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LICAF Live Celebrates Its Local Roots as Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s Virtual Weekend nears

By John Freeman on September 7, 2020

The planned Illuminos-created "Light Up" of Kendal Town Hall, taking place the weekend before the virtual LICAF Live — *The planned Illuminos-created “Light Up” of Kendal Town Hall, taking place the weekend before the virtual LICAF Live*

The annual Lakes International Comic Art Festival may be virtual this year, but it isn’t forgetting its roots ahead of its weekend-long comics celebrations next month.

Plans are afoot for a special “Illuminos” event to promote the Festival’s virtual plans with a “lighting up” of Kendal Town Hall, the week before the virtual event kicks off on Friday 9th October – a weekend long-digital delight combining pre-recorded interviews with some live events, which will be beamed across the internet from a secret location in the North West.

LICAF is working with one of the leaders in the field of digital mapping and performance projection on this special event taking place on both Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd October, who also go by the name of Illuminos. The Ramsbottom-based company’s previous projects have included events at Chatsworth House and as part of the Manchester International Festival.

The Kendal event will celebrate the unique contribution of LICAF and Kendal to British comics and include newly commissioned material from comic creatives like Dave Gibbons, Michael Lark, Bill Morrison and Lucy Sullivan.

Comic creator Steven Appleby on Lake Windermere for “Comics, Clouds and Kendal Mint Cake”
Comic Creator Yomi Ayeni in Kendal
Mary and Bryan Talbot. Bryan has recorded a special video for LICAF Live
Festival patron and comics retailer Stephen L. Holland in the Lakes for recording of “Comics, Clouds and Kendal Mint Cake”

Recording for "Clouds, Comics and Kendal Mint Cake" during the summer with Yomi Ayeni, aided by LITTLE LICAF helper Theo. — *Recording for “Clouds, Comics and Kendal Mint Cake” during the summer with Yomi Ayeni, aided by LITTLE LICAF helper Theo*

Over the summer, comic creators Steven Appleby, Yomi Ayeni and Bryan Talbot, along with Festival patron, comic shop owner and comics champion Stephen L. Holland, took part in the recording of material for Comics, Clouds and Kendal Mint Cake in the Lake District, talking about how the area has inspired them and their work, as has works based in the area, such as Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons.

Recording took place around and on Lake Windermere, in Kendal itself, and other locations.

The Festival has also been building its work with local schools over the summer, now proceeding full pelt with local pupils back at their desks, with all work paying close attention to latest COVID-19 advisories, and its LITTLE LICAF programming is being bolstered by a new promotional pages on Facebook and Instagram, with events that will include special workshops with top illustrator Sarah McIntyre.

LICAF Live will include guest panels, live events, virtual exhibitions, creator workshops and much, much more are also in the works, along with a carefully-curated strand for young comic fans and aspiring creators, LITTLE LICAF – which has support from BEANO comic.

“Planning our virtual version of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival has been quite a challenge,” says Festival Director Julie Tait, “but with over 50 creators actively lined up to take part, plus our Virtual Comics Clock Tower participants, we think we have a great weekend in the works.

“We’re very grateful to our funders, local partners and commercial sponsors, including Lenovo and Southern GFX, for their support for this new venture in these difficult times.”

• The LICAF “Illuminos” Event will take place at Kendal Town Hall on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd October. The running time is 20.00 – 21.30. The event has a 15 minute run time so attendees can come at any time between 20.00 – 21.30 and enjoy. The Festival would like to emphasise that in order to support the observation of social distancing, there is no need for everyone to all be there at 20.00. The Lakes International Comic Art Festival LIVE 2020 will run from Friday 9th – Sunday 11th October 2020

• For the latest news about Lakes International Comic Art Festival Live 2020 visit www.comicartfestival.com | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Podcast | Tapas | Sign up for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dl479j

• The Virtual Comics Clock Tower is online at licafclocktower.com

• LITTLE LICAF is on Facebook and Instagram

• Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2021: 15th – 17th October 2021

MEET THE GUESTS

Steven Appleby is the absurdist creator of comic strips for many newspapers, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Times and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

His other works include animated television series Captain Star; the musical play Crocs In Frocks; over 25 books, including Normal Sex and Miserable Families; the BBC Radio 4 series, Steven Appleby’s Normal Life, as well as paintings and drawings for numerous exhibitions.

His artwork and murals illuminate the Royal Brompton Hospital’s Centre for Sleep and Room 9a of the Carlton Arms Hotel, New York. He contributed drawings to the sleeve of Pixies album Tromp Le Monde and illustrated The Good Inn, by Black Francis and Josh Frank.

His first graphic novel, Dragman, was published by Jonathan Cape earlier this year.

STEVEN APPLEBY ONLINE

Web: www.stevenappleby.com
Twitter: @StevenAppleby

Yomi Ayeni is an award winning Transmedia creator, producer, filmmaker, and storyteller.

His current project – Clockwork Watch is a retro-futurist Steampunk / Victoriana story told across graphic novels, interactive theatre, online and film. The project has so far spawned three tangential threads, immersive live events, exhibitions at the Royal Observatory, Scottsdale Civic Library (Arizona), National Maritime Museum, The Asylum in Lincoln, and a fictional online newspaper.

He is one of a few writers engaged in bringing a multicultural slant to the Steampunk genre, by exploring Victoriana outside Great Britain. Clockwork Watch is a collaboration of talents, including Corey Brotherson (editor / adapting writer), Jennie Gyllblad (artist) and Megan Bradbury (artist).

Yomi lectures Transmedia Storytelling at the Royal College of Arts, and believes mapping stories to everyday life creates experiences that bring audiences closer to the heart of a narrative. He has developed several reality TV formats, including Global E-Missions (ITV), winner of the 2002 Broadcast Award for “Best Use of New Media”.

His 2009 project “Breathe” was one of the first interactive participatory stories to explore how an ongoing narrative offered the audience a chance to become characters in a film, and help solve a fictional murder mystery. He is currently writing a sequel, which he hopes to produce in 2019/2020.

Yomi worked as a Broadcast Journalist in the BBC newsroom, was an active part of the Burning Man Festival media team, and is a founding member of the European Burning Man Regional event, ‘Nowhere’ (Spain). He owned and produced music on the seminal drum and bass label Tone Def Records.

Yomi lives in London, loves cooking, street art, travelling and making music.

YOMI AYENI ONLINE

Web: www.yomster.com
Twitter: @yoms
Facebook

BRYAN TALBOT

Bryan Talbot is now published in over twenty countries and winner of many comic awards – including an Eisner award, the Prix SNCF and several Eagles – having been working in the medium for over thirty years.

Recognised as one of the most influential British comic artists ever, Bryan has produced underground and alternative comics, notably Brainstorm!, and science fiction and superhero stories such as Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Teknophage, The Nazz and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

Bryan has also worked on DC Vertigo titles including Hellblazer, Sandman, The Dreaming and Fables, and has written and drawn the graphic novels for which he is best known, including The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (the first British graphic novel), Heart of Empire, The Tale of One Bad Rat, Alice in Sunderland, Metronome and Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, this last written by his wife, Mary, which won the Costa Biography Award in 2013, and The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia.

Bryan’s highly-acclaimed Grandville series of steampunk detective thrillers was completed in 2018.

He has been awarded an honorary Doctorate in Arts by Sunderland University and an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Northumbria University, and has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

A Patron of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival since its inception, his most recent published work is RAIN, co-created with his wife, Mary, published by Jonathan Cape in 2019. He is currently working on a third Luther Arkwright graphic novel.

BRYAN TALBOT ONLINE

Web: www.bryan-talbot.com
Twitter: @bryan_talbot

• LITTLE LICAF is on Facebook and Instagram

• Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2021: 15th – 17th October 2021

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.