It was certainly a 21st-century reading at Broadway books on Wednesday night, with students reading their comics projected onto a screen and playing radio pieces they had pre-recorded for broadcast. The pieces were produced in two residencies at Benson High School this past semester: graphic novelist Nicole Georges taught in Dave Mylet’s classroom, and journalist Emily Harris taught in Steve Naganuma’s broadcasting class.

With such interactive pieces, the audience had questions for students about the process behind their creating. Each piece had been inspired by an in-class assignment. One student from Emily Harris’ class told about selecting a “boring” item from a sack and then writing about it, in this case a rock. The subsequent broadcast piece was amazingly textured, with a sensory description of a rock that the audience could virtually smell and feel as the student described it. In Nicole Georges class, students chose “weird” headlines and created a comic about them. Again, students displayed impressive creativity, building a multi-page story around a deceptively simple phrase.

It was certainly an entertaining evening for everyone involved. Many thanks to Broadway Books for hosting and to all those who came and participated!