Greetings,

My name is Bevan Thomas. I am an award-winning author of short stories and comics, with a particular interest in speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, and horror), mythology, and mental health. I have written about a hidden occult underground in Victoria, BC, an encounter with fairies that feels like an alien abduction, the aftermath of a robot revolution, an Arthurian knight struggling with mental health issues, and many more from a wide range of publishers. I have also been an editor on many anthologies from Cloudscape Comics. I edited the Epic Canadiana series of comics anthologies, which pay tribute to classic Canadian superheroes and which earned Cloudscape a Gene Day Award at the 2016 Joe Shusters.

I am also a creative writing teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. For many years, I taught how to write comics through Langara College’s comics creation program, and have run numerous writing workshops all over Vancouver. I currently teach a wide range of creative writing classes at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre and Place Des Arts.

This autumn, I’m teaching Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels, a weekly online class on writings for comics, through the Alexandra Writers’ Centre. Whether you want to create a humorous comic strip, an epic adventure graphic novel, or a deeply personal memoir, this class will get you started. We will discuss the elements of a graphic novel script, the different relationships that words and pictures have in a comic’s panels, how to effectively transition the story from panel to panel, and other techniques for producing a story that best fits the comics medium. We will also explore how regular writing elements and genres work differently in this format, how to create thumbnails to guide the comic’s panels, and how to collaborate with other people to bring your project to life. By the end of this 10-week class, you will have the tools you need to begin your own graphic novel. There are still a lot of openings in the class, so if you’re interested in exploring this medium, you can visit the Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels page to enroll. September 23 is when we leap into comics!