Prompt Press has just published an interview between myself and Ethan Evans, take a read:
IMAGE + WORD INTERVIEW 1: WALTER BENJAMIN REIMAGINED
Tag Archives: mitpress
Literary Hub: “Illustrating the Visual Illusions of Walter Benjamin’s Mind”
I’m so thrilled to see an excerpt of my book in LitHub. Take a read/glimpse: LitHub
“On Wandering Through—and Recreating—a Writer’s Marginalia”
Solstice Celebrations of New Books
Now that I have finally turned in my final grades for the three creative writing courses that I teach here in Vermont, I’m finally reaching my head above the chaos for a breath of fresh air, and I went back to re-read the marketing and publicity paperwork for MIT Press regarding my upcoming book. There, I found a very kind and thrilling description of my book among the Editor’s Picks for 2019 collection, written by the acquisitions editor who helped coach me through this process. Here is her write-up,
“Most of us are familiar with Walter Benjamin, but in revisiting him closely while doing research for this book, I was astonished to realize how persistent his influence is—and, in fact, growing.
Frances Cannon’s passion for Benjamin is infectious. Her graphic translations charm and captivate. In the same way that Benjamin’s writing is likened to a meandering stroll, Cannon’s pen wanders, strays, digresses. She illuminates Benjamin the flâneur—allowing us, along with her, to become flâneurs ourselves, traveling through his mind.
This is a fun read, and unpredictable in the best sense of the word. As one of the endorsers notes: “we need to come up with new names for something this wonderful and brand new in the world.”
Another BOOK on the horizon
I have some BIG ART and LIFE NEWS! I turned my manuscript in today for a new book with MIT Press! It won’t be released until next year, but the deadline was last night, and though I feel like a paper doll or zombie from lack of sleep and overworking my drawing fingers, I’m ecstatic and relieved to have completed this stage of the process. BUT, I am thrilled to be working on this book, which in short, is a graphic nonfiction “translation” of Walter Benjamin’s dreams, philosophies, and aphorisms. It’s been a long process and much more work lies ahead. Here are some teasers and some evidence of the towers of research texts that I accumulated during my process. You’ll also notice a stack of *some* of my notebooks filled with drawings. I can’t share any full illustrations, because art is not free and I want the book to stand alone as a physical art object in collaboration with MIT. For a better idea of what I’m working on, check out the fall 2017 issue of The Iowa Review, they published a visual essay of mine about Walter Benjamin, which was the precursor to this upcoming book, here’s the link.
FRANKY FRANCES CANNON 