Join us at the IPRC for an information session about the 2013/2014 Certificate Program.
The Certificate Program is a year-long course in Independent Publishing. Participants choose between one of three tracks– 1) Fiction/Nonfiction, 2) Poetry, or 3) Comics/Graphic Novels–and spend between two and three semesters creating and publishing their work.
We’re pleased to announce that an 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 college credit option through the University of Oregon, please click either of the following links: UNDERGRADUATE CREDIT OPTIONS (AAA408), or GRADUATE CREDIT OPTIONS (AAA508). Only students officially accepted into the IPRC’s Certificate Program can choose these options.
With instruction from many of Portland’s finest writers, cartoonists and self-publishers, Certificate Program students will design, hand-craft and publish modest print runs of their own books, zines, comics and E-books; many will go on to start their own small presses. Our low student-teacher ratio and individual advisor program guarantees personal attention and care. And one of our main goals is to help each student develop their own independent style and craft. To achieve this, we strive to make our Certificate workshops student-centered, discussion-based and lively. The IPRC is a dynamic workspace, so we also strive to facilitate experiential, hands-on learning, practical skills and artistic discipline.
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.
Furthermore, while we are all for traditional undergraduate and MFA programs (many of our instructors have MFA’s), we’re critical of the skewed exchange that sometimes takes place between students and large educational institutions, especially when it comes to writing and the arts. At the same time that many students graduate with large debt loads, they’re also denied further access to the very institutions that created that debt. On the other hand, tuition in our Certificate Program is also an investment in the IPRC’s publishing resources and vibrant community–which are forever available to all our students, and that will continue to develop and grow with each “investment.â€
The IPRC’s Certificate Program features generative workshops with the following instructors, guest lecturers, and advisors:
Fiction/Nonfiction Track: Justin Hocking, A.M. O’Malley, Michael D’Allesandro. Past guests have included Kevin Sampsell, Alex Wrekk, Vanessa Veselka, Cheryl Strayed, Arthur Bradford, Jon Raymond, Moe Bowstern, Mark Searcy and more.
Poetry Track: Emily Kendal Frey, Michael D’Allesandro, Matthew Dickman, Carl Adamschick, Kaia Sand and more.
Comics/Graphic Novel Track: John Isaacson, Lisa Mangum, Craig Thompson, Tim Goodyear, Greig Means, T. Edward Bak and more.
2013/2014 CURRICULUM OVERVIEW:
Fiction/Nonfiction Track*
Fall Semester 2013:
1) Core Creative Writing Workshop with instructor/IPRC Director Justin Hocking and/or IPRC Program Coordinator A.M. O’Malley. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
a) Intro intensive weekend with Justin Hocking, A.M. O’Malley, and Kevin Sampsell.
b) Guest lectures by Kevin Sampsell, Vanessa Veselka, Jon Raymond, Arthur Bradford, Alex Wrekk and more.
Spring Semester 2014:
1) Intensive workshop in Production, Design, and Book Arts facilitated by Michael D’Allesandro. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours. Final project will be a book or chapbook, self-published and perfect-bound at the IPRC.
Spring Semester for Fiction/Nonfiction will also include:
1) Intro + Advanced letterpress workshops
2) Screenprinting workshop
3) Beginning and Advanced InDesign instruction
4) Perfect-binding machine workshop
5) E-Book creation and publication
6) Webdesign + social media instruction
*Note:Â This schedule is subject to change
Poetry Track*
Fall Semester 2013:
1) Core Poetry Workshop with instructor Emily Kendal Frey. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
a) Guest lectures with Matthew Dickman, Carl Adamschick, Kaia Sand and others.
Spring Semester 2014:
1) Intensive workshop in self-publishing, bookbinding and book arts with Michael D’Allesandro. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours. Final product will be a chapbook collection of poetry, self-published and perfect-bound at the IPRC.
Spring Semester for Poetry will also include:
1) Intro + Advanced letterpress workshops
2) Broadside workshop
3) Beginning and Advanced InDesign instruction
4) E-Book design and publication
5) Webdesign + social media instruction
6) Perfect-binding machine workshop
*Note: This schedule is subject to change
Comics/Graphic Novels Track*
Fall Semester 2013Â (Skills and Peer Workshop Semester):
1) Comics Storytelling Workshop with John Isaacson. Will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
a) Guest lectures with Craig Thompson and others.
-OR-
2) Cartoon/Graphic Novel Workshop Seminar with John Isaacson will meet once a week for 2-3 hours.
Spring Semester 2014Â (Comics Development Semester):
1) World Comics Workshop with Craig Thompson and Lisa Mangum
Summer 2014 Publishing and Production Semester (comics track only):
1) Comics Production and Publishing Workshop. Students will learn production and self-publishing techniques, important pre-press layout skills, and much more. Each participant will produce a modest print run of their own comic.
Summer Comics Semester will also include:
1) Five hour letterpress workshop
2) Screenprinting Workshop with John Isaacson
3) Tour of local printing companies, such as Brown Printing
4) Perfect-binding machine Workshop with B.T. Livermore
5) Beginning and advanced Indesign instruction
*Note: this schedule is subject to change
Program Costs
The cost for the 2011/2012 program is $650 per semester. Tuition includes all workshops and lectures, an advisor, and a two-year membership to the IPRC.