Camosun launches new comics and graphic novels certificate program

Camosun College recently announced the suspension of the Applied Communication Program (ACP), but media-savvy students have at least one new option for now: a comics and graphic novels certificate program.

The college just announced the program, which will have as its leader Ken Steacy, who has on his resume work with Marvel Comics and collaborations with high-profile authors Isaac Asimov and Douglas Coupland. The eight-month program focuses on drawing, creative writing, and publishing in the comics medium. Students enrolled in the program will make and publish a 16-page graphic novel.

Laurie Elmquist, a creative writing instructor at Camosun who will be teaching some of the classes, is excited about the program, as it will enable students to work with instructors who are actively working in the field.

“Kari Jones, who is teaching the marketing and publishing course, has recently published two novels,” says Elmquist. “She’ll be walking the students through the steps involved in breaking into the market. Writers, these days, have to be savvy in terms of promoting themselves and this program is a good place to learn the skills involved.”

And while it’s no substitute for ACP, the new program at least ensures there’s one aspect of media in September’s first-year classes. Elmquist says that the program will bring writers and artists together in the classroom because they all have one thing in common: the desire to tell a good story.

“Some students will use words to tell their story and other students will use images and words, but we’ll all be talking about what makes good dialogue or how to structure a story so that it has tension,” she says. “Why should these students sit in two separate departments in the college, or in two separate programs? That’s why we’re combining creative writing and visual arts students together.”

And as for working with Steacy and his wife Joan (who co-developed the program with Ken), Elmquist says that it should be thrilling for students, as it’s thrilling for her.

“All you have to do is have one conversation with Ken and Joan and a whole world of comics and graphic novels opens up,” she says. “I know everyone has different experiences with this form, but for me, it brought back all the Giles books I used to pour over as a kid. These were British comics written for adults, but I remember going over and over the drawings looking for all the visual humour in them. It didn’t matter that I didn’t understand the political references, I understood the teasing at the heart of the cartoons.”

Applications for this program are now being accepted for September. Head to camosun.ca/comics for more information.