Explore the porous boundaries between a creative career, hobbies & self worth with writer and artist Vera Brosgol.
Vera walks through the heartfelt evolution of her creative calling: from a story-obsessed, weird kid from Russia who made drawings in exchange for friends; to a comics nerd who found stability in animation; to her work in stop-motion on projects including Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; to writing and illustrating graphic novels and children’s books. Along the way, Vera followed her curiosity and faced challenges any creative can relate to. Namely, being encouraged to turn every hobby into a side hustle, and attaching our self worth to whether people like what we’re making. Or as you’ll find out in Vera’s case, what she’s baking.
You can watch the video of the interview on CreativeMornings.com. It was given at CreativeMornings/Portland, a free monthly community event.
More about Vera Brosgol:
Vera (she/her) was born in Moscow, Russia in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. She received a diploma in Classical Animation from Sheridan College, and spent many years working in feature animation but now she is writing and drawing books full-time. She has storyboarded for Laika on the feature films Coraline, Paranorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, and was Head of Story for the Academy-Award-winning Pinnochio.
Vera’s first graphic novel, Anya’s Ghost, was published in 2011 by First Second Books and won an Eisner Award. Her first picture book, Leave Me Alone, was published in 2016 by Roaring Brook Press and won a Caldecott Honor. She also loves hiking, riding her bike, and baking bread.
Creation of this podcast wouldn't have been possible without the support of:
- A 2024 grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council
- Annual event support from local partner Wacom
- Production by Johnny Subia and Weird Wonderful
- The 2024 event volunteer team: Kaitlin Carpenter, Chamisa Kellogg, Charli Beck, Christopher Diego, Ivan Lima, Joan Stewart, Kaveer Rai, Laura Mark, Laura Nickelhoff, Lucy Nobles, Sarah Nordby, Sumeet Singh, Tyler Nordby and Vinnie Balistreri
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