Middlesbrough Literary Festival hosts "Mini Comic Con"

By John Freeman on May 31, 2013

Middlesbrough will host a Mini Comic Con on Saturday 22nd June as part of the fifth Middlesbrough Literary Festival , which begins on Saturday 15th June.

The ethos of the Middlesbrough Literary Festival is to celebrate the word in all its forms through reading, writing, music and spoken word and we have something to cover all these forms in this year’s programme.

The team are putting particular emphasis on creative writing and performance in 2013, offering variety of learning opportunities including writing workshops, local history sessions and opportunities to meet and learn from literary agents, publishers and learning providers.

The Mini Comic Con starts at Middlesbrough Central Library at 10.00am and includes a talk by 2000AD and Beano comic artist Nigel Dobbyn.

Tickets for all Festival are on sale at Middlesbrough Central Library or you can book and pay for them at any Middlesbrough library.

• More info and full Festival timetable: www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/litfest

• Follow the Middlesbrough Literary Festival on Facebook and Twitter

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.