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In addition to my professional duties as the  Dean of Library and Academic Support Services at Plymouth State University,  I have researched the history of wordless books and woodcut novels, referred to by Scott McCloud as "missing links" in the development of comics. In Wordless Books, I have narrowed my focus on the works of Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward Otto Nuckel, Helena Bochořaková-Dittrichová, William Gropper, Milt Gross, Myron Waldman, e.o. plauen, Istvan Szegedi, Szuts, Giacomo Patri, and Laurence Hyde.  The themes in these wordless books show a powerful relevance to our world today, the significance of wordless stories, and the growing importance of visual narratives in all cultures.  


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havery


nyb

Other editions currently include French (2008) and Korean (2009)

"This volume sets the standard for scholarship about wordless books and graphic novels. Period!"
                                        ---John A. Lent, International Journal of Comic Art




Nominated for the prestigious 2009 Harvey Award in the category of Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation.


Chosen as the First Place winner in the Adult Graphic Novel category of the 23rd Annual 2009 New York Book Show, sponsored by the Bookbinders' Guild of New York. Through this annual award show, the Guild encourages, recognizes, honors, and celebrates excellence in book production and design.

 





loc      mmd      PJ        ver        al       sc       vas        sww      sal        prelude    walker   alastair      gill    

 
BOOKS:
Eric Gill's Masterpieces of Wood Engraving: Over 250 Illustrations. Selected and Edited by  David A. Beronä. New York: Dover Publications, 2013.
Alastair. Drawings and Illustrations. Selected and Edited by  David A. Beronä. New York: Dover Publications, 2011. 
Wordless Books:The Original Graphic Novels. New York: Abrams Books, 2008.
 

BOOK CHAPTERS:   
   "Wordless Comics: The Imaginative Appeal of  Peter Kuper's The System." Critical Approaches to Comics: T
heory and Methods ed. Matthew Smith and Randy Duncan. Routledge, 2011.
   "Pictures Speak in Wordless Comics: An examination of pictorial principles in the work of Milt Gross, Hendrik Dorgathen, Eric Drooker and Peter Kuper." The Language of Comics: Word & Image, ed. Robin Varnum and Christina Gibbons. University Press of Mississippi, 2001.  
         
BOOK INTRODUCTIONS:
    "Introduction" to George Walker's Book of Hours: A Tragic New York Novel Told With 99 Wood Engravings. Porcupine's Quill Press, October, 2010.
    "Introduction" to Silent Witnesses: Graphic Novels Without Words. Catalogue from the exhibit at Lincoln School of Art and Design, Lincoln University, Lincolnshire England. May 31 - August 31, 2010.
    "Introduction" to Lynd Ward's Prelude to a Million Years and Song Without Words: Two Graphic Novels. Dover Publication,2010.
    "Introduction" to Charles Turzak's Benjamin Franklin: A Life in Woodcuts. Dover Publication,Forthcoming, 2010.
    "Introduction" to Malcolm Salaman's The Art of the Woodcut: Masterworks from the 1920s. Dover Publication, 2010.
    "Introduction" to World War 3 Illustrated:The Wordless Issue. No. 39, 2009.
    "Introduction" to Frans Masereel's The Sun,The Idea, and Story Without Words. Dover Publication, 2009.
    "Introduction" to John Vassos' Phobia: An Art Deco Masterpiece. Dover Publication, 2009.
    "Preface" to Charles Turzak's Abraham Lincoln: biography in woodcuts.Dover Publication, 2008.
    "Introduction" to Lynd Ward's Vertigo. Dover Publication, 2008.
    "Introduction" to Frans Masereel's Passionate Journey: A Vision in Woodcuts. Dover Publications, 2007.
    "Introduction" to Laurence Hyde's Southern Cross: A Novel of the South Seas. Drawn & Quarterly, 2007.
    "Introduction" to Madman's Drum by Lynd Ward. Dover Publications, 2005.

          ww3     csp      blab        approach     critical


JOURNAL EDITOR: Guest Editor. "Storytelling and Printmaking." California Society of Printmakers Journal. December, 2006.   

ARTICLES:
   "Six critical essays on graphic novels including Peter Kuper’s The System; Masashi Tanaka’s Gon; Don Freeman’s Skitzy:The Story of Floyd W. Skitzafroid; Frans Masereel’s The Passionate Journey; Jason’s Hey Wait; and Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare, The Hunt, and The Journey in the multi-volume set Critical Survey of Graphic Novels. Salem Press, 2013.
   "BLAB! A Visual Jouney." BLAB! Catalogue from the exhibit at
Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, August 1-November 2, 2008.
   "Sandy Walker: "Yet if they fail to express.'" The California Printmaker: News Brief. Spring, 2008:9. Read article
   "A Renegade of Expression: David Wojnarowicz's Autofiction in Comics." Image [&] Narrative [e-journal] 22 (2008).
   "Art Hazelwood: Graphic Witness to America" Image and Narrative Issue 12, 2005.
   "Pumping Iron: Male Stereotypes in Delisle's Albert et les Autres." International Journal of Comic Art. 6:1(Spring, 2004): 299-315.
   "Wordless Novels in Woodcuts." Print Quarterly  20:1 (March, 2003): 61-72. 
   "Worth a Thousand Words." The Readers' Shelf. Library Journal. Vol. 129 No.4 (March 1, 2004):132.
   "Health Practices for Printmakers." The California Printmaker: News Brief. Fall, 2003:[8].
   "The Woodcut Novels of Lynd Ward.” Matrix : a review for printers and bibliophiles, No. 22, 2002.
     "Artists Without Authors: The Wordless Novels of Helena Bochorakova, Babette Katz, Barabara Henry, and Jules Remedios Faye." The California Printmaker: The Journal of the California Society of Printmakers. Issue 2002.
    "TCJ: Resource to the World." The Comics Journal No. 235 (July, 2001): 38.
    "Introduction" to "Beyond Words 2: A Wordless Comic Anthology." Sunburn No. 15 (Winter, 2001): 2.
   
"Breaking Taboos: Sexuality in the Work of Will Eisner and the Early Wordless Novels." International Journal of Comic Art 1:1 (Spring/Summer, 1999): 90-103.  Note: Article reprinted in "Will Eisner." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 237.  Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. p. 140-145. 
   "An Introduction" to "Beyond Words: A Wordless Comic Anthology."Sunburn No. 11 (Summer, 1999): 2-3.
   "Pictorial Narratives: The Woodcut Novels of Lynd Ward." The Comics Journal. No.208 (November, 1998): 102-106.
   "A Season of Silent Novels." The Comics Journal. No.208 (November, 1998): 93-101.
   "A Pathfinder in Pictures: The Woodcut Novels of Lynd Ward." Antiquarian Book Monthly (London) 23:10(November, 1996): 20-23.
   "Chronicles in Black and White: The Woodcut Novels of Masereel and Ward." Biblio: The Magazine for Collectors of Books, Manuscripts, and Ephemera 1:2(September-October, 1996): 38-41.
   "Silent Narratives: The Woodcut Novels of Lynd Ward." AB Bookman Weekly 96:2(July 10, 1995): 105-121.
   "Picture Stories: Eric Drooker and the Tradition of Woodcut Novels." INKS: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 2:1(February, 1995): 2-11.
  
REVIEWS:
   "Two Stories from The Third Bear," by Jeff Vandermeer. August, 2010.
   
"In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists," by Todd Hignite. International Journal of Comic Art. 11:1 (Spring, 2009): 520-522  
   "Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front," by Todd DePastino; "Willie and Joe: The World War II Years," By Bill Mauldin and edited by Todd DePastino. International Journal of Comic Art11:1 (Spring, 2009): 517-520.
   "Reading Bande Dessinee: Critical Approches to French-language Comic Strip," by Ann Miller.  International Journal of Comic Art.11:1 (Spring, 2009): 489-490.
   "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel." Norman Rockwell Museum, November 10, 2007-May 26, 2008. International Journal of Comic Art. 10:2(Fall, 2008): 808-810.
    Review Essay. "Father of Comic Strip: Rodolphe Töpffer," by David Kunzle and "Rodolphe pffer: The Complete Comic Strips," compiled, translated, and annoted by Davdi Kunzle. International Journal of Comic Art. 10:1 (Spring, 2008): 559-565.
   "The Arrival," by Shaun Tan. Raintaxi. Winter, 2007/2008. Online Edition.
   "Art Out of Time," by Dan Nadel.
International Journal of Comic Art. 9:2 (Fall, 2007): 537-539.
   "Run, Bonggu, Run!," by Byun Byung-Jun. Raintaxi. Vol. 12 (3) Fall, 2007 (No.47):43. Print Edition.
   "Stop Forgetting to Remember," by Peter Kuper. Raintaxi. Summer, 2007. Online Edition.

   "Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature," by Charles Hatfield.
International Journal of Comic Art. 8:1 (Spring/Summer, 2006): 567-568.
   "Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco," by Rick Smith. The Comics Journal. No. 270:57.

   "A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books" edited by Daniel De Simone. Print Quarterly. 22:2 (June, 2005): 205-209.
   "Solitude and Emptiness (Cimes and La Digue)" by Vincent Fortemps
. The Comics Journal.No. 268 (June/July, 2005): 54.
   "Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers! Writers on Comics" edited by Sean Howe. International Journal of Comic Art. 7:1 (Spring/Summer, 2005): 559-560.
   "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book" by Gerald Jones. International Journal of Comic Art. 7:1 (Spring/Summer, 2005): 561-562.
   "Radical Art: Printmaking and the Left in 1930s New York" by Helen Langa. Print Quarterly, 22:1 (March, 2005): 86-89.
   "Gods' Man " by Lynd Ward. The Comics Journal.No. 261 (June/July, 2004): 51
   "Leviathan" by Jens Harder. The Comics Journal. No. 262 (August/September, 2004): 72.
   "Le Château: D”Aprés F. Kafka, " by Olivier Deprez. The Comics Journal No. 257 (December, 2003).
   "Henri Van Straten. (1892 1944). Catalogue of the graphic work. Oeuvre catalogus van de grafiek. Catalogue de l'oeuvre gravé." Print Quarterly. 20:3 (September, 2003) 293-297.
   "The Comics: Since 1945 by Brian Walker. International Journal of Comic Art. 5:2 (Fall, 2003): 450-452.
   "Blackbird Not Speaking in the Dead of Night: SSHHHH! by Jason." The Comics Journal. No. 251:52.
   "A Silent Man's Unfinished Declaration: Lynd Ward's Last Unfinished Wordless Novel." The Comics Journal. No. 251:48-49.
   "Blood Song: A Silent Ballad by Eric Drooker." The Comics Journal. No. 248:39.
   "Comics Culture: Analytical and Theoretical Approaches to Comics. Edited by Anne Magnussen and Hans-Christian Christiansen." International Journal of Comic Art 4:1 (Winter, 2002).
   "The Graphic Novel." International Journal of Comic Art 3:2 (Fall, 2001): 332-334.
   "Norwegian Mjau Mjau:Surmounting the Language Barrier."  The Comics Journal. No. 233 (May, 2001):28.
   "The Top 5 Lists!" The Comics Journal. No. 220 (February, 2000):30.
   "Books of the Year. Underground Hit: Cave-In by Brian Ralph." The Comics Journal. No. 220 (February, 2000): 21-22.
   "Discratches. Combustion: A Story Without Words by Chris Lanier." The Comics Journal. No.219 (January, 2000): 24.
   "Sam Norkin: Drawings, Stories by Sam Norkin." INKS: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 3:1(February, 1996): 35-36.

EXHIBITION CURATOR:
   
Critiqued the exhibition “The Graphic Novel: An Interpretive History” by students in the Graduate School of Museum Studies in the Art Department. Northern Illinois University. April 17, 2012.
   The Art of the Woodcut Novel. AVA Gallery Lebanon, New Hampshire, September 9-October 7, 2011. Lamson Print Series, Plymouth State University, October 14-December 16, 2011.
   Graphic Novels in the Purest Sense, Edwards Art Gallery, Holderness School, New Hampshire, September 17-October 23, 2010. Gallery Talk and Presentation.
    Judge for  the 2009 Juried Print Show, Momenta III, Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. March 31, 2009.

   
American Politics 2008: A View in Prints, September 15-November 21, 2008. Lamson Library Print Series. Opening Event, September 17.
   
Japanese Manga: A Glimpse of the Classics, September 5-October 6, 2006. Lamson Library. Opening Event September 13 4—6 p.m.  Gallery Talk September 20 at noon with curator David A. Beronä, Lamson Library Director.  New Hampshire Public Radio's 'Front Porch' program, The Culture of Manga in the US, Aug. 30, 2006. 

PAPERS: 
   "The Angst in Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol." Illustration, Comics, and Animation Conference. Dartmouth College, April 19-21, 2013
   "The Iconography of Wordless Books." Yale School of Drama. New Haven, Conneticut. November 1, 2012.
   "French Wordless Comics: Creating a Language of Pictures." International French-Language Comics Conference. Miami University. Oxford, Ohio. November 2, 2012.
   "Reading Pictures: The Language of Wordless Books." Bookstock, Woodstock, Vermont. July 28, 2012.
   " Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels." University of Northern Illinois Art Museum. April 18, 2012.
   "The Art of the Woodcut Novel." New England Visual Resource Association. Plymouth State University, New Hampshire. October 11, 2011.
   "The Art of the Woodcut Novel." Fifteenth Annual International Comic Arts Forum. Hosted by The Center for Cartoon Studies., White River Junction, Vermont. September 29, 2011.
   "Contemporary Woodcut Novels," Comic Arts Conference. San Diego ComicCon, July 22, 2011.
   "Critical Approaches to Comics," panel of contributors to textbook edited by Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan.
Comic Arts Conference. San Diego ComicCon, July 22, 2011.
   "The Woodcut Novel: A Tribute to the Art of Storytelling." Institute of Czech Literature, Academy of Sciences. Prague. April 28, 2011.
   "Telling Stories Today in Woodcuts." Symposium. Comics Studies: Potentials and Perspectives. Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. April 26-27, 2011.
   "Sharing a Common Language: Woodcut Novels and Wordless Comics in Belgium and the United States." Symposium. Graphic Exchanges: Comics Without Borders. April 15, 2011. University of Pennsylvania.
  "Humor, Play, and Identity in Comics: Reading Wordless Comics." Academic Perspectives. 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art, Ohio State University, October 14, 2010.
   "Woodcut Novels: An Old Way of Telling New Stories." New Narrative Conference: Narrative Arts and Visual Media, University of Toronto, May 7, 2010.

   "Contemporary Woodcut Novels: Telling Stories in Pictures." College Book Art Association Biennial Conference, University of Iowa Center for the Book. Art, Fact, and Artifact: The Book in TIme and Place. January 8-10, 2009.

  “Reading Pictures, Burning Comics: New Perspectives on the History of Graphic Narrative.” Columbia University Book History Colloquium. New York. Sept. 25, 2008
   "Inside Out: Self and Society in Comic Art: Trends in Autobiography, journalism and social critique in graphic novels." Panel Discussion with moderator Calvin Reid and panelists Josh Neufeld, Jill Tamaki, Pornsak Pichetshote, James Romberger, and myself. St.Mark's Church in the Bowery, New York. Howl Fesitval Panels. Sept. 10, 2008.
   "Reading Pictures: The Language of Wordless Books." Panel Discussion. Literature in English (LES) Section of the American College and Research Libraries (ACRL).  American Libraries Association Annual Conference. Anaheim, California. Forthcoming. June 28, 2008. 
   "Building a Graphic Novel and Manga Collection."
New Hamphsire Library Association Conference, Concord, New Hampshire (May 22, 2008).
   "Political Art: Timely and Timeless." Panel discussion. University of Rhode Island, April 6, 2006.
   "Comics and Graphic Novels: Not Just for Kids Anymore." New Hamphsire Library Association Conference, Manchester, New Hampshire (May 13, 2005).
   "The Magic of Woodcuts in the Book Illustrations of Frans Masereel and Olivier Deprez." Yale University Symposium and Exhibit, The Belgian Illustrated Book: 1918-2004, held in Sterling Memorial Library from February 4 through April 29, 2005.
   "Wordless Novels: Early Developments in the Graphic Novel." The Graphic Novel: A 20th Anniversary Conference on an Emerging Literary and Artistic Medium, University of Massachusetts/Amherst (November 13-15, 1998).
   "Woodcut Novels in America." Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing (SHARP) (July 18, 1996). 
   "Worlds Without Word Balloons." Popular Culture Association (April 8, 1994).

HONORS:
   Nominated for the prestigious 2009 Harvey Award in the category of Best Biographical, Historical or Jounalistic Presentaton for Wordless Books.
   First Place Winner at the 23rd Annual New York Book Show in the Special Trade/Adult Graphic Novel category, March 24, 2009.
   First chapter in Wordless Books reprinted as "Ohne Worte (Without Words)" in Freistil. Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz, 2009.
   Dedication by Jan Baetens in "Going to Heaven: A Missing Link in the History of Photonarrative?" JNT:Journal of Narrative Theory 31:1 (Winter 2001): 87.
   Acknowledgement of my publications on the woodcut novel in the foreword to Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner.
   Publications cited in the selected bibliography of catalogs from the 2003 exhibit at Rutgers University (Lynd Ward's Vertigo: A Graphic Novel of the Depression) 1997 exhibit at Indiana University (The Silent Shout: Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward and the Novel in Woodcuts) and the 1995 exhibit at the University of Toledo (The Ardent Image: Book Illustration for Adults in America, 1920-1942).
    Back cover endorsements for Eriz Yakin's The Silent City with an introduction by Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Kitchen Sink Press, 1995) and Chris Lanier's Combustion: A Story Without Words (Fantagraphics Press, 1999).

LIBRARY RELATED:
CHOICE  Reviewer of Graphic Arts and Visual Resources 2011--.
Library Journal Book Reviews
    Regular reviewer of contemporary fiction 1992-2008.
LJ Book reviews reprinted in:
"Banana Yoshimoto, NP."
Contemporary Literary Criticism. 84:430.
"Charles Frazier: Cold Mountain." Contemporary Literary Criticism. 109:47.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE. Library Journal Case Studies in Library Management
"The Director Needs Family Planning." Library Journal, Dec. 1994, Vol. 119 Issue 21, p71.
Geeks Rule. Analysis I: Geeks are Necessary." Library Journal. April 1, 2004. Vol. 129 Issue 6, p66-67.