Jennifer Hayden and Patrick McDonnell in conversation with Gregg Yupanki Bautista.
Join Echo Thread Projects for an evening of conversation with Jennifer Hayden in celebration of her book Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner - a peppery mix of anecdotal comics and recipes which pay tribute to Hayden’s lifelong love of cookbook illustration as well as her utter hatred of making dinner every night. Hand-painted in mouth-watering color and bursting with flavor and messy emotions, this memoir digs deep to explore the intersections of food, feminism, frustration, and family.
Joining us in conversation will be special guest Patrick McDonnell, creator of the beloved comic strip MUTTS. The evening will be moderated by poet and artist Gregg Yupanki Bautista, followed by an audience Q&A and a book signing by both comics authors.
Copies of Jennifer’s book Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner and Patrick’s new book The Gift of Everything will be available for purchase at the event.
Jennifer Hayden is a graphic novelist whose breast cancer memoir The Story of My Tits was nominated for an Eisner Award and has been translated into three languages. The French edition, Nénés Chéris, was shortlisted for Elle France Magazine's 2022 Comics Grand Prix. Jennifer’s first collection Underwire was excerpted in The Best American Comics 2013. Her new graphic cooking memoir is called Where There's Smoke, There's Dinner: Confessions of a Cartoonist Cook, and she hopes fervently to use the proceeds from this book to hire a personal chef.
Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the award-winning comic strip, MUTTS, which has appeared in hundreds of newspapers internationally and has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Not only recognized for its gentle humor and powerful themes of kindness, compassion, and friendship, MUTTS is renowned for its artistic excellence and advocacy for animal welfare. Charles Schulz called it “one of the best comics strips of all time.” Patrick is also the author of several New York Times bestselling picture books including The Gift of Nothing and Me… Jane (a biography of Jane Goodall), among many other titles and children’s books. Patrick was a member of the Board of Directors of The Humane Society of the United States for 18 years and currently serves on the boards of The Charles M. Schulz Museum and D&R Greenway Land Trust.
Gregg Yupanki Bautista is a poet, artist, and musician born to Peruvian immigrants. He is the author of the illustrated chapbook Un Lugar Lejos: Valleys and releases music under the name Yupanki. He facilitates a monthly poetry open mic series in Hopewell, NJ called Poets & Storytellers Open, and is the founder of Echo Thread Projects.