Cartoonist Lynda Barry, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow

Episode notes

Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

She started her career as an undergrad at Evergreen College – she made a regular comic called Ernie Pook’s Comeek. It ran for almost 30 years. The comic earned her a reputation as sweet, funny and fearless.

She’s written over a dozen books. Her work is usually autobiographical – she talks about her childhood, her family, her past relationships. The stories are almost always funny, sometimes very poignant.

These days, she’s been busy teaching. She’s an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her latest book is sort of an illustrated guide on how to create comics. Some of it is pulled straight from the classroom – things she’s been teaching her students for years. The book also explores what she’s learned as a teacher.

Photo: Drawn and Quarterly

At the heart of the book is a belief Lynda has: anybody can draw. Anyone can make comics. The struggle, she says, is putting pen paper and getting out of your head long enough to make something.

We’ve been saying it for years, but Lynda is a genius. We’re thrilled to welcome her back onto the show. We’ll hear about her childhood and why her family members decided to not teach her tagalog. Lynda shares some exercises that will help even the most stubborn novice of artists. She explains why sometimes people who haven’t picked up a drawing utensil since childhood make some of the best comic drawings.

Making Comics is available now on Drawn and Quarterly.