From time to time, we muse aloud about what we’re up to, what sort of books we’re making, and what to call our work. I am happy to report that we may be moving closer to an answer. Three weeks from yesterday, otherwise known as October 15, 2011, we will be giving a presentation at Fordham University as part of a daylong celebration of the essay sponsored by Welcome Table Press.

Don’t feel bad if you had no idea that Robbi and I were essayists. Neither did we. When we were asked to present by essayist and symposium organizer Kim Dana Kupperman, we were pleased but a bit confused. What do we know about writing essays, anyway? Kim assured us that the essay is a very generous and accommodating sort of genre, one perfectly willing to make room for our Idiots’ fare. Kim explained it like this: The word “essay” means “to try,” and the thing that an essay tries to do is ask what it means to be human.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what we try to do with every book we make: to examine our common human failings, our shared infirmities. Whether or not we succeed is for someone else to determine.

So we write essays. Who knew? Kim Dana Kupperman, apparently. She is interested in our work as an example of the “visual essay.” Which is just the latest in a long string of reminders that, as a writer, I’m awfully lucky to have met Robbi.

Now that we’re confirmed visual essayists, I’ve written a “talk” that probably won’t be much like the other talks on the slate for that day. Rather, it’s a kind of dialogue between Robbi and me, equal parts serious and funny, and amply supported by illustrated slides. Even if we aren’t 100% legitimate from the genre standpoint, we hope, at least, to entertain.

Fingers crossed.

The symposium is open to all, so feel free to sign up if you’re interested. It’s $125 for the day, and all proceeds go to support Welcome Table Press’s efforts to “publish and celebrate the essay in all its forms.”

Even ours, apparently.