Clubs and workshops for young storytellers.
Instructors
Joe López
José Sheehan-López is a Beacon-based writer and lifelong comics reader whose love of the medium continues to shape how he thinks about storytelling. He is also co-owner of Stanza Comics. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ReelArc, Hemp Connoisseur Magazine, and sites like Toy Origin, and he writes across horror, fantasy, and speculative fiction. In 2025, he founded Burden Lake Press and serves as editor-in-chief of its zine, Echoes of Rylomi, which features both prose and comics.
Mark Harris
More than a rabid comics reader, Mark is co-owner of Stanza Books. As a playwright, Mark worked for years with Epic Theater Ensemble, developing new plays and training high school students in playwriting and immersive theater. Mark has written audio drama for Soundbooth Theater, and wrote and produced the first immersive theater production at Lincoln Center in NYC. As an experience designer for Fortune 50 companies and world-class museums, Mark worked on projects for HBO, Netflix, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, New York Life, and more.
What are these workshops?
This program is designed first and foremost as a hands-on instructional workshop; we’ll be actively guiding the kids through character creation, visual storytelling, and building their own stories from start to finish. These workshops are focused, creative blocks.
We’ll have clear start and end times, and we’ll be jumping right into instruction, so timely arrival and dismissal will help everything run smoothly. We also ask that parents plan to be nearby and reachable during a session. You’re absolutely welcome to stay in the shop while the workshop is running, or step out as long as you’re close and available if needed. We’ll take parent phone numbers at drop-off.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We cannot WAIT to see the amazing comics these kids create.
What to Bring
Your child!
What to Send With Your Child
Water bottle
Snack (optional) – We’ll take a short break partway through so kids can recharge
We provide all the core materials, like paper, pencils, erasers, and everything needed to complete the projects. If your child has favorite drawing tools (pens, markers, a sketchbook they refuse to part with), they’re welcome to bring them, but it’s completely optional.
What to Leave at Home
Electronics (phones, tablets, gaming devices, etc.)
We won’t be able to keep track of or take responsibility for them, and the workshop is designed to keep everyone actively engaged the whole time. No screens needed. All research materials will be provided and in book and physical form. We will be accessible through the shop phone, and we’ll provide phone numbers of the instructors on site as well.
What We Provide
All drawing and comic-making supplies
Bottled drinking water
Access to restrooms
A structured, instructor-led creative session each day
Timing & Parent Availability
We do ask that parents or designated adults remain nearby and reachable during the session. You’re welcome to stay in the shop, or step out for a quick coffee or errand, as long as you’re close and available if needed.
Safety & Supervision
If your child has any allergies, sensitivities, or anything else we should know to help them have a great experience, please let us know ahead of time.
All adults leading the workshop and working directly with children will have completed background checks. There will be two adults present at all times, and we are now scheduling CPR training for all instructors.
We take creating a safe, focused environment seriously.