Graphic Novel and Best Cartoonist.

Nicole J. Georges is a zinester, illustrator, and pet portrait artist. Nicole has been publishing her own zines and autobiographical comics for over fourteen years, the most recent of which, Invincible Summer, has been collected into an anthology and released as two volumes (from Tugboat Press and Microcosm Publishing). She is currently at work on a graphic novel.

Todd Bak is author of Service Industry and has appeared in multiple comics anthologies including Drawn & Quarterly Showcase. In 2007, Todd was awarded the Fellowship at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont.

Annie Murphy attended the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction Vermont. Her graphic novel I Still Live won a Xeric Award in 2009.

Shawn Granton has been volunteering at the IPRC since 2001. He has been self-publishing for a decade, primarily his own comic, Ten Foot Rule. Shawn also edits the Zinester’s Guide to Portland and leads bicycle and walking tours under the auspices of the Urban Adventure League.

Production/Publishing Semester:

Before relocating to Portland, Mark Searcy co-owned and operated Art Prostitute, the award winning, internationally distributed art and design publication, in addition to teaching design at the University of North Texas and Texas A&M-Commerce. Mark is also the former Art Director of the Portland Mercury.

Curriculum Overview
Fall Semester*)
1) Core Creative Writing workshop with Justin Hocking (fiction + nonfiction).  Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
A) Intro intensive weekend with Justin Hocking and Alex Wrekk
B) Guest lectures by Kevin Sampsell, Ariel Gore, Cheryl Strayed and Alex Wrekk
2) Core Comics/Graphic Novel workshop with Jesse Recklaw. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
A) Intro weekend intensive with Dylan Williams: Foundations in creating comics (making time, finding inspiration, drawing from life, history of comics, etc.)
B) Mid-semester: 2 hour workshop with Annie Murphy:  comics and personal/historical visual narrative
C) More guest lectures and workshops with Craig Thompson, Nicole Georges, Shawn Granton and Todd Bak

Spring Semester)

A) Intensive workshop in Production, Design, and Publication + New Media facilitated by Mark Searcy. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.  Final project will be a collaborative anthology of work created during fall semester, published and perfect-bound at the IPRC.

Semester will also include:
1) Five hour letterpress workshop
2) Screenprinting workshop (taught at Em Space Book Arts Center)
3) Beginning and Advanced InDesign courses
4) Perfect binding machine workshop
5) Tours of local printing presses (e.g. Brown, Eberhardt, Stumptown, etc)
6) Pre-press comics class taught by Dylan Williams
7) Webdesign + social media instruction

*Note that students will choose either the Creative Writing Track or the Comics Track, but may take electives in either genre.

Program Costs

The cost for the program is $550 per semester. This includes all workshops and lectures, an advisor/internship, a two-year membership to the IPRC, and a one-year membership to the new Em Space Book Arts center, plus after-hours access to the IPRC.

» Download the IPRC Certificate Application (PDF)

Completed application forms and work samples should be sent to:

IPRC
Attn: Certificate Program
917 SW Oak #218
Portland, OR 97205

Applications need to be dropped off or received in the mail by August 15th, 2009.

If you have any questions about the program, feel free to contact Justin Hocking at justin@iprc.org.

$25 Recession Special! » Order now!

Renew for $20! » Order now!

One of our core values is to provide self-publishing resources to the public at a very affordable cost.  As such, our yearlong membership rates are on a sliding scale between $45 and $100 (whatever you’re most comfortable paying).    If you sign up at the $100 or above level (Reader’s Circle), we’ll sign you up for the Zine of the Month Club; each month a new zine will be mailed to your address along with a little information about the publisher.

$45-99/year – Publishers’ Circle » Order now!
$100-199/year – Reader’s Circle » Order now!
$200-299/year – Editor’s Circle » Order now!
$300 & up/year – The Best Circle » Order now!

The IPRC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so any in-kind donations you make can be written off as a deduction from your 2008 taxes.