Kendal’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival is delighted to announce several Australian comic creators have joined this year’s line-up of both British and international guests for its weekend-long event, taking place 13th – 15th October 2017.
The Caravan of Comics creators will be visiting the UK thanks to support from the Australia Council for the Arts and the line-up includes both new and familiar faces from the antipodes.
Launched in 2012, the Caravan project has visited numerous festivals and comics retailers throughout the United States and Canada since its inception, showcasing some of the best Australian comics and building relations between other creators across the globe. This is the first time it has travelled to the UK.
Returning to the Festival after several well-received appearances is Bruce Mutard, who brings a “caravan” of some of the best and up-and-coming artists and writers from down under, including another returning comics creator and educator, Stuart Medley. They’re joined by Rachel Ang, Leonie Brialey, Sarah Firth, Chris Gooch and 2000AD artist Mark Sexton.
“We’ve wanted to bring more Australian creators to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival for ages,” enthuses Festival Director Julie Tait, “and thanks to Australia Council for the Arts and behind the scenes campaigning by Bruce and Stuart, we’re delighted so many talented artists and writers are heading to the Lake District to join us in Kendal this October.”
Melbourne-based Rachel Ang‘s projects include the role of Art Director for Pencilled In, a new magazine devoted to publishing and promoting the work of Asian-Australian writers and artists.
Also from Melbourne Leonie Brialey, a cartoonist and writer whose comics have been described as “sensual phenomenology”, who’s interested in graphic medicine and cartooning as a way of distilling thought and emotion through the body.
Sarah Firth is currently working on her debut graphic novel that explores personal narratives woven together with philosophy, psychology, science and theory. It’s a humorous and idiosyncratic exploration of multiple narratives, cognitive dissonance and everyday life.
It’s a great time to meet Chris Gooch this year in Kendal, as his first book, Bottled, comes out with Top Shelf comics in September 2017.
No stranger to the Lakes Festival, comic creator and educator Stuart Medley has presented his character design workshops in the UK, Europe and Australia, and has run comics study tours to Japan, France and Belgium. He is currently researching cartooning to improve public health.
Another of the Australian creators with new work will be Bruce Mutard, whose latest graphic novels, Bully Me will debut at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in 2017.
Rounding off the Caravan of Comics is Mark Sexton, who’s currently fulfilling a childhood dream of working for 2000AD, providing art for the famous “Judge Dredd”, as well as other stories in the landmark 2000th issue which was published at the end of 2016. He is also developing four graphic novel projects, and working for Marvel Studios on a number of their hugely successful superhero films.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is the only one of its kind in the UK, taking place in one of the UK’s most beautiful areas – the English Lake District in the North West of the country, in the market town of Kendal. Modelled on European-style festivals, such as Angoulême in France, it takes over the whole town for a weekend of comic art. Its aim is to celebrate the whole spectrum of comic art, inspiring existing comic art fans and creators and, it hopes, generating new audiences and creators too. It invests in creators through a commissioning programme and has an emphasis on developing international collaborations.
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Rachel Ang
Rachel Ang is a comics artist from Melbourne, Australia. Her work has been published by The Lifted Brow, The Stella Prize, The Suburban Review and SCUM.
She is the Art Director of Pencilled In, a new magazine devoted to publishing and promoting the work of Asian-Australian writers and artists.
She studied Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts (BFA), and Architecture at RMIT (M.Arch) and is currently working on a book of short stories.
Rachel Ang Online
Web: Drawbyfour.com
Instagram: @rtwa
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Leonie Brialey
Leonie Brialey is a cartoonist and writer living in Melbourne. Her comics have been described as “sensual phenomenology”. Her book Raw Feels is mostly about drawing, thinking, having a body, and depression, and was completed as part of her PhD thesis on autobiographical comics and sincerity.
Her comics have been published in the Lifted Brow and Text Journal. Her essay on sincerity and Peanuts has been published in The Comics of Charles Schulz: The Good Grief of Modern Life. She is interested in graphic medicine and cartooning as a way of distilling thought and emotion through the body.
Leonie Brialey Online
Follow Leonie on Twitter @leonlytimes
Instagram @leonlytimes
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Sarah Firth
Sarah Firth is an award winning comic artist and director of Sarah The Firth Creative Services. Her business offers graphic recording, creative workshops, strategic visualisation, UX mapping and animation for clients including Comedy Central, Oxfam, Asahi, TEDx, Google, Amnesty International, Qantas, The Red Cross, KPMG, PLAN, The Rockefeller Foundation and many more.
She has self published numerous comics and zines, and her illustrations and comics have also appeared in The Nib, The Age Magazine, The Suburban Review, Early Harvest, TimeOutMagazine, The Sketchbook Project and many more.
She is currently working on her debut graphic novel that explores personal narratives woven together with philosophy, psychology, science and theory. It’s a humorous and idiosyncratic exploration of multiple narratives, cognitive dissonance and everyday life.
Sarah Firth Online
Web: www.sarahthefirth.com
Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahthefirth
Work: Sarah The Firth Creative Services
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Chris Gooch
Chris Gooch is a cartoonist living in Melbourne. He makes comics that are kind of like movies and his first book, Bottled, comes out with Top Shelf comics in September 2017 and, at about 280 pages, it’s the longest thing he’s made so far.
Chris Gooch Online
A large selection of his shorter works are available to read online at chrisgooch.com.au
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Stuart Medley
Stuart Medley is an Australian comics creator and educator. His comics clients have included the Imperial War Museums and Berg’s Publishing. He was a founder of, [sic]BAG Comics, and the winner of Adventures in Comics UK, 2013 and was a comics artist-in-residence at the Maison des Auteurs, Angoulême, France in 2013/14.
Stuart has presented his character design workshops in the UK, Europe and Australia, and has run comics study tours to Japan, France and Belgium. He is currently researching cartooning to improve public health. He is also art director and illustrator for Hidden Shoal, a critically acclaimed record label in its tenth year with a roster of international artists.
Stuart Medley Online
Web: www.stuartmedley.com
Twitter: @smedley5
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Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Bruce Mutard
Bruce Mutard is a comics writer, artist and researcher, whose books include The Sacrifice (Allen & Unwin, 2008), The Silence (Allen & Unwin, 2009), A Mind of Love (Black House Comics, 2011), and The Bunker (Image Comics, 2003). He also has had short comics stories in Overland, Meanjin, The Australian Book Review, Cordite Poetry Review and Tango, among others. He publishes other creators’ comics under his own imprint, Fabliaux.
Bruce is also the editor and publisher of The Ledgers Annual, a print showcase of Australian comics that accompanies The Ledger Awards, Australia’s only national comics awards.
He has presented papers, workshops, and artist talks at RMIT, Edith Cowan University, University of Melbourne, Monash University, University of South Australia, Oxford University, Loughborough University and University of Arts, London, Lakes International Comic Arts Forum, International Comic Arts Forum, Transitions and Comics Forum among others. He a PhD candidate at Edith Cowan University researching comics from a visual arts perspective entitled Comics Without Borders.
His latest graphic novels, Bully Me will debut at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in 2017.
Bruce Mutard OnlineWeb: fabliaux.com.au
Twitter: @BruceMutard
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Instagram
Twitter: @BruceMutard
Lakes International Comic Art Festival Guest Spotlight: Mark Sexton
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