Peter Hebden

About

I am a writer, artist and developer living in the north of England. In 2022 I completed an AHRC-funded interdisciplinary PhD project at Newcastle University, investigating innovative digital methods of publishing poetry. This included research into existing practices by small press publishers and creative practitioners, along with the design of new digital interfaces and digitally-focused creative writing. My current research interests are the various intersections of poetry and visual art, while my creative practice covers comics, illustration, book art and digital design.

This site contains a few examples of my work, divided into (sometimes shaky) categories. A fuller, better organised list of my creative and professional work can be found on my other website: MY OTHER WEBSITE

Digital & Book Art

Red Rock Island (2020)

A small bookwork originally created for the Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Project. The 5x7" sketchbook opens out into a map of an imaginary island , the features of which are explained by folding the edges of the map back in on themselves to reveal annotations. Created as a relief from the COVID-19 lockdown, this project was both an experiment in a new form of storytelling and a piece of straightforward escapism. Until recently this project was housed at the Brooklyn Art Library, but due to their tragic recent fire, its future home is currently uncertain. However, its page on the Library's website is still available: DIGITAL LIBRARY PAGE

A simple digital interactive version is also available to view online: DIGITAL VERSION

forgotten nights (2019)

An online interface that contains a recombinatory audio poem. The listener uses an interactive night-sky to control the experience of the poem by adding or removing stars from the sky, changing the poem that they hear. The underlying code is also available on GitHub as a starting point for anyone who might want to create similar work: GITHUB REPO

Clicking on the screenshot below will open the work online, and a link to the project's page in the Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 4, can be found in the Poetry Publications section.

We Remember (2023, edition of 2)

Created as a response to Joe Brainard's brilliant I Remember as part of UWE Bristol's 2023 World Book Night project. This bookwork was made using the 'blizzard book' technique developed by book artist Hedi Kyle. It holds sixteen small close-up photographs with short passages written on the back and was made as my partner and I prepared to leave our home in Newcastle after many years living in that city. The book will be exhibited at Bower Ashton Library, UWE Bristol, UK from mid April to late June 2023, and Hong Kong Design Institute from late July to the end of September 2023.

Poetry Publications

Comics & Illustration

PaperJam Comics Collective (2020-2023)

I was lucky enough to be part of the amazing PaperJam Comics Collective in Newcastle from early 2020 (and still consider myself a member-in-exile despite being many miles away now). During in that time, I contributed comics and illustrations to various online and print projects, including their The Sea and That anthology. Examples of PaperJam's excellent work can be found on their website: PAPERJAM WEBSITE

Lockdown Gazette (2020)

I contributed this comic, called BCK2WRK, to the NewBridge Project's Lockdown Gazette, which was distributed to Newcastle and Gateshead residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploratory Unit 2 (2019)

A wordless space adventure mini-comic. Sold at various comics outlets, including at Travelling Man shops across the north of England.

Homemade (2015)

I teamed up with Scott Lee and Stephanie Hadjioannou to produce photo-illustrations for the short story Homemade by Ian Patterson, published by Simply Stories. Simply Stories is a publishing initiative set up by Newcastle University researchers to provide fiction specifically tailored towards adult learners of English as a second language.

Dead Pixel (2022)

Digital artwork created for the 2022 World Book Night project at UWE Bristol, under the theme 'Ghosts in the Machine'. This was exhibited as part of a group exhibtion for the project at Bower Ashton Library in Bristol and the Hong Kong Design Institute.

Return (in progress)

A graphic short story that I'm currently in the early stages of.

Contact

email: pete.hebden[at]gmail.com

twitter: @Pete_Hebden