Last year, Stephen Orlando's '08 interest in the graphic anthology genré led to the publication of his original short story, "All that it takes," in a graphic anthology collection about the city of New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta, post-Hurricane Katrina. The anthology, Hope: New Orleans, is now available in stores nationwide.
Orlando has continued to pursue his love of the genré with the publication of two new graphic anthologies, Paradise Lost: Book One and Normal. Both anthologies were published by House Spirit Press and are now available on the Web.
As a recipient of last year's Steven Daniel Smallen Memorial Fund for Student Creativity Grant, Orlando started working on his first self-published book, a graphic novel adaptation of Milton's Paradise Lost: Book One. While completing the 24-page anthology, Orlando worked closely with Hamilton Professor of English Margie Thickstun who helped check his script for accuracy. Thickstun plans to present the finished book at this year's national Conference on John Milton, to be held in October in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
For his second book, Normal, Orlando wrote a one-page short story using all genderless nouns and subjective adjectives. He then distributed the story to 20 different artists who offered their individual interpretations of the text. The project aims to show how gender roles and socialization affect our perspectives. Orlando is currently talking to the Hamilton Sociology Department about possibly distributing the text in classes.
Anyone interesting in purchasing a copy of either Paradise Lost: Book One or Normal can do so at:
http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=458 , or
http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=457
-- by Lauren Foley '08
