Dundee Comics Day @ Dundee Literary Festival

By Jeremy Briggs on September 16, 2015

Dundee Literary Festival, which takes place at the University of Dundee from 21 to 25 October, has announced its 2015 line-up of authors and events with talks by comics creators including Mike Collins, Karrie Fransman, Dave Gibbons, and Will Morris.

The annual event that eventually became known as the Dundee Comics Day has been running under one name or another since 2008, with the academic conference with the distinctly non-academic name of Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!! preceding it in 2007. This year what was the Dundee Comics Day has been fully integrated with the rest of the university run LitFest with comics and other illustration events running on all five of the festival’s days rather than mainly on the Sunday as in previous years.

The comics and illustration events this year, many of which are free, are as follows:

Dave Gibbons: Comics & Creativity
Wednesday 21st October, 4pm
University of Dundee
Free but ticketed

In partnership with Dundee Comics Creative Space, a new social enterprise and comics studio project funded in conjunction with the University of Dundee and the Rank Foundation to encourage creative learning through comics.

Dave Gibbons, an Honorary Graduate from the University of Dundee, is one of the most famous comics artists in the world, best known as the co-creator of Watchmen, the ground-breaking graphic novel written by Alan Moore. Dave was appointed Comics Laureate in October 2014, the first in the UK, a champion and advocate for the power of comics in improving children’s literacy. One year in the role, we’re delighted to welcome him back to Dundee for a special lecture to mark the opening of Dundee Comics Creative Space, to reflect on his career, visual literacy and learning through creativity.

Dave Gibbons: Creating Comics Workshop
Thursday 22nd October, 11am-Noon
Dundee Comics Creative Space, Vision Building
Free but ticketed
In partnership with Dundee Comics Creative Space

Dave Gibbons leads a ‘Creating Comics’ workshop for 14-17 year olds – a brilliant opportunity to learn more about Dave’s methods in producing comic art, to use his expertise to produce your own, and to explore Dundee’s new comics space.

Mike Collins & Tom Foster in conversation with Dr Chris Murray
The comics scene today, how it’s changed and what the future might hold
Friday 23rd October, 2.30pm
Bonar Hall, University of Dundee
Free but ticketed

Mike Collins is an English comic book artist and writer, working in comics since the mid-1980s, having written and drawn strips for Marvel Comics United Kingdom division, amongst them; Spider-Man, Transformers, Doctor Who, and Zoids. He also worked on the celebrated UK weekly comic 2000 AD drawing Judge Dredd, Sláine and Rogue Trooper, as well as writing various Future Shocks. Tom Foster is a recent addition to the creative team at 2000AD. He is best known for his art on the series Storm Warning, penned by Leah Moore and John Reppion, in the Judge Dredd Megazine and has previously produced work for Disconnected Press, Amnesty International, and the BBC.

The Shock of the New: William Goldsmith & Catherine Simpson
Friday 23rd October, 5.30-6.30pm
Bonar Hall, University of Dundee
Free but ticketed
In partnership with Scottish Book Trust

Discover two brilliant new voices, one in graphic novels, one in fiction. William Goldsmith is a writer and illustrator based in Glasgow. His second graphic novel, The Bind, is a book about books, centred on brothers Victor and Guy Egret, running and ruining the family business, a prestigious bookbinding firm in Edwardian London. Truestory, Scottish Book Trust New Writer Awardee Catherine Simpson’s blackly comic debut, explores the shattering effect of isolation and scrutinises how we create our lives in the small windows of freedom available to us, through Alice, struggling to raise her son on the isolated farm he refuses to leave. William and Catherine talk about their wonderful books and their journeys to publication.

Comics vs Freedom: Sepideh Jodeyri & Karrie Fransman in conversation with Canan Marasligil
Saturday 24th October, 6.30pm
Bonar Hall, University of Dundee
Tickets £5
In partnership with Scottish PEN

Join poet, literary critic and translator Sepideh Jodeyri and graphic novel and comic artist Karrie Fransman in a conversation about free speech, LGBTQ rights and the power of comics to transcend cultural boundaries. Last year, Karrie Fransman’s comic Over Under Sideways Down detailing an Iranian refugee’s story was published, a powerful example of the impact of illustrations and words. When Sepideh Jodeyri translated a graphic novel herself, Julie Maroh’s Blue is the Warmest Colour, she became the target of the conservative press of Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by 100 lashes or, at worst, death. Canan Marasligil is a writer, translator and editor.

Adventures in Design: Will Morris and David Mackenzie
Saturday 24th October, 2.15pm
University of Dundee
Free but ticketed
In partnership with V&A Dundee

Join comic illustrator Will Morris and graphic designer/illustrator David Mackenzie, the dynamic duo behind V&A Dundee’s comic strip hoardings, as they discuss comics, graphic novels and the eternal hunt for inspiration. Will Morris is a comics creator and illustrator. He is the award-winning author of the original graphic novel The Silver Darlings, a story of superstition, youthful scepticism and comradeship within a herring fishing community. He has also produced work for a variety of publications including Nobrow, Spirou, 2000AD, Vertigo and Freight Books for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. David MacKenzie is a freelance designer and illustrator. A graduate of the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design he can often be found working with individuals and start-ups, bringing their ideas from vision to reality, as well as producing his own expanding range of posters, products and prints.

Ex Libris Book Fair
Sunday 25th October, 11am-3pm
Bonar Hall, University of Dundee
Free and Drop-in
In partnership with Ess Publications

Ess Publications are proud to (re)present Ex Libris Book Fair as part of Dundee Literary Festival 2015! Featuring small presses, indie comic creators, and artist book makers, Ex Libris celebrates talented artists working in book formats.

Ladybird by Design: Lawrence Zeegen celebrating 100 years of Ladybird Books
Sunday 25th October, 2-3pm
Bonar Hall, University of Dundee
Tickets £3

Lawrence Zeegen’s timely Ladybird by Design investigates the cultural significance and educational and social impact of these wonderful little books in their centenary year. This celebration of Ladybirds explores their editorial and production origins, their ethos and aesthetics and their place in an evolving society, capturing their lushly illustrated utopian world. Unpacking the emotional, cultural and iconic power of a unique slice of Britain’s visual history, Lawrence will reveal how Ladybirds captured a sense of a very British childhood for generations of readers.

There are more details of the events and how to get tickets on the Dundee Literary Festival website.

Jeremy Briggs

News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.