Rick Parker illustrates the Pekar Project family

This Saturday & Sunday 11/7 & 11/8, Harvey Pekar makes a rare convention appearance, at KING CON BROOKLYN with the full Pekar Project “band” including artists Tara Seibel, Rick Parker, Sean Pryor, Joseph Remnant. On Saturday, Harvey takes the stage for a discussion with the team. Harvey & the artists will also be doing signings on both days, and the artists will draw FREE Harvey Heads all weekend at the Pekar Project table. Available at King Con will be Royal Flush 6 with a story by Harvey & Sean Pryor as well as a new mini-comic by Tara Seibel including solo as well as Pekar Project work. (more…)

Dear SMITH:
I asked some of my teen patrons as AISD to try the six-word memoir. AISD (American International School/Dhaka) is one of the top international schools with a population of 700 students (Pre-K-12). Our vision is to prepare students to become stewards of a just and sustainable world.
- Judyth Lessee, MS/HS Librarian, AIS/Dhaka, Bangladesh

Here’s what they came up with.

What happened to the good grades?
- Sky L., grade 6

Just have to keep them guessing.
- Genevieve S.

Horror and mystery is my world.
Dark is mysterious just like me.
- Catherine P., grade 6
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I’m excited to announce that A.D. will be translated into Dutch. The upstart publisher De Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) is going to be releasing A.D. in The Netherlands some time next year. (They have also done Dutch translations of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Y the Last Man, Stitches, and Logicomix, among others, so it’ll be in good company.)

I find it fitting that an Amsterdam-based publisher would relate to my story of broken levees and flooded cities: in 1953 the Netherlands was flooded when the dikes protecting the southwest of the country were breached by the joint onslaught of hurricane-force winds and exceptionally high spring tides. The flood came in the night without warning, killing 1,835 people. Their very own Katrina… fifty years earlier.
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We know that everyone has a story, but the online project Significant Objects believes every thing has a story, too. Started by Joshua Glenn and NYT “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker, the pair have recruited writers like William Gibson, Nicholson Baker, and Curtis Sittenfeld to craft significance for flotsam purchased on the cheap at thrift stores. They then sell story and object as a pair on eBay to determine whether a great story can make a random object valuable. Their findings say yes, and our newest Six-Word Challenge begs the question (with a extra special nod to original six-word story crafter Ernest Hemingway): Can you create Significance for this Object in just six words? The winning response will be published on the Significant Objects site, and more to the point, on its eBay store. Proceeds from that auction go to the author of the winning submission.

So what about this object, a lighter in the shape of small pool ball? What’s its story? You tell us. Leave your six-word story in the comments area below. The contest is open until Friday, November 6, 8pm EST.

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“I just feel that secrets and shame need to be abolished—forever.”

When an author’s first book is a memoir about childhood abuse, a teenage stint driving a hearse, messy adult relationships and, ultimately, revelations of incest, here’s one thing you don’t expect from the cover of her second: a photo of an adorable Golden Retriever puppy pawing a fuzzy toy soccer ball.

But that image—along with an impossibly cuter one of her then-preschool son Wills in a goofy red hat—graces Monica Holloway’s latest memoir, Cowboy & Wills: A Love Story, the story of how the titular dog helped her son let go of some of the social isolation and fear that come along with autism. (more…)

Photographs always tell a story. I mean, whether or not the story is interesting is another matter all together, but the fact remains that the story is there. It’s documented evidence of an event that you simply cannot deny.

The Kodak-sponsored What’s Your Story Flickr Pool is a great place to share the photographic evidence of your life and the story behind it. It’s also really fun to cruise through the various discussion threads and check out what somebody else’s life looks life. There are a bunch of cool discussions currently going on, such as Happy Accident Photos and my personal favorite, Food Photos.

And if you need more convincing to check out this very cool project, I think you need look no further than this photo of a pug mid-yawn. You’re welcome. (more…)

“I feel as if [my mother's] life and essence mock Western stereotypes that obscure, much like the actual veil itself, the face of many an Arab woman.”

Kamila’s story reads like a novel: she was born in Lebanon, never allowed to attend school, and married against her will when she was only 14 years old. She could not read or write for herself, something that bothered her all of her life. What she wanted more than almost anything else was to tell her own story; she wanted her voice heard. So she called upon her daughter. (more…)

How do you boil down the essence of your digital life in just six words? More than 850 ways. Hundreds of you sent 850+ entries to SMITH Magazine and FRONTLINE/Digital Nation’s “Six Words on the Digital Life” challenge. Your digital life runs from the highly personal (”Hand on iPhone. Baby on breast”) to the practical (”Never marry a man from AOL”) to the financial (”I wish I hadn’t shorted Google”). You told us about new family dynamics (”One MySpace boy. One Facebook boy”) and modern religions (”There is a creator: Steve Jobs”). And more than a few of you offered variations on a reality that’s become all too evident: “Facebook: high school all over again.”

Which is a long way of saying: it wasn’t easy picking our top six short, short takes on the digital life. These memoirists each win three of Rachel Dretzin’sFrontline documentaries, as well as a Six-Word Memoir book of their choice or a SMITH T-shirt. Thanks to everyone for your amazing stories.

Winners:
Introverted autistic son blossoms on internet.-Claire Luna-Pinsker
Sexting is saving our relationship. -Dana Newsome
Husband won’t confirm my relationship status. -Dana Calvo
MySpace boy. One Facebook boy. -Kellie Fournier
I answer spam with sexual fantasies. -Heath Hardin
I can photoshop my wrinkles away. -Mary McConnell

FRONTLINE/Digital Nation is now creating a six-word digital life video gallery of people reading their memoirs. Submit a YouTube link and find more details at Digital Nation.

Our next challenge launches tomorrow: Six Words to describe a Significant Object.

Creative Commons licensed photo courtesy of Flickr user photocology. The caption: “I’m not washing that milk off either.” (more…)