Dan Archer, creator of archcomix.com and one of 250 authors attending the Miami Book Fair, has been published in the Huffington Post, The Guardian, Wired Magazine, and many other international publications. Currently, co-teaching the Graphic Novel Project within Stanford's Creative Writing Department, he holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in French/Spanish from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
When the opportunities to dive pen-first into the graphic novel proved not to be as plentiful in Britain, Archer hopped the pond and pursued an MFA at the Center of Cartoon Study in Vermont. He now lives in Mountain View, California with his wife. Archer explains, "there is a great deal of interest in visual journalism on the West Coast." Lucky for us, since Archer has become a tour-de-force in the graphic novel industry.
Archer has had three major projects within the last three years: Honduran Coup: A Graphic History, Pika-Don
(a graphic adaptation of survivors' memoirs from the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki), and an upcoming work depicting the Hard Hat
Riot of May 1970. When asked whether the graphic novel has become a more mainstream
journalistic medium, he states, "I'm always willing to fly the flag of
comics, accessible to [both] readers and creators. What with all this
social media technology, there's a better way to share stories. There
aren't enough people telling non-fictional stories in visual form."
Between 2009 and 2010, Archer worked with Fulbright Fellow Olga Trusova
on Borderland: A Comic Book About Human Trafficking.
Organized in cooperation with the International Organization for
Migration, this will be Archer's kick-off topic in Miami. "It's been
running for three years, and it will have its major debut there."
And
(gasp!) Archer's a virgin...to Miami. "It will be my first time. Joe
Sacco (Guggenheim Fellow and American Book Award winner for Palestine)
is the eminent comic journalist at the moment and hopefully, I'll have
the opportunity to talk to him. I'm really looking forward to it.
Certainly looking forward to the weather." Yes, Dan, Miami's looking
forward to seeing you too.
See Dan Archer this Sunday at 4 p.m at the Miami Dade College Centre Gallery (500 NE Second Ave., Building 1, 3rd Floor, Room 1365 , Miami). Admission is included with the $8 street fair charge. Visit miamibookfair.com. Check our full Miami Book Fair guide here.
