Dylan Horrocks's Blog, page 19

An open letter to journalists regarding Wikileaks.

(I apologise for interrupting with something completely unrelated to comics, but I want to post this somewhere, and here seems the easiest place. Normal 'Magic Pen' posting will resume tomorrow!)

As the war on Wikileaks heats up to fever pitch, this has become an issue far greater than the nuanced specifics of the Cablegate leak and whether you think its release was flawed or its contents trivial.

Think back to the Pentagon Papers and ask yourself: would you like to have cooperated with Nixon's attempts to suppress, persecute and harass Daniel Ellsberg, Neil Sheehan and the Washington Post? Or would you have taken a stand on principle?

The nature of the two leaks are, of course, very different; but make no mistake: this is that kind of once-in-a-generation moral challenge. As attempts to crush Wikileaks move beyond the reasonable and into the extralegal and Orwellian, this is becoming a profound moral crisis for free speech, journalism and democracy.

Frankly, I no longer care whether you find Julian Assange annoying and arrogant or how you feel about Gaddafi's buxom nurse. The issues at stake now are far more significant and the outcome of this crisis will shape the environment for journalism, whistleblowers, the internet, free speech and democracy for a long time to come. In that, at least, there is a clear and striking parallel with the events surrounding the release of the Pentagon Papers and its aftermath.

So please: think about how your actions today might look in twenty years time, and please - for the sake of whatever ideals and principles first led you to consider journalism - take this crisis SERIOUSLY!

(And while I'm on the subject, please remember that Julian Assange is not the only person being persecuted over this. Remember Pfc Bradley Manning? In anyone's the Daniel Ellsberg in all this, it's Manning, who is currently in military prison, being kept in isolation and facing over 50 years imprisonment - all for trying to do the right thing. A few more stories about him wouldn't go amiss…)

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By the way, there will now be a two week hiatus while I travel to Canada for the International Festival of Authors and a talk at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (click on the links for more info).

I'll be back early November, and then… Chapter Five!

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Pohutukawa Coast Art Exhibition

Just a quick note for those of you in Auckland this weekend. Our local school, Maraetai Beach School, is holding an art exhibition to raise funds, and there are three pages by me in there (two from Hicksville and a School Journal illustration). So if you feel like a drive out to the beach with a peek at some local art along the way, come along!

The Pohutukawa Coast Art Exhibition

Maraetai Beach School hall

Opening: Friday 15 October, 7.30pm: $10

(includes an auction of drawings by NZ celebrities)

Hours: Saturday 16 - Sunday 17 October, 9am - 4pm: $5 entry (children free)

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Note: parts of The Magic Pen are NSFW and Adults Only!

I'll be in Toronto this month for IFOA

I'm totally stoked to be appearing at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto later this month (October). The festival runs from October 20-30 and I'm on two round tables:

In Graphic Detail

Saturday, October 23, 3:00pm

Since 2005, the IFOA has showcased the work of cartoonists, illustrators and graphic novelists. At this event, artists Charles Burns, Dylan Horrocks and Seth share their latest works and participate in a round table discussion moderated by the CBC's Shelagh Rogers.

Fictional Truths - Ideas on Time, Memory and Place

Tuesday, October 26, 8:00pm

Myla Goldberg, Paul Harding, Dylan Horrocks, and Eshkol Nevo discuss the building blocks of novel writing at this round table discussion moderated by Siri Agrell.

The other event I'm especially excited about is Lynda Barry's session on the festival's closing day (Saturday 30 October, 5pm).

So if you're in Toronto, come along!

I'll be in Montréal on October 27th

As the poster says, I'll be speaking at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly in Montréal later this month. I'll be talking about my strange journey from the first edition of Hicksville to the new one, some of the comics I've done along the way, and the ones I'm drawing now. I hope to show some stuff that hasn't been seen in public before.

I can't wait to see the D&Q shop, and to catch up with some old friends. If you're in town, come along and say hello!

In Metro magazine

A one page comic by me is in the latest (October) issue of Metro magazine. It's part of a feature in which a bunch of writers, photographers and artists document a single day in Auckland, as viewed from various locations. I chose the local mall and spent a few hours drawing people in the food court, the library, and walking around the shops. As I told the editor, I love malls, even though I hate shopping. Malls aren't really about shopping these days anyway; it's more like hanging out in the town square (albeit a highly commercialised, corporate-controlled one).

You can find Metro in most newsagents around New Zealand or get it online at Magshop.

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New page: The Magic Pen

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