Cartoonist extraordinaire

DOUGLAS - When graphic novelist and author Jason Viola visited Douglas elementary schools last week, he found not just a warm welcome but an excited bunch of students eager to learn about his writing and art.

Viola came from Boston, Massachusetts where he co founded a non-profit organization, Boston Comic Arts Foundation. Through his foundation, Viola assists others through the power of comics to educate, inspire and bring people together.

"I co-founded the Boston Comic Arts Foundation to produce independent comics festivals like MICE, the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, which is a free two-day event where people of all ages and interests can meet artists and attend workshops and panels. We've since expanded to include three additional annual festivals, a monthly conversation series, comics "camps" for under-served populations, and a lot more. We've been working to build a community in the region and I'm excited to find where it's taken us."

As a child, Viola loved to make comics, beginning his cartoon creations shortly after he mastered wielding a pencil. He loves to make informational comics and is often finding inspiration in biology. One of his books was a National Geographic Kids book.

"I genuinely loved making things up and playing around with different characters," Viola said. "When I think back to that time, I know I had a lot of anxiety. Writing was an escape: like, here is a world where I can control what happens and the things people say. And it gave me a sense of confidence I didn't otherwise have.

"All of those things still drive me today," he added. "Writing is a lot of work and can absolutely be frustrating. But on another day it can be grounding. And sometimes it's exhilarating."

Viola's workshops

During his visit with students from Douglas Primary, Intermediate and Upper Elementary schools, Viola answered questions on a variety of topics. He also spent time with fifth grade classes to do a writing workshop.

"I love the process of writing and find a lot of satisfaction in making something new. I try to instill that joy of discovery in the workshops I lead," he said. "Writing can often feel difficult and heavily structured, and I want kids to know that it's possible to really enjoy it."

One of Viola's favorite things about teaching the workshops is seeing the kids work together and come up with some amazing ideas. Viola recalled that in one class, the students imagined a world where animals and plants were inverted with creatures like "ambulatory trees that grew birds from their branches instead of trees."

In another class, kids created a world where a sparkly dust caused people to stop physically aging at the age of 20. He and the class discussed how this might impact society.

"These ideas all came directly from the Douglas fifth graders, and it was exciting to see them tie different threads together and come up with their own characters and stories," Viola said. "It's really inspiring."

Why the school brings in authors

"The school brings in authors to promote literacy, writing (the power of words), reading engagement and exposure to possibly a new genre for a student," said Stephanie Williams, a reading coach with District Improvement Support/District Unrestricted Education Support.

The schools have previously brought in fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novelists like Viola. The selection of authors depends on who is able to travel, the school's and authors' schedules and the funds that the school has available.

"We try to bring in different genres of authors so that we can reach all different student interests or spark an interest in a different genre," explained Williams, who said the schools have seen an increase in books being checked out of the library after every author visit, especially ones written by the visiting authors.

"Many authors have promoted the importance of school," she added.

Viola, in particular, promotes and teaches methods of research, point of view, setting and characters, revising and other aspects of being a graphic artist, offering a Q+A session at the end of his presentations.

"I love to visit smaller cities and areas that may not be national book tour stops," Viola said. "The students in Douglas are incredibly bright and thoughtful, and they deserve the same access, so it was rewarding to have the opportunity to talk to them about writing and the process of making a graphic novel."