Going up North

One of the big comics festivals of the year, Thought Bubble in Harrogate is coming up very soon.

This year I am super delighted to be hosting a panel, with a range of extremely interesting speakers. Joe Sacco, Karrie Fransman, R.E. Burke, Michael D Kennedy and I will be discussing how comics can be used to make change in The Revolution Will Be Sequentialised.

I think it’s going to be amazing, and an hour is going to fly by.

That’s on Sunday 16 November.

On the Friday before, I’ll be part of a panel at the associated academic conference in Leeds, Comics Forum, speaking about the government’s Creative Industries strategy and where comics fit into it (spoiler: they don’t, yet).

Representing CCIC, I’ll be the only one not giving the publishers’ perspective, but rather, hoping to act as the voice of the many thousands of comics creators in this country, from bedroom zinesters to professional full-time artists.

For much of the rest of the time at Thought Bubble, I’ll be helping man the CCIC table, so people can ask us all about what we do, and what help we can give creators. The table was going to look pretty bare, so we’re bringing our own comics to sell as well – I’ve got print versions of my LDComics festival project, Running Out, and will bring the usual protest book. I’m also in the process of making a free mini zine to promote Noisy Valley.

If you’re in the region, it’d be great to see you there!