The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is delighted to announce cartoonist Posy Simmonds as the winner of the Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art for 2022.

Posy Simmonds, whose career spans 50 years, is best known for the strip cartoons and serials that were published in The Guardian and the books that derive from them. She has also written and illustrated several children’s books, including Fred, which became an Oscar-nominated film. The award-nominated Cassandra Darke, her latest graphic novel, was released in 2018.

The Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art was established in 2017 by The National Cartoonists Society, the world’s largest and most prestigious organisation of professional cartoonists, in partnership with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, and is presented annually to an exceptional comic artist, animator, or cartoonist.

Previous winners are Dave McKean (2017), Hunt Emerson (2018), Charlie Adlard(2019), and Boulet (2021).

In a video message presented during the Festival weekend, Posy, who unfortunately had to cancel her planned appearance at the event due to a family illness, said news she had received the Award “had really made the sun come out”.

“I’m very pleased and excited to accept the Award,” she said, “and I would like to thank the NCS very, very much for this great honour.”

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, supported by the Arts Council, the Lake District National Park Authority and other valued partners, is taking place this weekend (14th - 16th October) in Bowness-on-Windermere, attracting hundreds of fans to the Lake District town for a packed comic art weekend extravaganza.

Events for comic fans of all ages at various venues include The Old Laundry Theatre and Windermere Jetty Museum, offering guest panels (some in a purpose-built sauna), free events for children, comic workshops, exhibitions, and more. Appearances by internationally-acclaimed creators included Love and Rockets co-creator Jaime Hernandez, Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson, The Simpsons artist Bill Morrison, plus Steve McGarry, one of the film artists from the Minions movie, Eisner Award–winning Alison Bechdel, and many more, from 25 countries around the world.

Plans are already afoot for next year’s family-friendly Festival, alongside, year-round projects promoting the message, “Comics Can Change the World”.

• More details of events, exhibitors and programme are available at www.comicartfestival.com. Festival passes are still available “on the door” from “Comics Central”, next door to the Easy Breeze on Church Street, Bowness-on-Windermere, LA23 3DG

Festival venues include The Old Laundry Theatre, Windermere Jetty Museum and The Lakeview Comic Marketplace at Lake View - a lakeside bar and restaurant with spectacular views.

As usual, the Festival also offers plenty of family-friendly activities, and promises a weekend of wonderful events for all ages, and not one, but three venues will play host to after-hours social gatherings, including the Lake District Boat Club and Wheelhouse Nightclub.

There are loads of things to see and do for free - or you can buy a pass to access all premium events. 

• Download the full Festival programme as a PDF

• The National Cartoonists Society is online at nationalcartoonists.com

The National Cartoonists Society is the world’s largest and most prestigious organisation of professional cartoonists. It was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops. They found that they enjoyed each other’s company and decided to get together on a regular basis.

Today, the NCS membership roster includes over 500 of the world’s major cartoonists, working in many branches of the profession, including comic books, editorial cartoons, animation, webcomics and other online platforms, newspaper comic strips and panels, gag cartoons, greeting cards, advertising, magazine and book illustration and more.

Membership is limited to established professional cartoonists, with a few exceptions of outstanding persons in affiliated fields. The NCS is not a guild or union, although they have joined forces from time to time to fight for member’s rights, and regularly use their talents to help worthwhile causes.