Lakes International Comic Arts Festival Debuts International Comic Rights Market & British Comics Now Pavilion + The Return Of Comics Up Close
by Richard Bruton
Although we’re a long, long way away from the next Lakes International Comics Festival (LICAF) in September 2024, that isn’t stopping the Festival doing a hell of a lot of outreach work in the community…
First up, we have the return of LICAF’s Comics Up Close: Origin Stories event, coming to Sheffield Hallam University on 21st February 2024 to celebrate the influence and impact comics have on wider culture and exploring the political and social situations that are the basis for creativity within comics.
A joint academic event from LICAF, Sheffield Hallam University, and The University of Manchester, Origin Stories includes keynote speakers Dave Gibbons, I think you know who he is; Karrie Fransman, Creative Director of positivenegative, an organisation dedicated to amplifying academic research through engaging in visual story telling; and Steven Appleby, absurdist cartoonist and illustrator, and author of the graphic novel Dragman.
There’s a call for papers already and events already announced include Patrick Walker with ‘Comics as close as you can get; exploring the dot and those that have exploited and embraced it’; Jo Breese on comics/zines and corresponding 3D artefacts; Gabi Putnoki on the origin of The Graphic Novel Reading Room; Alex Fitch on ‘The groundbreaking acts of Ally Sloper’; and the Collectives for Change Exhibition with Comics from the Arab World, curated by Lina Ghaibeh and George Khoury, organised by The Rada & Mutaz Sawaf Centre for Arab Comics Studies at the American University in Beirut.
The second big announcement from LICAF is the debut of its International Comics Rights Market for British publishers and creators, taking place on 27th and 28th September 2024 and looking for applications from creators now.
Supported by the Arts Council and The Adlard Family Foundation, an organisation set up by artist Charlie Adlard to promote the creative arts and the environment, the International Comics Rights Market’s aim is to bring European and British comic publishers together to negotiate publishing rights to their comics with international counterparts across Europe.
This will be only the second International Rights Market dedicated to comics, with the other being at Angoulême. The idea is to bring together international buyers of comics and acquisition editors from foreign publishers with publishers wishing to sell rights to comics.
LICAF’s International Comics Rights Market will be different though, as it will also enable creators to attend and/or exhibit, getting their work in front of the international buyers directly as part of the comics marketplace on 28 and 29 September.
Finally, the third big news is that LICAF will be taking a diverse group of British creators to Toronto Comic Art Festival (TCAF) in 2024 and Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême in 2025 and 2026.
The British Comics Now pavilion will feature six British comic creators – a different six at each event – all designed to celebrate and promote British comics, witht he first ‘TCAF Six’ to be announced soon.
“Both the Comic Rights Market and British Comics Now are about increasing the profile and readership of British comics on the international stage.’
Julie Tait
‘This is a hugely exciting development for British comic creators and publishers, and the British comic industry. I’m excited to see what new comic partnerships emerge from this fantastic project.” – Charlie Adlard, artist and former UK Comics Laureate
