Robin Ha
Robin Ha (She/her) is a Korean American cartoonist based in Winchester, VA. She is the author and the illustrator of Almost American Girl, a 2020 Harvey Award nominee and 2021 Walter Award honoree memoir, and Cook Korean!: A Comic Book With Recipes, a New York Times bestselling cookbook graphic novel. Her comics and illustrations have appeared in various publications including The Washington Post, and LA Times, as well as in anthologies highlighting Asian American culture including RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei, and Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology (Secret Identities).
Robin grew up in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States at age fourteen. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, she moved to New York City and worked in the fashion industry for several years before diving into comics. Robin has been an avid reader of comics since she was introduced to them by her mother as a young girl. She strives to make comics that are entertaining and also empower the readers to become more accepting of themselves and others. Robin is currently working on her third graphic novel inspired by the Korean folklore of Gumiho.
Memoir graphic novel workshop (All ages, no experience needed)
Is your diary brimming with exciting stories? And do you love to read comics? Walter-Award-Honoree graphic novelist, Robin Ha will walk you through how you can transform your life into a graphic novel. You’ll learn a step-by-step process of selecting and refining your personal stories, planning out your graphic novel, and drawing the comics pages. This workshop can be presented in a single seminar or in multiple sessions with more in-depth lessons, in-class assignments, and critiques.
Intro to making comics (All ages, no experience needed)
Do you love to read comics and want to be a comic artist someday? This workshop is for you! You only need a paper and pencil and a story idea to start. NYT bestselling graphic novelist, Robin Ha will help you jump-start your comic book idea and bring it out onto paper. The workshop will examine comics as a powerful storytelling medium and teach you to use all the elements in comics in the most effective way to tell your story. From brainstorming your story, and developing your characters to page layouts, you’ll get a comprehensive lesson on the creative process of making comics. This workshop can be presented in a single seminar or in multiple sessions with more in-depth lessons, in-class assignments, and critiques.
Mini-comics zines workshop (All ages, no experience needed)
Did you know that many established cartoonists started their careers by making mini-comics zines and selling them at art festivals and local comic book stores? Zines are self-published, small booklets that are photocopied, printed at home, and distributed by the maker and it is a fun, and low-cost way to explore your creativity and engage with your communities. This workshop will teach you the basic process of making mini-comics zines from idea to print and jump-start your zine project. You will learn how to refine your ideas for the zine, make the book layout, and explore various visual mediums including pen and ink and collages.
Easy Korean Home Cooking Workshop
This workshop is for everyone who is interested in cooking Korean food. No experience in cooking is needed. The participants will learn about the basics of Korean ingredients and make classic Korean dishes from my cookbook, Cook Korean!: A Comic Book With recipes. We’ll also explore how you can make variations on these recipes to fit your dietary needs and what is in your fridge. Some of my favorite recipes for this workshop include Kimchi, Kimbap, Kimchi Fried Rice, Japchae (Sweet Potato Noodles), Cold noodle, and Bulgogi.
Bitch Media
Immigration as Inspiration: Who Gets to Be an All-American Girl?
The Comics Beat
INTERVIEW: In ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL, the universal language of comics connected Robin Ha to her new culture
The Nerds of Color
A Conversation with ‘Almost American Girl’ Robin Ha
NPR: All Things Considered
Robin Ha’s New Cookbook Mixes Korean Cuisine With Comics
To book Robin Ha, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.
Jennifer Crawford
Jennifer Crawford is a public policy professional turned food creative after winning the 2019 season of MasterChef Canada. On top of being an enthusiastic eater & chef, Jennifer brings a bold, candid and engaging look at mental health, addiction, self-compassion and joy.
Jennifer spent a lifetime in a state of panicked overachieving and building what looked to be a successful life and career in public policy. They soon found their way to rock bottom via their own crushing experiences with PTSD and alcoholism; turns out, this feeling that it was all over would be the catalyst for all the good things to come.
Jennifer’s main message today is one of self-love, acceptance and nurturing joy; if there’s anything Jennifer loves more than smashing a whole pizza to themselves, it’s smashing stigma. Since winning MasterChef Canada, they’ve been busy sharing the message through food events and speaking engagements that healing is available to us all, no matter how bad its been; the things that take us down can become our superpowers.
Jennifer’s path has been anything but linear, but isn’t that all of life? Originally from rural Nova Scotia, they stressfully over-achieved their way through a few degrees and half a PhD in Social & Political Thought before dropping out (pivoting?) to pursue a public policy career. Along the way, they ran a women’s centre, worked at a feminist economics organization, and had stints training as a powerlifter, varsity rugby player, amateur boxer, and pro-wrestler.
These days, they are often sought-after to discuss the intersections of gender and food, after their own “gender repeal” cake went viral. They identify as non-binary, queer, and in recovery. Their love for food is unmatched only by their love for people and building community.
Favourite speaking topics:
Mental health and food
Emotional wellness, innovation and creativity in the workplace
Creativity and healing from PTSD
Alcoholism, addiction and recovery
Culinary queerness and community
Selected media:
Baking Beyond the Binary with Jennifer Crawford
INSPIRED | Xtra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
To book Jennifer Crawford, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall is a journalist, teacher, actor and author, among some even less pragmatic things. His first book, “Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-City Shantytown” — about a year he spent living with the homeless — was short-listed for several prestigious awards, none of which it won. His first novel, “Ghosted,” about a guy who becomes a professional ghostwriter of suicide letters, was nominated for the Amazon First Novel Award, which he also lost. His work has appeared in dozens of magazines — most of which no longer exist. He played the role of Jason, a well-dressed, bad mannered journalist, on CBC’s The Newsroom — in what turned out to be its final season. He used to own a bar in Toronto, called the Lowdown, but that didn’t work out either. He is, however, a helluva talker — although the title of his new book, Hungover: The Morning After and One Man’s Quest for a Cure, kind of speaks for itself.
Shaughnessy has given talks, been interviewed and served as host at numerous international writers’ festivals, universities, fundraisers, and on countless TV and radio programs. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Toronto.
Topics
Hangovers:
At first this may seem like a somewhat limited subject, but after nearly a decade of intense research and unmitigated mishap, travelling to a dozen countries and more than thirty cities, the toughest part was containing all he found in just one book. Hungover: The Morning After and One Man’s Quest for a Cure — which will be published this November in Canada, the US, UK, Germany, Poland and Korea — is a potent elixir of social history, scientific experiment, pop-culture essay, medical endeavor, academic scholarship, adventure story, philosophical examination, boozy biography, mythic quest, cautionary tale, and regrettable memoir.
The speaker’s subtopics about hangovers are numerous and varied, including sports, music, literature, movies, medicine, marketing, business, politics, near-death experiences, etymology, psychology, food and drink, winemaking, beer brewing, distillation and art history. Oh and he’s also willing to divulge the cure.
Homelessness:
Since the release of Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big City Shantytown, the author has given dozens of talks about his year living in Toronto’s Tent city — a lawless, fascinating homeless settlement on the edge of Lake Ontario. He welcomes any opportunity to speak openly and honestly about his first-hand experience with the violence, drug addiction and desperation of that life, and also the bravery, brilliance and kindness of so many people he used to know.
Writing: Shaughnessy has been teaching Creative Writing at the University of Toronto for more than 15 years now. He has written lectures and lessons on every facet of fiction, non-fiction and journalism, and has led countless workshops on Writing the Memoir, Writing the Novel and Creative Non-Fiction. When not teaching his own classes, he spends much of his professional time as a visiting lecturer and keynote speaker.
To book Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.