Next Friday sees the return of Comics Up Close to Kendal, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s specialist look at many aspects of the Ninth Art and creating comics, which includes a talk by artist-academic Elenit Sampra, creator of CIELL, a multinational project led by Lancaster University that developed comics for the purpose of inclusive English language learning, and Andrew Humphreys and Olivier Kugler, creators of the touring Great British Fish and Chip Exhibition.

Comics up Close – an all-day, deep dive into the world of comics for academics, creatives and the general reader who wants to learn more about the latest thinking in comics -brings together leading international academics, creators and comic advocates from across the globe, to explore how comics are in the vanguard of delivering social change.

Presented in partnership with with Lancaster University and ReOpen, the event features the following presenters and guests: Dr. Alexandra Alberda, Research Illustrator, Minute Works design studio; Rich Charlesworth, English Lead at the UK Literacy Association; Dr Anna Feigenbaum, Principal Academic in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University; Nicole Furtado, a PhD student in the Department of English at University of California; writer Andrew Humphreys; comics and children’s literature PHD student Helen Jones, Lecturer in Primary Education, UCL Institute of Education, Dept Leadership & Learning, UCL; reportage comic artist Olivier Kugler; Dr Nataša Lacković, from the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University; Professor Andrew Miles, from the Univeristy of Manchester, who’s researching culture, class and inequality, social and spatial mobilities, cultural policy; Mexican comics expert Marisol Rodriguez, a writer, editor and curator in the crossroads of cultural history, popular culture and contemporary art, artist and academic; graphic novels advocate Richard Ruddick, who’d like to see more of them in classrooms; Dr Joe Sutliffe Sanders, a professor of children’s literature at Faculty of Education, Cambridge University; Rowena Singleton, Head of Research, Comic Art Europe Research Project; Dr Andrew Tate, Reader in Literature, Religion and Aesthetics at Lancaster University; Dr Eleni Tsampra; and Peruvian scholar Andrea Aramburu-Villavisencio, who is interested in autobiographical comics.

Presentations will include the role comics are playing in public health messaging, improving attainment in primary education, the empowerment of indigenous communities across the globe and the health and wellbeing of young people.

Tickets are £10, but admission is free to anyone with a Lakes International Comic Art Festival Weekend Pass.

• Comics Can Change The World – How Comics Are Delivering Positive Change In Education And Society 10.00am – 4.30pm Friday 15th October 2021 | Screen 2, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal | Tickets: £10 (free with Weekend Festival Pass – registration required)

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival runs from 15th – 17th October 2021 in Kendal, Cumbria: www.comicartfestival.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

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