Ezra Claytan Daniels

Thursday, April 17
5:30pm, Annenberg Auditorium – Carswell Hall

Illustrator, graphic novelist, writer, and screenwriter Ezra Claytan Daniels will be a featured guest in The Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series in the Department of English.

Daniels is an artist, graphic novelist, writer, and screenwriter. He is currently a writer and producer for the Apple TV show Severance. He also wrote on Doom Patrol for HBO Max and the Amazon sci-fi drama Lightyears. His graphic novel, Upgrade Soul, received the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity and was nominated for an Eisner, Harvey, Ringo, and Ignatz award. He also made it into an immersive serialized graphic novel for iOS, exhibited in numerous museums, including the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Daniels also wrote a short film called We Are Not Alone, which premiered at SXSW in 2024.

During his talk, Daniels will share the interconnected worlds of graphic novels, film, and television by discussing his artistic journey and creative process. He will also do a reading from his forthcoming work. Additionally, Daniels will facilitate an applied illustration workshop for Jennifer Gentry’s Spring course, Design Studio: Visualization of Ideas, and participate in workshopping/feedback sessions for Cagney Gentry’s screenwriting course and Woodrow Hood’s animation studies course. Ezra’s visit will inspire and educate aspiring screenwriters, graphic novelists, illustrators, and writers to foster dialogue around critical social themes in their creative work.