Registration is open!
About the Course
Many writers love comics. Far too few believe they can write and draw them.
“I can’t draw.” That’s the most common concern Sarah Leavitt hears as a comics professor at UBC’s School of Creative Writing, where she has taught comics since 2012, and it’s one this course is designed to challenge.
This course isn’t about technical drawing skills. It’s about drawing as a way of thinking, and as a tool to deepen any writing practice. In comics, expressiveness and clarity matter far more than realism or detail, so the course is open to folks with any amount of drawing experience, even those who haven’t drawn since they were kids.
Using your existing writing practice as a foundation, whether you write fiction, poetry, scripts, or other forms, you’ll discover how comics techniques can help you think more visually, write more concisely, and develop your stories in new ways. You’ll learn the essential building blocks of the medium: juxtaposition, sequence, composition, and word/image blending.
At the core of the course are interviews with eight acclaimed cartoonists: Michael DeForge, Zoe Si, Johnny Damm, Adam de Souza, Teresa Wong, Mita Mahato, Marian Churchland, and Taylor Brown-Evans. Coursework moves from introductory drawing exercises through to a final short comics assignment, with reading, discussion, and experimentation throughout. Weekly Q&A sessions with Sarah and a workshop session provide feedback and support along the way.
UBC’s School of Creative Writing is one of the few creative writing programs to offer dedicated comics courses. Sarah has developed a unique approach tailored specifically to writers, so the skills you build here will enrich not just your comics work, but all of your storytelling work.
What You’ll Learn
- How to create clear, compelling short comics
- How to apply comics techniques to other forms of writing, including juxtaposition, sequencing and word/image blending
- How to implement tools for assessing and revising your own work
- How to develop strategies to build your own comics community
Course Start Date: This course begins July 6, 2026. Can’t make this date? Let us know if you are interested in future offerings on this form and we’ll consider one if there’s sufficient interest.
Format: This course is 100% online and not for credit. A new module of videos recorded by Sarah, readings, and exercises are released for each of the 6 weeks, that can be done asynchronously. There are no live lectures as you will be guided by Sarah’s recorded videos, so you can review the content at your own pace. You’ll have the opportunity to attend weekly live online Q&A sessions from week 2 with Sarah on Mondays to ask your questions. The Q&A sessions will be recorded for anyone who cannot make the live session. You will also discuss the assignments with your fellow students.
Audience: Open to anyone. No university registration required, no experience required.
Duration: Six weeks (but you will have access to the content for a full three months)
Cost: $550 CAD
Refund policy: We will issue a refund (less a $50 administration fee) or a full fee transfer to another course when you fill out and submit our Course Withdrawal Form at least three (3) business days before the course start date. We cannot offer refunds or course transfers for withdrawals after this deadline.
About the Instructor
Sarah Leavitt started making comics in 2005 and is the author of two graphic memoirs and a graphic novel. She has taught and developed comics classes here at UBC since 2012 and has taught comics to a wide range of students, from teens to seniors, from first year undergraduates to medical students.
Sarah’s first book, Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me (2010), was published in Canada and internationally, and translated into French, German and Korean. Tangles was the first comic to be nominated for a Writers’ Trust of Canada Award.
A feature-length animation based on Tangles premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 2026. The cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Abbi Jacobson and Samira Wiley.
Sarah is also the author of two other award-winning graphic novels: Agnes, Murderess (2019) and the graphic memoir Something, Not Nothing (2024).
Comics Class For Writers: A Free Workshop with Sarah Leavitt
Thank you to everyone who joined us. This workshop has concluded. To stay in the loop and be the first to know about dates and registration details for the next event, please stay tuned to our social media accounts or sign up for our newsletter.