Italy’s Treviso Comic Book Festival is running an International Contest for New Comic Authors, inviting emerging, unpublished creators from around the world to submit short comic stories exploring this year’s theme, “Relationships”.
The competition is offering a €500 for the overall winner, and €300 and €200 respectively for second and third place.
Entry is free, but you only have until 1st September 2026 to enter, just over a fortnight away, to submit a complete two to four page strip, in Italian or English. The competition is open to Italian and international creators who are at least 18 years old by the submission deadline: artists may participate individually or as a group, but all members of a group must meet the competition’s definition of a beginner comic author. AI entries are forbidden.
The challenge has been organised by Associazione Fumetti in Treviso, in collaboration with Banca Prealpi San Biagio Credito Cooperativo, and is part of the 23rd Treviso Comic Book Festival, returning later next month (25th – 27th September 2026), aimed specifically at creators who have not yet established a professional publishing career in comics.
To participate in the contest, each participant, or group, must submit a comic story based on this year’s theme. The stories and characters in the submitted comic story can be either fictional or based on real people and events.
Before entering, you should check out the full rules about the competition and how to enter here, which detail the full eligibility requirements, and you shouldn’t share any of your entry online, until the winners are announced on 27th September 2026.
The entries will be judged by a team that includes award-winning comic artists Stefano Cardoselli (2000AD, Heavy Metal Magazine and more) and Anna Dietzel, comic artist and painter Andrea Pazienza, Treviso Comic Book Festival secretary Camilla Fassina, comic artist and colourist Claudia Giuliani (Sergio Bonelli Editore, Panini, and more), writer Alessandro Lise, who also teaches a Scripting Course of the International Comics School of Padua, and Diabolo Editorial Director Riccardo Zanini.
The Treviso Comic Book Festival, an international event dedicated to comics and illustration, returns for its 23rd edition from Friday 25th – Sunday 27th September 2026. Guests this year include Italian creators such as Tuono Pettinato and AkaB, Sara Zollo, and many more, and Chinese comic artist Yi Yang.
The popular festival has long been a key destination for fans of the comics and illustration world, offering weekend packed with events, meetings with major comic book artists, exhibitions, and workshops. A simple stroll through the city centre will soon find you soaking up the festival atmosphere, thanks to the vibrant window displays of the “Progetto Vetrine” initiative.
Over the years, the TCBF has attracted a large audience traveling to Treviso from across Italy and beyond to meet internationally renowned guests and creators.
The event also offers a dedicated strand dedicated to animation with guests that include Yuhkuo Tai, founder of Alkanoids.
• Treviso Comic Book Festival, Friday 25th – Sunday 27th September 2026 | Official website: tcbf.it/26/ | Facebook | Instagram
• Full details of the International Contest for New Comic Authors, closing 1st September 2026, are here on the TCBF website (PDF) | Don’t forget to include your declaration form with any entry, available here in Italian and English (PDF Links)
Eligibility: Open to Italian and international beginner comic authors aged 18 or older by 1st September 2026, entering individually or in groups whose members all qualify as beginners, meaning they have never had employment contracts in comic drawing or writing, have never published ISBN-associated works with national or international publishers, and have never published in newspapers or magazines; comic-school students, contributors to fanzines or self-published projects, and previous TCBF contest participants are permitted, while each author or group may submit only one entirely unpublished and original comic, with tracing, reproduction of existing works and AI use prohibited and no part of the comic allowed to be published before 27th September 2026
With thanks to Paul Gravett for the news tip
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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.
Categories: Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, International Comic News
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