[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”http:\/\/benhatke.blueridge.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/paper-1914901_1280_Background.jpg” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”|7px||7px|false|true” border_radii=”off|8px|8px||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”17px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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Ben Hatke is the author and illustrator of over a dozen books including the #1 New York Times bestselling Zita the Spacegirl<\/i> trilogy, the Eisner award winning Little Robot<\/i>, and the picture books Julia\u2019s House for Lost Creatures<\/i> and Nobody Likes a Goblin<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n His most recent work includes 2023\u2019s Reynard\u2019s Tale, a richly-illustrated folkloric trickster tale for adults, and the graphic novel Things in the Basement<\/i>, which was hailed by Publishers Weekly as \u201ca fantastical, dreamily atmospheric katabasis.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Ben lives, works, and practices archery in Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah Valley. He is always happy in a canoe.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/benhatke.blueridge.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/EdgarHatke_1.jpg” title_text=”EdgarHatke_1″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”|7px||7px|false|true” border_radii=”off|||8px|8px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/benhatke.blueridge.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Ben_Shoot_11b_bw-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Ben_Shoot_11b_bw” _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.1″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”17px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Written in third person, for easy cutting and pasting into introductions and articles!)<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s first solo graphic novels, 2010\u2019s Zita the Spacegirl<\/i> and its two sequels, were New York Times bestsellers. His subsequent graphic novel Trilogy, Mighty Jack<\/i>, is a modern fantasy loosely based on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack\u2019s story ties into the Zita the Spacegirl universe to create a fantasy world of grander scope.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s picture books include Julia\u2019s House for Lost Creatures<\/i> and its two sequels, and 2016\u2019s Nobody Likes a Goblin<\/i>, a traditional dungeon quest turned on its head.\u00a0<\/p>\n His graphic novel Little Robot<\/i>, geared particularly for early readers, won an Eisner Award in 2016. Little Robot tells the tale of a complex friendship between a young mechanical genius and a lost robot.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s gently spooky dungeon-delving graphic novel Things in the Basement<\/i>, was announced by\u00a0 <\/span>Publisher\u2019s Weekly as \u201ca fantastical, dreamily atmospheric katabasis.\u201d Milo\u2019s journey into below the basement, in search of his baby sister\u2019s sock, is also a journey through millennia of art history and human creativity.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Reynard\u2019s Tale<\/i>, Ben created a short illustrated folktale for adults featuring a new version of the trickster fox from Medieval European folklore. In this slender volume, intricate pen and ink illustrations evoking classic woodcuts adorn simple poetic prose.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024 Ben embarked on a circumnavigation of the earth, in the tradition of Nellie Bly, Elizabeth Bisland, and Jules Verne\u2019s Phileas Fogg. He traveled eastward for 55 days, with minimal air travel, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Yellow Seas, and journeying through twelve countries until he returned, on foot, to his house from the other direction. This journey formed the basis for his upcoming adult graphic novel Home Bound, <\/i>which will release in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ben has given presentations about art, adventure and creative practice across the United States and in half a dozen other countries. His Three Secrets to Visual Storytelling <\/i>is a quick course in the ways that words and pictures work together in communication\u2014with material that scales from grade school to grad school. Ben also presents on developing a creative practice with his Lessons from Leonardo<\/i> and speaks about the role of travel and pilgrimage in creativity with Round Earther<\/i>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He received his undergraduate degree in history in 2000, and very briefly studied classical drawing and painting techniques at the Cecil Studios in Florence, where he cemented an undying love for both Renaissance history and for the smell of linseed oil.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s artistic heroes and influences include Jim Henson, Tove Jansson, Shel Silverstein, Maurice Sendak, Bill Watterson, Neil Gaiman, Brian Froud, John Singer Sargent, Gustav Klimpt, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and Virginia Woolf. But greatest of all, for Ben, is Leonardo da Vinci, the great exemplar of the curiosity-driven life. If Ben is acting shy or socially awkward, just ask him about Leonardo.\u00a0<\/p>\n With his background in gymnastics and various circus skills, including stilt-walking, fire-breathing, juggling, and unicycling, Ben enjoys being up and about every bit as much as he loves sitting at the drawing board. He is an avid archer and has developed a handful of trick arrows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ben lives, works, and practices archery in Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah Valley, and he is always happy in a canoe.<\/p>\nTHE LONGER VERSION<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n