Award-winning graphic novelist Alison Bechdel is making an exclusive London appearance on Saturday 21st June 2025, one of the guest of a special Cape x Foyles Graphic Novels Mini-Con.
Offering “Conversation, industry insight and a star appearance from an icon” at Foyles on Charing Cross Road, Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels invite you to join in and “talk all things graphic novels, find out more about the behind-the-scenes of the industry, discover the steps to getting published and meet some of the established and rising stars of the graphic novel world.”
Exclusive goodies are on offer for attendees, alongside book signings and more.
The Cape x Foyles Graphic Novels Mini-Con will kick off with a programme of panel events throughout the afternoon on Saturday 21st June, covering everything from life writing, feminist storytelling to getting published. The event will culminate in a very special evening of conversation with the one-of-a-kind Alison Bechdel, discussing her latest graphic novel, Spent, and her iconic career.
Alison Bechdel, a recipient of an Eisner and a MacArthur Fellowship, is an American cartoonist whose work includes the long-running comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” as well as the graphic memoirs Fun Home, Are You My Mother? and The Secret to Superhuman Strength.
But she is best-known in some quarters for being the originator of “The Bechdel Test” – a simple, three-part method for evaluating the representation of women in fiction, especially film and television. It asks whether a work features at least two female characters who speak to each other about something other than a man, and sometimes requires that those women have names.
The stage-musical adaptation of Fun Home premièred on Broadway in 2015, and received five Tony Awards.
Other participants include Becky Barnicoat, author of the graphic novel, When a A Baby Cries; 2020 Cape/Observer Graphic Short Story Prize winner Matthew Dooley, whose new story, Aristotle’s Cuttlefish, debuts 5th June from Cape; illustrator and comic artist Dominique Duong, Graphic novelist and art teacher Miriam Gold, author of the award-winning Elena: A Handy Made Life; London based illustrator and writer and the author of three acclaimed graphic novels, Isabel Greenberg, Simone Lia, creator of the weekly “Simone Lia” comic strip for The Observer, publisher and consultant James Spackman, author of How to Pitch a Book, and Anna Trench, author of Florrie: A Football Love Story, out in June; with Paul Gravett hosting one of the panel discussions.
• Cape x Foyles Graphic Novels Mini-Con 1.00 – 8.00pm Saturday 21st June 2025, The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB | Full programme plus ticket options and student discounts here
Ticket information: Day Tickets give you access to all the afternoon panel events. You have the option to add on a ticket for An Evening with Alison Bechdel in a discounted bundle ticket. Separate single admission tickets for An Evening with Alison Bechdel are also available. Student and low income tickets are reserved for those with a valid student ID or in receipt of Universal Credit.
Your Day Ticket includes:
1.00 – 2.00pm: Observational humour and life writing: Becky Barnicoat, Matthew Dooley & Simone Lia
Matthew Dooley (Flake, Aristotle’s Cuttlefish), Becky Barnicoat (Cry When the Baby Cries) and Simone Lia (Fluffy, How To Make Life Better When It Feels Like Its Getting Worse) discuss humour in their work and their unique approaches to life writing in comics.
2.30 – 3.30pm: Storyboarding workshop with Dominique Duong
Dominique Duong’s debut graphic novel, Patchwork, will be published with Jonathan Cape in 2027, but she’s already an accomplished zine-maker and artist. At this workshop, she’ll be sharing her expert tips and tricks for creating a dynamic storyboard and finessing your comics. Bring some pen and paper!
4.00 – 5.00pm: Getting published: An industry panel with the Cape team
A behind-the-scenes guide to getting your graphic novel published led by the publishing team at Jonathan Cape, alongside agent James Spackman and celebrated graphic novelist Isabel Greenberg.
5.30 – 6.30pm: Writing Women & Hidden Histories: Anna Trench & Miriam Gold
Debut graphic novelists Anna Trench (Florrie: A Football Love Story) and Miriam Gold (Elena: A Hand Made Life) reflect on their experiences of getting published, and the hidden stories of remarkable women they’ve chosen to tell.
You can add on a ticket to the evening event in a discounted bundle with your Day Ticket, or purchase a separate single admission ticket:
7.00 – 8.00pm: An Evening with Alison Bechdel
The beloved creator of Fun Home and Dykes to Watch Out For leads a UK-exclusive evening of conversation about her latest graphic novel, Spent, and her iconic career to date.
Tickets: £20 Day Ticket / £15 Student/Low Income Day Ticket | £25 Day Ticket + An Evening with Alison Bechdel / £20 Student/Low Income Day Ticket + An Evening with Alison Bechdel | £10 An Evening with Alison Bechdel – £8 Student/Low Income An Evening with Alison Bechdel
• Cape x Foyles Graphic Novels Mini-Con 1.00 – 8.00pm Saturday 21st June 2025, The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB | Full programme plus ticket options and student discounts here
The Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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