The Graphic Medicine International Collective has announced that the annual Graphic Medicine conference will be held in Baltimore, at Johns Hopkins University, from 23rd July to 25th July 2026, and has issued a Call For Papers.
Doctor and comic artist Dr. Ian Williams coined the phrase “Graphic Medicine” back in 2007, and began to use it as a handy term to denote the role that comics can play in healthcare. Over time, it has been adopted as the accepted term for this area of study and practice, and led to the Graphic Medicine Manifesto, the definition purposefully broad, to include graphic memoirs of illness, educational comics for both students and patients, academic papers and books, gag strips about healthcare, graphic reportage and therapeutic workshops involving comic making, as well as many other practices and source material, both fictional and non-fictional.
You can find out more about Graphic Medicine here. Here is the full Call For Papers, reproduced as published… the original version is here.
The conference theme is Drawing Perspectives: Health Graphic Narratives Under Pressure. We will explore this theme broadly to include the many ways our community of graphic medicine authors, artists, and scholars leverage the medium of comics to propose diverse perspectives on healthcare, illness, disability, or social medicine, often working under various pressures, whether these relate to living with chronic illness, shifting institutional conditions for health and medical research and care practices, or other constraints such as time, healthcare disparities, ableism, and various forms of marginalisation and prejudice.
Submission Topics & Questions
We invite the submission of a wide variety of abstracts focusing on health, illness, caregiving, and disability, as well as the structural determinants of health as they intersect with comics in any form (e.g., graphic novels and memoirs, comic strips, manga, mini comics, web comics, etc.). We anticipate submissions will explore the following questions and topics, among others:
- How are you working with comics to draw perspectives on health, well-being, caregiving, illness, disability, and social medicine in your work?
- How are comics combining science and storytelling? How are comics doing the work of drawing underrepresented perspectives, or raising awareness about the pitfalls of “a single story”? How are comics shining a light on the impersonality of numeric data, or addressing gaps in mainstream knowledge? What is the role of comics in trust, translation, and accessibility of scientific knowledge?
- How are you using graphic medicine to address current pressures and shifts in health science practice, care infrastructures and mandates, or public perceptions of medicine and health?
- How are you offering Graphic Medicine as a resource to draw underrepresented or innovative perspectives in or about educational settings in healthcare?
- How can Graphic Medicine serve as a resource to draw perspectives that combine health knowledge and personal story in ways that transcend the anecdotal?
- How does Graphic Medicine draw on interdisciplinary or underrepresented perspectives and address important topics, including, but not limited to, reproductive and disability rights, trans healthcare, health disparities and equity, death and dying, and social justice?
- What is the history of Graphic Medicine? What can graphic medicine offer from its history to meet the present moment?
- What is the future of Graphic Medicine? Or how is graphic medicine a medium to reimagine futures?
Presentation Formats
- Lightning talks: These 5-minute presentations should provide an engaging and concentrated synopsis of new, ongoing, or completed scholarly, creative, or professional work in Graphic Medicine.
- Oral presentations: These 15-minute presentations are largely for collaborative, interdisciplinary, or other work that requires and engages a longer presentation format.
- Panel discussions: These 90-minute dialogues or presentations involving a panel of speakers are meant to address a single topic from a variety of perspectives.
- Workshops: These 90-minute, hands-on, activity-driven sessions are designed for participants to gain skills with regard to comics. Suggested skills and topics for workshop submissions include, but are not limited to, visual storytelling tools, different art mediums and their techniques, illness narrative development, graphic health science, and graphic storytelling for specific purposes or audiences.
Hybridity plan: We recognize that not everyone may be able to join us in person, whether for health, accessibility, environmental, or political reasons. Your presence matters to us, and we are committed to creating space for you. The keynote address will be livestreamed to conference registrants. However, due to technological and logistical issues, we will not be able to organize a fully hybrid conference. Please keep an eye on the Graphic Medicine website and newsletter for future online and in-person gatherings and opportunities to connect with our community.
Submission and Selection Process
Proposals should be submitted by January 11, 2026, through this link. The abstract of the proposal should not exceed 300 words.
Please include the following information in this order:
- Author(s)
- Affiliation(s) (if applicable)
- Email address of primary contact
- Title of proposal
- Abstract of proposal (300-word maximum)
- Sample images or web links to work being discussed (if applicable)
- Presentation format preference(s) (see options above)
- Equipment needed (e.g., AV projection, whiteboard, etc.)
We will acknowledge the receipt of all proposals. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by an interdisciplinary selection committee. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be completed by the week of February 23, 2026. While we cannot guarantee that selected presenters will receive their first choice of presentation format, we will do our best to honor preferences.
Submit Now
Please note: Presenters are responsible for costs associated with their session (e.g., handouts and supplies) and personal expenses (travel, hotel, and registration fees). All presenters must register for the conference. Registration fee levels (to be determined) will be posted on the conference registration page in early 2026. Our intention is to make this conference logistically and financially accessible. Discounted rates and some limited scholarships will be available for students, artists, and others in need. Disability accommodations will be made available by request, and all venues will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Please direct all questions about the submission process to GMConference2026@gmail.com.
• Graphic Medicine International Collective Graphic Medicine Conference: Drawing Perspectives: Health Graphic Narratives Under Pressure 23rd July to 25th July 2026, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | Web: graphicmedicine.org | Call For Papers
- About the Author
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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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