Lynda Barry in Brookline Oct. 2nd

Fans of cartoonist Lynda Barry will be thrilled to know she is speaking at Brookline Booksmith this Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7pm. For those unfamiliar with her work, this is a great opportunity to meet a terrific, iconoclastic graphic storyteller and teacher. She's a superb chronicler of childhood -- its magic and wonder as well as its itchy sweaters, fighting parents, and nighttime terrors.

Barry's latest book is "What It Is," a combination collage, scrapbook, memoir and guide to creative self-ignition. Through her own drawings, musings and specific writing exercises, she guides readers into a state of artistic focus and freedom. It's based on a teaching method she has developed in her seminars around the country called, "Writing the Unthinkable." I'm reading/studying the book, and it's terrific. I love that she explores the moment around sixth grade when someone in the class gets anointed "the artist" and everyone else stops drawing.The book is reviewed here in Salon, where her comic strip, Ernie Pook's Comeek, appeared for several years.

You can take in her talk Thursday at 7 and still be home for the Joe and Sarah show at 9.