Afternoon Tea around British Comics by Canan Marasligil

NEW WORK NEW AUDIENCES UK COMIC BOOKS REPORT

“Afternoon Tea around British Comics” Comics professionals from Belgium and the UK meet. With Paul Gravett, Woodrow Phoenix and Karrie Fransman

Date and time: Venue:

Thursday 19 May from 14:00 to 18:00 Belgian Comic Strip Center 20 rue des Sables (Zandstraat), 1000 Brussels http://www.comicscenter.net/

Special thanks to the Comics Center in Brussels for hosting the meeting.

This expert meeting is co‐organised by British Council and Center of Flemish Comics/Strip Turnhout, with the support of Comic Strip Center in Brussels, the Flemish Literature Fund, Oogachtend and Sint‐Lukas Brussels.

PROGRAMME 14.00‐15.00: Introductory session, moderated by Canan Marasligil - Welcome and Introduction, Canan Marasligil - Short welcome by host, Willem De Graeve - Comics and cultural relations, Robin Davies (British Council) - Comic Book Study Tour to London: the Belgian delegation shares their experience, Els Aerts, Willem De Graeve, Toon Horsten, Johan Stuyck, Koen Van Rompaey 15.00‐15.30: Networking break 15.30‐17.30: UK Comics in Belgium: sharing, developing and exchanging talent, moderated by Els Aerts. The view from the UK - Overview of UK comics sector by Paul Gravett - Woodrow Phoenix on being a comic book artist in the UK - Karrie Fansman on her comics and comic youth work The view from Belgium - Johan Stuyck on the student exchange programme and the Oogachtend graphic novels translated into English - Koen Van Rompaey presents the UK as a guest of honour at the Strip Turnhout Festival 2011 17.30–17.50: Plenary discussion, moderated by Els Aerts 17.50–18.00 Closing remarks

BACKGROUND British Council Benelux has been approached by the Center of Flemish Comics/Strip Turnhout, a non‐profit organisation in Belgium which is organising, among other activities, the Strip Turnhout festival, a well established, bi‐annual, comic book festival in Belgium. Having started to work with country guest of honour programmes with the USA in 2007, followed by Spain in 2009, they will invite the UK as guest of honour from 9 to 11 December 2011. British Council Benelux is working in consultation with British Council Arts department, and more specifically with Literature department on Comic Books, to present new work within the wider New Work New Audiences project that has been launched globally by the British Council to showcase new talent from the UK overseas. British Council has organised a UK Comic Books study tour aiming to build international networks, change perception of UK comic book scene, introduce producers in Benelux to exciting new UK work, help our overseas partners to have the expertise to show UK art to their audiences in the best way possible, show

the UK as having an innovative and contemporary comic book scene and show how comic books can be used in cultural relations. Delegates from The Finnish Comics Society and the Algiers International Comics Festival (FIBDA) have also joined the Belgian delegation during this study tour. A report of this study tour is available for download on the British Council Netherlands website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/netherlands‐comics.htm This expert meeting is a direct result of the partnership between British Council and Center of Flemish Comics/Strip Turnhout, and the network that has been built during the study tour, including the Comic Strip Center in Brussels, the Flemish Literature Fund, Oogachtend, Sint‐Lukas Brussels.

REPORT This report has been written and edited by Canan Marasligil, with the support of the working group and the speakers. All photos (with the exception of the Museum image above) are by Jonathan Brennan. This report is published under Creative Commons License 3.0 (Attribution, Non commercial, Share alike).

Introduction Canan Marasligil (pictured left) has welcomed all participants and speakers, and has shortly explained the rationale for this event and the British Council’s involvement with Comics (see background note above). This expert meeting was kindly hosted by the Comic Strip Center in Brussels, and co‐organised by the British Council and Flemish Comics/Strip Turnhout, with the support of the Flemish Literature Fund, Oogachtend and Sint‐Lukas. Willem De Graeve welcomed the participants and the speakers to the Belgian Comic Strip Center “for this extraordinary meeting of comic professionals.” For those who are not familiar yet with the Centre and most especially for the British guests, Willem has explained the audience what the Comic Strip Center was. “People who come to visit our Centre, discover here a junction of two art forms that have been flourishing in this country and in this city” says Willem. “On the one hand we have of course comics – or the 9th art as we call it here – and on the other hand art nouveau” referring to the beautiful art nouveau building hosting the Comic Strip Center, that was designed by Belgian architect Victor Horta in 1906. This junction of comics and art nouveau makes the museum very attractive to foreign visitors. Willem explains further, “When they enter our museum, they attend an extraordinary wedding. Not a royal wedding, but a wedding of two art forms that are typical of Belgium and Brussels.” From the 200.000 visitors who come to visit the museum every year, more than 50% are coming from outside of Belgium.

Willem (pictured left, with Els Aerts and Toon Horsten in the back) also thanks the British Council and Canan in particular, as well as colleagues of Strip Turnhout, in particular Koen, “for this wonderful initiative.” Willem also tells the audience about his experience at the London comics study tour in December, “I discovered that the UK has really a lot to offer in the field of the 9th art” and adds “I am convinced that this comics professional meeting will be very instructive for all of you. I am also pleased that the UK will be the guest country at the next edition of the Turnhout festival. Since it’s my personal opinion that UK comics deserve to be better known across the channel, I do not only hope that this afternoon meeting and the next edition of the Turnhout festival will be successful, but would love to see other events in Belgium involving British comics.” Robin Davies, British Council EU Office in Brussels, drew on his (admittedly limited) personal exposure to comics and wondered how his ignorance of comics going back over 50 years could possibly be illuminating to the audience of comics professionals. He explained how he had actually been stopped reading comics in his childhood, discouraged by his parents and school (where they were banned) – “Comics are for fun and have no educational value at all’ he was told. Robin (pictured below) admitted that, still brainwashed a generation later, he gave exactly the same “don’t read that trash” speech to his own children. But then a major shift happened – actually two major shifts. Firstly, in the 90’s the comics changed into beautiful productions of colourful art and perceptive insights. They were visually stunning. Secondly, Robin explained how he himself changed, “I was wearing Tintin shirts and Bart Simpson ties to show that I could speak the same language of my children” he said. And this was a sudden moment of realisation that comics could breach cultural and generational gaps and communicate challenging ideas through a readily accessible and exciting, creative medium – a ‘come inside my world’ of ideas and novelty. We should be very open to the opportunities offered by this artistic medium.

Study Tour to London As explained in the background note above, the British Council organised a UK Comic Books study tour from 12 to 16 December 2010 in London, including a delegation of professionals working in comics from Belgium. The Belgian delegates (pictured below) Willem De Graeve, Johan Stuyck, Koen Van Rompaey, Els Aerts and Toon Horsten, and shared their experience of the study tour in a conversation moderated by Canan Marasligil.

Perception of UK comics, before‐after Delegates had a common perception before they visited London last December that the UK was pretty much showing the same homogeneous production as the US in terms of comics. “We learned that they actually are two different markets” says Koen referring to the US and UK markets. Delegates have also mentioned the lack of distinction that seems to exist between amateurs and professionals when it comes to work on comics in the UK market. “Everybody works hard” says Koen. Most delegates also agreed that there is a clear lack of communication between the UK comics scene and the continent, which probably influences perception of UK comics across continental Europe. Els and Willem explain that they have been positively surprised by the openness of the comics community and the booming of reading groups, such as Laydeez do Comics (see pp. 9‐12 of the study tour report).

While there are differences between the British and continental markets, delegates have also realised many things worked in the same way when it comes to audiences and markets; there are niche markets and mainstream works. Artists and publisher struggle in the same way and at the same scale. Els and Johan mentioned as a main difference between the Belgian and the UK market, the existence of a distinct market for “Graphic Novels”, which does not exist in Belgium. “I thought British comics would be dominated by the American market but they have a burgeoning scene” say Koen and Toon, “Similar to Belgium, but here we have new and heritage works intermingle and new artists always get compared to the big old names whereas in the UK, Graphic Novels allow greater creative freedom.” Karrie Fransman had also mentioned that the lack of a comics heritage like the one existing in Belgium does allow greater freedom for comics artists, especially younger ones. The role and power of institutions There are many institutions supporting comics in Belgium, such as the Comic Strip Center in Brussels, Sint‐ Lukas in Brussels offering higher education and training opportunities for comics artists, whereas this institutional support is almost inexistent in the UK. However, all delegates agree that UK artists and young people are still working on their craft, just like the institutionalised students in Belgium, so while the process is different, the results in terms of quality can be comparable. The openness of the comics community in the UK does help getting good work out, but it does also helps the medium get respect, and for that is the quality of the work essential. In Belgium, institutions were very influential in getting comics accepted as a serious art form. “Flemish acceptance of comics as literature is unique but I think it is going to change” says Toon, “and the Dutch is coming around to it.” Comics Festivals Koen explains that the 34 year old Strip Turnhout festival used to be mostly funded by the private sector until 2004 when the Flemish Government started supporting it. “Most festivals turn into fairs” says Koen, “we try to keep Strip Turnhout as a real festival. I don't think it has a niche audience but there is still a lot of work to do to get wider audiences, mixing new media and adoption of graphic novels.” During the study, the delegates have been presented various strategies by London publishers to get comics into the mainstream (i.e. SelfMadeHero’s Manga Shakespeare collection). Delegates have mitigated opinion about these, “I hated them” says Johan, “I disliked their motivations.” While others add that the only reason for their existence is to sell books, which “does not help the cause of Shakespeare or comics” adds Johan.

Publishers need to set realistic goals, as Dan Franklin (Jonathan Cape) had explained during the study tour, Raymond Briggs –who was initially published in the children’s book section, gave a distorted impression of what the graphic novel was capable in terms of reach “It was a tremendous success” said Franklin, “400,000 copies have been sold now and we have a paperback version.” This is what gave Franklin a distorted view of publishing graphic novel (see study tour report pp.16‐18). “Since comics are on the entertainment market, nothing is certain” adds Toon, “People are realising that the sky is not the limit and set realistic expectations. Jonathan Cape's model may not be repeatable.” “The audience for comics is very small I think”, says Johan, “selling 2000 or 3000 copies in Flanders is actually good.” There are some Flemish authors sold internationally, like Brecht Evens, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

Finding new work Publishers we visited during the study tour mentioned various ways of finding new talent, like the organisation of competitions, going to comic fairs, but also that they were receiving enormous amount of new work by young artists willing to be published. When asked how to find new talent in Belgium, all delegates agreed that “You don't have to look for talent, talent finds you.” Koen and Johan add, “Talent spotting is not a problem. Our problem is what to do with the talent we have now who cannot make a living out of their job as comics artist.” This is one of the reasons why developing new audiences is important, as well as getting to the existing but dormant audience. There is indeed a new audience that has not discovered comics yet. There is also a shift in reading habits with children starting to read later, and older people coming back to reading comics. The decline in sales might also be partly due to the massive increase in the number of works published. The comics publishing market is getting much more competitive. This conversation has been an introduction to the following discussions about comics in the UK and how connections could be built across the channel. The report of this study tour is available for download on the British Council Netherlands website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/netherlands‐comics.htm

UK Comics in Belgium: sharing, developing and exchanging talent The view from the UK Overview of UK comics sector by Paul Gravett Paul Gravett has worked in comics publishing and promotion for over twenty years. In this session, he has followed up on the presentation of the landscape of British Comics he made during the study tour (which you can read a complete version of in the study tour report on pp.6‐9). As director of the Comica festival, Gravett emphasises that it is key to cross over between art forms. The idea of the Comica festival is to “bring ideas and artists together, not necessarily on comics” and he goes on, “most people discover comics from TV and film. Even terrible films can be a wonderful invitation for comics. The Literary World is also acknowledging comics in the UK.” Gravett then listed a wide range of publishers, academic journals, festivals, fairs and communities existing in the UK (also see the study tour report for a detailed list). He also mentions existing and increasing booming talents like Bryan Talbot, David Hugues, Nick Hayes, Andrezj Klimowski...

Gravett (pictured below) explains that he and his colleagues are trying to build bridges between UK and Europe. “As an island nation we are a bit self‐contained, reserved,” says Gravett, “but we are open.” Moving into the graphic novel field can be difficult for publishers, explains Gravett, and working with well know ‘products’ does help getting to other, less known works, see for instance Walker Books example (study tour report pp. 20‐22). Many British artists (Grant Morrison, Alan Moore and others) go to work for the US market as there are more opportunities for financial gain across the ocean.

Woodrow Phoenix on being a comic book artist in the UK Woodrow Phoenix gives his personal view of comics creation and the UK comics industry, that “isn’t really an industry yet,” he says. He explains his own choices as an artist to create comics that will broaden the medium’s capacities, and not just sell lots of copies. Phoenix then explains that the big publishers are not doing many things to grow comics because of their lack of risk taking. They publish the same things over and over as if the medium itself is limited, rather than their choices. He thinks of publishers’ use of film and book adaptations to reach audiences as “tricking the audience to buy comics” and adds, “I think this isn't a good strategy, because it trains readers to think of comics as a second‐hand medium rather than a place to read original work.” Despite the reluctance for publishers to take risks, Phoenix wants to continue trying more radical things to broaden what we think about comics. “It gets easier to dismiss the entire medium because of too many badly done, derivative works” says Phoenix, “and it isn't in the publishers’ interest to take risks, they have to make money. Nobody wants to be first with a new idea, everyone wants to be second.” It is down to the artist to take the risk and do what he or she really cares about. “I can't wait for a publisher to invite me to make new work, because they only want what they have seen before. I have to go ahead and make it,” he says, “Then I can show it and if they want to engage with it, they can publish it.” Woodrow Phoenix’s comic book Rumble Strip, published by Myriad Editions, came out of the realisation of the enormous lack of accountability regarding cars and drivers when there is a collision and someone is killed. “It affects all of us,” says Phoenix, “Cars kill incredible numbers of people, it's a huge issue and we don't talk about it!” He then adds, “Mainly because we need cars.” As an artist, Woodrow Phoenix believes he has a responsibility not to do work that is cynical or exploitative. He wants to create things he cares about, and Rumble Strip is one thing he wanted to do no matter what the existing market demand was or is. It was not a book that anyone was asking for, but now that it is finished it has found a highly receptive audience. “I interviewed people and combined those observations with accident statistics from newspaper and transport databases,” explains Phoenix, “The book explains

what it means to be a driver and a pedestrian. It makes the mentality of the driver accessible to the reader. It has an unconventional structure which meant that when it was proposed to bigger publishers, they wanted me to make it more conventional, more autobiographical. I decided to go with an independent publisher who would allow me to do what I wanted to do.” There is no central character in Rumble Strip, Phoenix uses captions instead of characters so the reader experiences the story directly. “It works well for people who don't know anything about comics,” he says referring to the comics reading order, “because it removes one layer of identification. You do not have to enter the narrative through a character.” He explains that comics will always have a niche audience because it is a medium that asks a lot of the reader: “You have to do several things at the same time: look, read, decipher the pictures, relate them to each other, combine the panels, work out the relationships between them… For lots of people it's too much work.” says Phoenix. “Comics are a very demanding medium. The reader has to bring the text alive and put it all together.” He adds, “Most people don't want to work that hard.” Referring to the strategies adopted by various publishers to draw people into comics, Phoenix rather suggests doing things differently, just like he did with Rumble Strip which is a different way of engaging with readers. “It's not the medium that is the problem,” says Phoenix, “it's just that existing comics are not providing what most people want. If you are going to be a creator, you need to find a personal way to engage with people and not depend on recycling/remarketing the same material.” Phoenix took the risk and made something he believed in when making Rumble Strip, but was faced with the difficulty of reaching an audience too. Rumble Strip is a journalistic work and not a graphic novel, so it is not clear where to put it in a bookshop and how to describe the work to buyers. He has seen it placed in many different sections in bookshops: humour, crime, transport, current affairs. “It’s not an easy sell because it cannot be described in one sentence, which is what people tend to expect,” says Phoenix, “but it is worth it. It’s a new category of its own. Nobody has seen this before.” Phoenix strongly believes that we have to find new ways to engage with people and to appeal to people through comics. “Not just for the sake of increased readership, but also to make texts that connect in an honest and real way that will last longer than a beautiful image which has nothing else to say,” he says. Everybody can understand what a book like Rumble Strip has to say. He also thinks comics limit themselves as a medium and that they could tackle a much greater variety of subjects! One way of engaging differently with the readers and get into the huge untapped market that exists in the UK is through anthologies. Phoenix, together with Rob Davis, has been editing a major collaborative graphic novel called Nelson that is to be published November 2011. It features over 50 of the UK’s most interesting comic creators working together to tell a continuous story of Nel Baker from her birth in 1968 to the present day. Each creator has one day from each of those 43 years to give the reader a snapshot of her life. Nelson embraces all aspects of comics storytelling across the broad spectrum of UK‐based comic

creators, uniting talents from 2000ad, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, The Beano and Dandy with small press, web comics and newspaper strip artists. Creators of Nelson include: Rob Davis, Woodrow Phoenix, Ellen Lindner, Jamie Smart, Gary Northfield, Sarah McIntyre, Suzy Varty, Sean Longcroft, Warwick Johnson‐Cadwell, Luke Pearson, Paul Harrison‐Davies, Katie Green, Paul Peart‐Smith, Glyn Dillon, Ian Culbard, John Allison, Philip Bond, Matt (D’Israeli) Brooker, Simone Lia, Daryl Cunningham, Jonathan Edwards, Ade Salmon, Kate Charlesworth, Warren Pleece, Kristina Baczynski, James Harvey, Rian Hughes, Sean Phillips + Pete Doree, Kate Brown, Harvey, Rian Hughes, Sean Phillips + Pete Doree, Kate Brown, Simon Gane, Jon McNaught, Adam Cadwell, Faz Choudhury, JAKe, Jeremy Day, Dan McDaid, Roger Langridge, Will Morris, Dave Shelton, Carol Swain, Hunt Emerson, Duncan Fegredo, Philippa Rice, Garen Ewing, Tom Humberstone, Dan Berry, Kate Evans, Laura Howell, Andi Watson and Dave Taylor.

Woodrow Phoenix and Karrie Fransman

Karrie Fansman on her comics and comic youth work Comics work Karrie Fransman explains that she got into comics like many girls in the UK after seeing and reading Ghost world, which is “a very accessible way to get into comics” says Fransman. She then started writing autobiographical stories, “it is normal to start with autobiographical work before moving to fiction” she says, “I used to experiment, use mixed collage and finally took these to a comics convention.” Fransman explains that there is a good underground scene in the UK for non‐professionals. “We don't walk in the shadows of gods in the UK, unlike here or in Angoulême where you think 'what more can I contribute?'” says Fransman. This makes the UK a brilliant environment for entrepreneurial young people trying to create their own work. Fransman started selling her work to newspapers by creating comic strips, which are more commercial‐ she worked in advertising for six years. She started publishing in the Guardian where she had a huge exposure she says she wasn't prepared for. She then had a bigger space in The Times, a twenty page weekly serial, exploring a proper narrative. She likes exploring different ways of making comics like sculpture and new media. “I'm full of excitement about what comics can do,” says Fransman, “making you use hundreds of types of narratives and art forms: sculpture, comics in 3D etc... I really love doing comics in 3D, this idea of engaging with the audience and getting people into your world." Fransman has also launched an iPad and iPhone application, "The First Witch" (pictured left) which she created with Jonathan Plackett. You read the story like you are exercising, tilting the iPad or iPhone up and down again. “We are using the iPad, iPhone features to create a unique storytelling experience” says Fransman, “To see sequential art in a different way.” Her new comic book The House that Groaned will be be published in 2012 by Square Peg (Random House).The House will be Square Peg's first graphic novel publication and the imprint may go on to produce more graphic novels with a different angle to Jonathan Cape. Youth work Fransman has been teaching comics workshop since she started comics. She worked at the homeless centre, Crisis, where she realised how equalising comics were. “Everybody could understand and draw comics regardless of ages, race or education level” explains Fransman, “It's not pretentious, it doesn't exclude people, everybody can understand something, even if not everything.” Fransman now teaches comics at the House of Illustration and Londonprintstudio (see the study tour report pp.18‐20 for more details). At Londonprintstudio she runs a comic internship: “We were amazed at the number of applications, and also at the number of girls” says Fransman. Within her work at the londonprintstudio, she encourages the young people to use all kinds of material. She presents the final anthology combining the interns work with the young people’s one, which also has a foreword by Posy Simmonds, “It’s really important to have the support of well established comics artists” says Fransman.

The view from Belgium Johan Stuyck on the student exchange programme and the Oogachtend graphic novels translated into English Johan Stuyck (pictured right) starts to explain his introduction to Karrie Fransman at the London Print Studio during the study tour last December. “Karrie Fransman is doing a wonderful job with and for young people” says Johan, “Not only in an artistic way, by hosting five interns, recruited from British art schools, but also in a social way by integrating those interns into the neighbourhood of West London.” The interns do not only get further educated in all aspects of comic design but they also learn to pass on their skills to the local community. By doing so, comic design becomes another way of communication and perhaps an introduction to art for an un‐served audience. The Sint Lukas School of Arts in Brussels offers an academic bachelor and master degree in comic design. It is the only Flemish institution offering an education in comic design. After a few difficult years ‐ due to reorganising and funding cuts – Sint Lukas seems to now have a blueprint for a good programme that combines both theory and practice. “A marriage between artistic and academic goals. Passion and brains” says Johan. Doctor Pascal Lefèvre, who is a participant to this meeting on British Comics, is an expert in comics and also professor at the University of Leuven. He is responsible for the theoretical approach to the programme at Sint‐Lukas. Johan explains the ambition of Sint Lukas to attract foreign students but also to send out their own students and alumni through the European Erasmus and Leonardo programmes. They already have a partnership with Artez, a Dutch art school that offers an academic comic design and an illustration course. There are no specialist courses in comic design in the regular art schools or universities in the UK, but students can choose to obtain their degree by presenting a graphic novel, comic book or other narrative illustrative work. The interns of The London Print Studio are selected because of their excellent work in the broad field of comic design. “That's why the London Print Studio is also on our list of favourite partners” says Johan, “Karrie and I are now trying to establish an internship for one of our master students in the coming months. We know there are lots of administrative obstacles to conquer in order to get the necessary scholarship funds but we are confident we will succeed.” Other British schools and universities, such as St Martins ‐delegates had the opportunity to meet with Dr Roger Sabin from St Martins‐ are also interested in exchange programmes with Sint Lukas School of Arts. Sint Lukas’s ambition is to host British students in their master programme and to send out their students in their third bachelor or after they succeeded their master degree for a postgraduate experience.

In Sint Lukas Brussels, Johan is responsible for the vision on comic design and for the practical organisation of the programme. Being also a publisher at Oogachtend, a publishing house that focuses on graphic novels, allow Johan to have a rather practical approach on art education. “I know the importance of networking” says Johan, “of course we all do because otherwise we wouldn't be here ‐ and I have the experience in collaborating with foreign publishers. In the field of graphic novels or comic books, it's not difficult to get the attention if the product ‐ sorry for that ugly marketing word ‐ has universal qualities and local roots.” He adds, “Images have a direct impact on the viewer or the reader. Just like music, they get to the human soul.” Johan showed three graphic novels of Oogachtend that have recently been translated into English (and other languages): Ergens waar je niet wil zijn by Brecht Evens (3500 copies, 3 runs) Canada + VS : Drawn & Quarterly + Great Britain: Random House (inprint Jonathan Cape) France: Actes Sud (+ 6000 copies, 3 runs) Germany: Reprodukt Spain: Sinsentindo Korea: The Open Books Co Slaapkoppen by Randall.C Great Britain: Blank Slate Books France: Casterman Italy: Comma22 Spain: Sinsentindo Paris by Maarten Vande Wiele Great Britain: Knockabout Comics Italy: Comma22 The new book by Brecht Evens De Liefhebbers will be published in October in Dutch but almost simultaneously in French and other languages. “The British book market is a difficult one to get in” says Johan. British readers have access to an important quantity of good quality books published in English which makes their interested in other literature besides their own and the American one rather scarce. “And the British are very good at exporting their culture” says Johan, adding “Thanks to the British Council for that too. A job well done.” If we can set foot on the island of Shakespeare by smuggling in some fine graphic novels and get them translated, we can reach a far broader audience worldwide because the British will export those books too. As if they were their own. That's the plan. And I think we took a good start.

Koen Van Rompaey presents the UK as a guest of honour at the Strip Turnhout Festival 2011 Director of the Center of Flemish Comics, Koen Van Rompaey, presents the next edition of the Turnhout Comics Festival that will take place from 9 to 11 December 2011, with the UK as guest of Honour. He also explains the various activities of the organisation that happens before, during and around the festival period. The Turnhout Comics Festival is the largest and oldest comics festival in Belgium. It is not only a book fair, like most other comics festivals in Belgium, but it’s a real festival with the award ceremony of the Flemish State Prize for Comics, the gala of Flemish Comics, events like an illustrated concert, more than 10 exhibitions, lectures, debates and interviews, … When the USA was guest of honour country in 2007, says Koen, there was no real collaboration with an organisation from the US. Strip Turnhout really started working in partnership with organisations from the guest country with Spain for the 2009 edition of the festival. The organisation contacted the British Council on collaborating and making the UK guest country in 2011. The British Council was enthusiastic about the project and suggested to make it a starting point for a long‐term network with a wide range of professionals from the UK and Flemish‐Belgian‐ Dutch comics sector. “But then we made the mistake not to mix the Spanish and the Flemish” says Koen, “but we definitely will with the UK!” As a preparation on the festival and to start building the network, the British Council and the Turnhout Comics Festival organised a study tour in December 2011 with several delegates from the Flemish‐Belgian comics sector (a report is available, see above). The Turnhout Comics Festival will invite several authors of the UK comics industry from different backgrounds (from superhero comics to graphic novels) and mix them with Flemish authors, young and old, in live interviews, debates, lectures, workshops, … The first author to have confirmed is Posy Simmonds (Gemma Bovery, Tamara Drewe, …), who will also deliver material for the festival poster. Woodrow Phoenix and Karrie Fransman also have confirmed their presence. Karrie Fransman will work out a transmedial project with some young UK authors, possibly former interns of the London Print Studio. More authors and artists will be confirmed later in 2011. Other festival programme activities that have already been scheduled in 2011: - A major exposition on Merho and The Kiekeboes, a classic and best‐selling family comic series - A major exposition on the winner of the State Prize in 2011, which could not be announced yet at the meeting, but by the time of this report it has been disclosed by a press release that it is Steven Dupré (Kaamelott, Midgard, …) - Several smaller exhibitions on different topics

An illustrated concert with Arbeid Adelt! The gala of Flemish comics with the Award Ceremony of the Flemish State Prize for comics and the Willy Vandersteen‐Prize A charity auction And more…

Note on networking Koen emphasises the importance of building networks across the borders, in Europe, the UK and beyond and to work together with other festivals, publishers, artists... This is a key way to achieve the highest amount of synergy and results using the combined efforts of various festivals, organisations, artists and so on. The Center of Flemish Comics, the organisation of the Turnhout Comics Festival, has always been aware of the importance of networks and is trying to build rleationships nationally and internationally. Internationally, they are now working hard with the British Council to form a British‐Belgian network, but they are also connecting to the comics festivals of Napoli, Haarlem, Amadora (Lissabon), Lodz, Erlangen, Helsinki and Algiers.

Plenary discussion Before the meeting comes to a close, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and share their own views on the topics discussed.

Huib van Opstal started by asking a question about the next Tintin movie: “What will Turnhout do about the Tintin movie?” Koen responds that it will depend on the Hergé foundation – which isn't always that easy to discuss with. But he confirms that the Tintin movie on the festival’s list to look at. Huib adds “I think it will make people talk.” Speakers and participants are also mentioning the importance of translation: “Translation of foreign literature is about 60‐70% into Dutch, from all languages” says Els Aerts. The Belgian delegates who went to London have heard from big publishers such as Jonathan Cape that there definitely is some laziness from the part of English speaking publishers (see report for more information).

Robin Davies has raised the question of audiences: “Target audiences is very complex, you must have a more targeted audience? How do you do that?” Woodrow Phoenix explains his view and says “We can't think of targets in terms of making new work, if you keep thinking ‘who's it for who's it for’.... We won't make anything new. It would always be about what's been done already and doing something like it.” He adds, “We need to do something else!” Karrie Fransman shares her view too: “I definitely know very clearly who my target audience is. I do have an idea, women having a western idea of their body for instance.” She then explains with regard to her new graphic novel The House that Groaned “I explore people’s relationship to their body using the house as a metaphor for a decaying/dying body. I also deal with weight and gender and so I imagined one target audience that may be able to relate is Western women who have a particularly complex relationship with their own bodies. That said, I’d like to think men would enjoy reading it too‐ we are all living inside dying bodies after all!” Paul Gravett explains that “it can be something that comes after the work, it doesn't have to be before you create the work.” Karrie Fransman adds: “I like to think of comics as a communications tool so I do think of my audience. You are having a conversation with somebody and I like to be aware of that.” Johan Stuyck says that “comics artists want to tell a story and reach someone to tell the story to” explaining that they are telling a story in the best way they can. Woodrow Phoenix says that “You can't make new things by doing market research!” Paul Gravett explains that sales figures of 2000‐3000 are quite good for graphic novels, even if a lot less compared to the massive sales of Tintin or Asterix comics. Johan Stuyck adds that publishing a novel is a lot cheaper than publishing a graphic novel. “Compared to Asterix of course we are losers!” says Stuyck, “This is why we need to look at the foreign market, and otherwise we couldn't survive.” What about digital books? Johan Stuyck says he’s not yet satisfied about the possibilities of that medium. Karrie Fransman mentions the Jonny Cash graphic novel application (published by SelfMade Hero‐ see study tour report) was an interesting way of combining music and comics. She is unsure how successful sales of comic Apps have been but thinks it is an exciting time for comics in the digital age: “I believe in creating new ways of telling stories with that medium” says Fransman. She gives as an example the iPad/iPhone application “The First Witch”, she has created with Jonathan Plackett. “The First Witch' is a short digital comic story. It is the first 'Tilt Comic' developed that uses the 'tilt' sensors in the iPad and iPhone to create a new comic reading experience. In order to view each frame the reader 'tilts' the iPad up and down, giving the illusion of looking through a window into another world.”

The plenary ended with a question from Charlotte Pylyser about the term “graphic novel.” “I hate it” says Phoenix, and Fransman adds “I like comics. It’s low brow, non pretentious.” Gravett explains that it is a marketing term more than anything else. He adds that “It has become a problematic term” giving as an example Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning Maus being put in the fiction list of the Time, “excuse me but the holocaust did happen!” The meeting closed with an invitation by the British Council and the Center of Flemish Comics to continue building an international network of comics professionals.

“Thank you” drawing by Karrie Fransman

BIOGRAPHIES Expert meeting working group members Els Aerts Els.Aerts@fondsvoordeletteren.be Since October 2006, Els Aerts (1977) has been grants manager for children’s books and graphic novels at the Flemish Literature Fund (www.flemishliterature.be). She organizes projects to promote those genres abroad, for example in coordinating the Flemish presence as guest of honour at the international comics festival of Angoulême in 2009. Els regularly meets international publishers at book fairs, and advises and guides them in their realisation of high‐quality translations from Dutch. Before, she was a cultural journalist for the regional newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen and an editor of the financial newspaper De Tijd. Willem De Graeve willem.degraeve@stripmuseum.be A Master of Romance Linguistics and Literature (Ghent University) and of Business Intelligence and Communication (Ghent University), Willem De Graeve (1975) has been working at the Belgian Comic Strip Center since 1999. Today, he is director and communication manager. He has written several articles about comics, including a literary analysis of an album by Jacques Martin. He also regularly gives lectures on the history of Belgian comic strips, at home and abroad (including at MIT in Boston). Toon Horsten Toon.HORSTEN@warande.be Toon Horsten has been the director of the Strip Turnhout‐comics festival until 2010 and is the editor in chief of Stripgids, the leading Flemish magazine on comics since 2006. Next to that he writes on literature for De Standaard and Knack. His first book, 'Het geluk van de lezer', was published in the spring of 2010 (Linkeroever/Houtekiet‐publishers). Toon studied English and Dutch at the universities of Leuven and Leiden, worked in the University Library in Leuven, and as an editor for Gazet van Antwerpen. From 2000 to 2006 he was responsible for programming Warande in Turnhout, an important Flemish arts centre. There he not only staged 100 to 150 productions a year, but also worked as an executive producer for cd's and books by a.o. Robin Verheyen, Jef Neve, Stefan Brijs, Leen Huet and Chika Unigwe. He was a founding member of Het Convent vzw, an organisation that took care of the restauration of the beguinage of Hoogstraten. (The restauration won the Europa Nostra Award, The Henry Ford Conservation Award, and The Flemish Heritage Award. The beguinage has since then been recognized as Unesco World Heritage.) Canan Marasligil canan.marasligil@gmail.com Canan has worked as a project manager for the British Council across the Benelux from January 2008 until July 2011. As part of her portfolio, she delivered arts projects in Belgium and in the Netherlands. Comics is a medium she is truly passionate about and she has been working on this comics project for the British Council since April 2010. Before joining the British Council, she worked as a press officer for BOZAR (Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels). Canan is also a writer and a literary translator, trained to work from English to French, she has chosen to focus on contemporary Turkish literature in the last few years. She is currently preparing an anthology of Turkish contemporary writers for the French e‐book publisher Publie.Net. She has also recently started to research Turkish Comics.

Johan Stuyck jstuyck@oogachtend.be Johan Stuyck (Leuven, 1958) is a graphic designer and author. He is also professor at the 'Sint‐Lukas School of Arts' (department of comic design and illustration) in Brussels and publisher at Oogachtend (Leuven). He publishes mostly graphic novels of the 'new Flemish generation' and books on graphic design and illustration. Recently two of the Oogachtend authors were translated in English: 'Sleepyheads' by Randall Casaer was published in october by Blank Slate Books and 'The wrong place' by Brecht Evens was published by Drawn and Quarterly. Another novel 'Paris' by Maarten Vande Wiele will probably be published by Knockabout Comics in 2011. Koen Van Rompaey Koen.VANROMPAEY@warande.be Koen Van Rompaey is currently general director of the non‐profit organisation Strip Turnhout, which promotes the comics medium in all its forms. In association with different levels of the government, he works on a wide range of projects and activities about comics, including: the largest and oldest comics festival in Belgium, a comics information magazine, several publications and books about comics, a website, an archives centre, various annual exhibitions, exchange of collections, lectures, and a ibrarians’ study group. Before his current activities, Koen worked for numerous media and organisations as a journalist and an expert on comics. UK Speakers Paul Gravett paul@paulgravett.com Paul Gravett is a London‐based freelance journalist, curator, lecturer, writer and broadcaster, who has worked in comics publishing and promotion since 1981. In the early 1980s he manned the Fast Fiction table at the bi‐monthly Saturday comic marts held in London's Westminster Hall, inviting anybody to sell their homemade comics from it, with all proceeds going to the creator. This role earned him the nickname 'Man At The Crossroads' from Eddie Campbell in his graphic novel Alec: How To Be An Artist, "He will be the purest, most fresh‐faced wee fellow you have ever met. His ingenuous enthusiasm will beam from his cheery countenance." In 1981 he started his first proper paid job at pssst! magazine, a brave but misguided attempt at a British version of a luxurious monthly bande dessinee magazine that typically sold well in France. He worked in a variety of positions at pssst! ‐ as promotions man, traffic manager, coordinating artwork and interviewing potential contributors ‐ but crucially he had no say in the magazine's content and eventually he became frustrated seeing great material being rejected. In 1983 he launched Escape Magazine, which he co‐edited/published with Peter Stanbury, showcasing the cream of the alternative cartoonists of the 1980s. Escape lasted for 19 issues before closing its doors in 1989. For six years, Escape helped to promote an evolving bunch of distinctive British creators, many of whom were quickly picked up by other comics publishers and by the UK music press, newspapers, magazines and galleries. The Comics Journal in #210 said of Escape, "This now‐defunct London based

anthology remains one of the most sorely missed comics of all time not simply because of its tremendous track record of translating European comics but simply because it was always good in so many ways." Under the Escape Publishing imprint, he co‐published Violent Cases in 1987, the first collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, three volumes of Eddie Campbell's Alec between 1984 and 1986, and London's Dark in 1988 by James Robinson and Paul Johnson. Noted comic writer Warren Ellis latter commented, "...Paul, with his longtime partner Peter Stanbury, was running the small press anthology Fast Fiction, the Fast Fiction stand at the bimonthly Westminster Comics Marts where the small press books were sold, and launching Escape ‐ an excellent European‐style professional comics magazine whose book‐publishing arm led directly to the careers of James Robinson, Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman." Between 1992 and 2001 he was the director of The Cartoon Art Trust, a UK charity established in 1988, dedicated to preserving and promoting the best of British cartoon art and caricature and to establish a museum of cartoon art with gallery, archives and reference library. He has curated numerous exhibitions of comic art in Britain and in Europe, including 'God Save The Comics!', a survey of British comic art at the National Comics and Image Centre in Angoulême, France and the first exhibit devoted to the writer Alan Moore and his collaborators at the Palais des Beaux‐Arts in Charleroi, Belgium. As Project Director of The Cartoon Art Trust in London, he worked on tributes to Carl Giles and Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, and The 100 British Cartoonists of the Century. Since 2003, Paul has been the director of Comica, London's International Comics Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Paul is the co‐author, with Peter Stanbury, of the books Manga: 60 Years Of Japanese Comics (2004), Graphic Novels: Stories To Change Your Life (2005), Great British Comics: Celebrating A Century Of Ripping Yarns & Wizard Wheezes (2006), The Leather Nun & Other Incredibly Strange Comics (2008) and he is the editor of The Mammoth Book Of Best Crime Comics (2008). On television he has been a consultant and interview subject on The South Bank Show's programme Manga Mania (2006) and BBC4's documentary series Comics Britannia (2007). Also, he appeared as interview subject in the DVD documentary The Mindscape Of Alan Moore (2007). He continues to write about comics for various periodicals, including The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Comics Journal, Comic Art, Comics International, Time Out, Blueprint, Neo, The Bookseller, Dazed & Confused, New Internationalist, Third Text, 9eme Art and The Jewish Quarterly. Karrie Fransman karriefransman@hotmail.co.uk Karrie Fransman has scribbled strips for The Guardian, created comics for The Times and is currently grafting a graphic novel, ‘The House That Groaned’ for Random House’s Square Peg. In 2010 she was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award. Her ‘sequential art sculptures’ are currently on show at the ‘That’s Novel! Lifting Comics from The Page’ exhibition at londonprintstudio where she is also running an Internship in 'Comics and Comics Production’. You can see her work at www.karriefransman.com

Woodrow Phoenix mrphoenix@btinternet.com Personal testimony: “As an artist and as a writer I am interested in working with comics because the narrative tools of this form allow me to extend and challenge what stories can do and what they can say. The way a story is structured affects the way it is interpreted and understood by the reader. Comics are pure structure. I love the comics form for the possibilities it offers. The power of the comic strip comes from its ability to sculpt time and space in a simple, incremental way that can result in amazingly complex and sophisticated narratives. Film and literature both have their distinct areas of pre‐eminence; film can deliver spectacle, novels can offer an unmatched interiority. But the juxtaposition of image and text in a comic strip can support, contradict, flatten, augment, underline, collapse and surprise over and over again in nuanced ways that filmic image alone cannot and novelistic text alone cannot. Ours is a text‐based culture that privileges the written word above all things. The visual has been and continues to be undervalued as merely decorative. Despite the fact that unpicking the layers of information contained in the simplest picture requires a formidable level of interpretive skill, those skills are not valued because the subject matter is often thought to be not worth the effort. The magical quality of the drawn image (ideogram, logo, cartoon, diagram) and the way in which reductive marks can somehow add up to more than just lines also fascinates me. A drawing brings a new reality to life which can have incredible resonance considering how flimsy the tools are. In a way all drawing is metaphor, is symbols made into characters. Drawings, especially cartoon and caricature, are ways to reconfigure information. They capture emotion. They represent what is unseen, they “look how things feel”. I believe there are still huge areas of narrative potential untapped in the comics form, partly because the subject matter has been so constrained by commercial demands that neither creators nor readers were able to imagine where the form could be expanded before new technologies have removed a lot of those barriers. I am concerned with finding new ways to make the invisible visible. To bring to conscious attention so much of what passes unseen and unquestioned in everyday life. To examine the ideas that get taken for granted and perhaps find a different way to see what might seem exhausted. Sometimes this might just mean finding a new way to draw something, or experimenting with the presentation. Other times it may mean finding a new way to present information. My most recent book, “Rumble Strip”, uses no characters at all and addresses the reader directly through narrative captions. This approach has not been previously used in a comic book, as far as I know. It seems odd at first but eliminating the fictional construct of a protagonist leads to a more direct and far more visceral experience for the reader. Most reviewers ‐ many of whom have little familiarity with the comics medium ‐ have been surprised by how effectively this works. It was reviewed by Neel Mukherjee in The Times as “One utterly original work of genius. It should be made mandatory reading for everyone, everywhere.” As a non‐fiction technique it has all kinds of possibilities and it is one direction that I will continue to explore.”

PARTICIPANTS Tine Anthoni tine.anthoni@comicscenter.net Tine Anthoni is a master of Germanic Linguistics and Literature (KULeuven), and of Cultural Management and Education (VUBrussel). She graduated from the second master on a thesis about adaptations of literary works into comics. She has been an employee of the Belgian Comic Strip Center since 2006, where she is in charge of the education service of the museum. She organizes guided tours, city walks, workshops, tailored animations and drawing classes that enable all age groups to get a better understanding of comics. Jonathan Brennan Communications manager, British Council EU office, Brussels Jan Cumps jan.cumps@ilt.kuleuven.be Institute of Modern Languages / Catholic University Leuven (K.U.Leuven) Jan Cumps is the author of a number of books on the teaching of English (Wanted! Taaltips Engels, Acco, Leuven; An A to Z of Common Errors, Garant, Antwerpen; Van Stonehenge tot Chunnel, Garant, Antwerpen) and co‐author of a book on comics: Laat ze strips lezen! Informatie en suggesties voor school, thuis en bibliotheek (Acco, Leuven). He has been giving lectures on comics for a number of years (see, for instance, <http://kenniskantoor.bibliotheek.be/events/laat‐ze‐strips‐lezen‐door‐prof>) Roel Daenen Roel.Daenen@faronet.be Roel Daenen is working for FARO, the Flemish interface for cultural heritage. He’s the coordinator of Erfgoeddag, which literally means ‘Heritage Day’, a mass event that takes place, every year after the Easter Holiday. Its approach, public reach, innovative role, and – especially – the commitment of those involved, have made Heritage Day one of the most important heritage events in Flanders and Brussels. Heritage Day places cultural heritage in the spotlight for the sector itself, the public, the media, and policy makers in Flanders. Roel Daenen has studied history in Ghent and Lisbon and has published many articles about (the history of) comics and a book about the arts of puppeteering. Robin Davies robin.davies@britishcouncil.be Head of Brussels Europe Team, British Council EU office, Brussels Ilke Froyen ilke.froyen@beschrijf.be Ilke Froyen is responsible for the programmation and the residence programme of Het beschrijf, a Brussels based literary organisation founded in 1998. It created the international house of literature Passa Porta and the renowned bi‐annual international Passa Porta Festival of Literature. Het beschrijf organises literary evenings, public debates, a residence‐programme for international writers, and special creative projects on contemporary literature.

Edward Gauvin animula.vagula@gmail.com Edward Gauvin (edwardgauvin.com/blog) has received fellowships and residencies from the NEA, the Fulbright Foundation, the Centre National du Livre, Ledig House, the Banff Centre, and the American Literary Translators' Association. His translation of Georges‐Olivier Châteaureynaud's selected stories A Life on Paper (Small Beer, 2010) is currently shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award. Other publications have appeared in Conjunctions, Subtropics, World Literature Today, Epiphany, Tin House, PEN America, The Southern Review, F&SF, and the Harvard Review. The winner of the John Dryden Translation prize, he is the contributing editor for Francophone comics at Words Without Borders, and translates comics for Tokypop, First Second, Lerner, and Archaia. Past work and more at: http://www.edwardgauvin.com/blog Jeroen Janssen jeroen.janssen@pandora.be Jeroen Janssen (1963) is comic artist, illustrator and colorist. His first album Muzungu, published in 1997 in Belgium, has been created in Rwanda, when he was teacher at the Ecole d' Arts in Nyundo. Since then, he published Bakamé and other (African) stories. Jeroen drawings are exactly as he is, but upside down: Belgian outside, Africain inside. Nonetheless, now he's working on a totally new story, based on the life and music of Franz Schubert. www.bakame.be Mara Joustra mara.joustra@oogenblik.nl Mara Joustra has been an editor at Oog & Blik publications for over 9 years. The past year, shehas been working at Oog & Blik as an imprint of a literary publisher De Bezige Bij. Mara is specialized in accompanying Dutch and Flemish authors with respect to the content, textual as image‐wise during the making process of their books. Besides that, Mara is handling the foreign rights of these authors. She has BA in publishing and a BA of Fine Arts (writing and Image at the Gerrit Rietveld academy of fine Arts) Julia Kofler Julia.kofler@britishcouncil.be Manager EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) and External Relations, British Council EU Office, Brussels. Yacine Kouhen Yacine.kouhen@gmail.com Yacine has worked as a Project Officer and Project Manager for French Cultural Institutes in various countries across the globe, and lately for the British Council in Brussels. This enabled him to use his passion for cartoons by setting up cultural projects around it and organising exchanges and workshops with local and French cartoonists in countries such as Zimbabwe or Honduras. Jacqueline Kraus Jacqueline.kraus@bruessel.goethe.org Since April 2007 Jacqueline Kraus is the Co‐ordinator and Financial Controller of the Cultural Department of the Goethe‐Institute in Brussels. She plans and organises cultural projects and has co‐ordinated a number of large‐scale, international projects e.g. within the framework of the German Council Presidency 2007.

Dr. Pascal Lefèvre lefevre.pascal@gmail.com Pascal Lefèvre (°1963, Belgium) first studied Social Sciences and American Studies at the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven). While working as a researcher at the Belgian national broadcasting corporation (BRTN), he started publishing and organising conferences on comics. From 1996 till 1999 he was part‐time attached as a scientific advisor to the Belgian Centre of Comic Strip Art in Brussels. Since 1998 he has been lecturing on comics and visual media at various Flemish university colleges of Art (in Brussels, Antwerp and Genk). In October 2003 he completed his PhD in Social Sciences (Communications) at the University of Leuven and in 2006 he conducted a research project on broadsheets for the folklore museum Het Huis van Alijn in Ghent. Since 2008 he is an affiliated researcher at the University of Leuven. Lefèvre has been researching early visual narratives (supported by the research council of Sint‐Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design) and is currently teaching comics at Sint‐Lukas. Wim Lockefeer wim.lockefeer@gmail.com Forbidden Planet International ‐ Blogger / Reviewer A short professional biography (5‐6 lines): Wim Lockefeer has earned his living as a project manager in marketing and advertising for more than ten years, but satisfies his soul by writing about comics for his own blog (http://www.sparehed.com), the Forbidden Planet International Blog Log (http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog) and the Flemish comics review Stripgids. He was trained as a literature scientist, and is mostly interested in non‐fiction comics, autobiographical comics and narrative innovations. Wilfried Martens wilfried.martens@moderna.be Wilfried Martens has been working for Moderna Printers since 1992. At first in the calculation department, later as account executive, also responsible for planning and logistics . Since 2006, he’s an associate of the sales department of Moderna. Drukkerij Moderna (www.moderna.be) is a printing co in Belgium, which is specialized in the printing of magazines, amongst other things “de stripgids” from Strip Turnhout. With 5 offset rotation presses, a 10 colour sheet fed press and a complete afterpress devision, Moderna Printers is a Top 5 player in the Benelux within the magazine market. Peter Moerenhout salonstrips@hotmail.com Plots Stripmagazine/Stripelmagazine ‐ Journalist/Comic Writer Peter Moerenhout has written for most comic‐related media in Belgium and Holland: Plots Stripmagazine, De Stripspeciaalzaak, Stripgids, Brainfreeze, Stripelmagazine, P@per, Pulp Deluxe, Zone 5300, ... Either as a journalist or a writer for comics. His first Graphic Novel "Paris" (with Erika Raven and Maarten Vande Wiele) was published in Belgium by "Oogachtend" and will be published in Great Brittain later this year by "Knockabout Comics"

Didier Pasamonik didier.pasamonik@gmail.com Publisher at http://www.actuabd.com Kristina Prunerová prunerova@czech.cz Kristina has just joined the team of Czech Centre in Brussels after working in non‐governmental sector in the area of human rights and democracy. Comic strip being a strong topic within the contemporary Czech art, Kristina is also eager to get to know the British and Belgian authors as well. Charlotte Pylyser charlotte.pylyser@arts.kuleuven.be Charlotte Pylyser is a PhD student at the Catholic University of Leuven. She operates from a literary studies and cultural studies background and her research concerns the Flemish graphic novel as it relates to literature in particular and issues of culture and context with regard to comics in general. Lieve Quadflieg lieve.quadflieg@turnhout.be I have been working in the library since 2004, starting as a Library Assistant performing both front office (including “complaints department”) and back office tasks (member administration, finances). Additional responsibilities since 2008: promotion & external communication. Became a Staff Member in December 2009. From this time forth being Head of the front office section, as an addition to my former assignments. Erinç Salor esalor@uva.nl Erinç is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, at the University of Amsterdam. His dissertation project focuses on Wikipedia as a successor of the Western encyclopaedic tradition, going back to Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Categories. Along with the Internet and new media in general, his research interests include the history of the book and the interaction between different media ecologies and society. Erinç is also interested in the unique narrative potentials of comics, science fiction and video games. See http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/f.e.salor/ for more info and a list of publications. Michiel Scharpé michiel@vfl.be Michiel Scharpé (1979) works as a grants manager at the Flemish Literature Fund. His working domains include comics and graphic novels, youth literature, prose, biographies and book retail. Cordula Singer Cordula.Singer@Bruessel.goethe.org Cordula joined the Goethe‐Institut Brüssel in November 2010 as Web Editor and Information and Library Cooperation Officer. For her latest online dossier Picture books and Comics she interviewed Flemish and German illustrators. She also coordinates the French and Dutch translations of the Goethe.de project Deutschsprachige Comics. Cordula has a degree in cultural and European studies and previously worked at the College of Europe in Bruges, a Brussels based agency and the European Commission. She also works as

a freelance writer and translator. Kerri Soulira soulira@gmail.com Kerri has been a Web Designer and Graphic Designer since over 8 years. For the last 2 years, Kerri has been studying comics and illustration at the Academic School of St Gilles (Brussels). Silvio van der Loo silvio63@planet.nl Silvester Strips Uitgeverij b.v., CEO One of the largest independent publishers of comics and graphic novels in The Netherlands including titles as: Walking Dead, Prince Valiant, Peanuts, Bone and more both national and international titles. Huib van Opstal Huib van Opstal is a Dutch designer and picture researcher. He is the author of 'Essay RG. Het fenomeen Hergé' (1994), a towering biography of Hergé, the world‐famous bilingual Belgian comic strip author. In 2011 he contributed to Paul Gravett’s book 1001 COMICS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE. Anita Vervecken anita.vervecken@turnhout.be Bibliotheek Turnhout (Public Library, Turnhout) After having worked in all of the library’s departments, Anita became the sole responsible for the comics section. She is in charge of the entire collection and all activities concerning comics. Laura Watkinson laura.watkinson@gmail.com ‐ www.laurawatkinson.com Laura Watkinson is a freelance translator with a particular interest in comic books and graphic novels. As part of a three‐person translation team, she translated Brecht Evens' Ergens waar je niet wil zijn into English for Drawn & Quarterly, which has been published as The Wrong Place and was recently nominated for an Eisner Award. Another recent translation project was a graphic novel by Marc Verhaegen and Jan Kragt, based on the life of Vincent van Gogh, for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Paul Wouters paul.wouters@turnhout.be Turnhout Public Library, Manager Active in libraries since 1985 and manager of Turnhout Library since 2001. Introduced as the first in Flanders fully self‐service based on RFID technology so that the opening hours could significantly extend and staff been more involved in information brokerage. Is currently working on a project where the public library, the municipal archives and Strip Turnhout join their services together. Nicky Wynen nicky.wynen@proost.be For the last 2 years, Nicky works as account manager at Proost (www.proost.be), production house of comics and children’s books. Her sales‐area is Flanders and customers are editing houses. Proost is an

international company, active in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Scandinavia and UK. Before joining Proost and following her marketing education, Nicky was account manager in the printing industry for 11 years. Students from Sint‐Lukas Brussels: - Jonas Adriaensens - Sien De Luyck - Carlien Akinrolabu - Delphine Frantzen - Tatiana Bogocharova - Sander Heremans - Alexandra Dammekens - Jelle Kindt - Yoeri Debremaeker - Els Peeters - Shamisa Debroey - Ester Vanhoutte - Robin De Groote - Sarah Vierstraete

EXCUSED Bart Croonenborghs bartcroonenborghs@gmail.com Having designated a unique niche by writing about European and small press comics for the English speaking part of the comics world, I have been active in the comics journalism field since 2008. Starting out at brokenfrontier.com, one of the leading comics sites for alternative comics content of the world, this lead to being an occasional writer for The Comics Journal, the American magazine for serious writings about the comics medium. Interview subjects range from Warren Ellis to Willy Linthout, the latter interview being so influential that it got quoted on the back cover of Linthout's touching Year of the Elephant by Fanfare/Ponent Mon. Erik de Graaf ErikdeGraafComics@gmail.com www.erikdegraafcomics.blogspot.com Erik de Graaf is a Dutch graphic novel artist. He has already published 6 books. On his blog you can follow him in his comic adventures. In real life, Erik is a Graphic Designer. Ulla‐Alexandra Mattl Co‐oordinator@eunic‐brussels.eu Co‐ordinator at EUNIC in Brussels, previously working as a Freelance Research Analyst and Consultant in the cultural sector in London. Since 2005 London Correspondent for Kulturmanagement Network and Artsmanagement Network, Information Platforms for Arts and Culture active in Germany and internationally. Research into European Cultural Cooperation with Asia as well as international Networks and Cultural Diplomacy. Previously to this Project Manager and Researcher at the Konrad‐Adenauer Foundation in London, Project Co‐ordinator at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Brussels, roles at several European Associations and Translator at European Commission. MA in Finno‐Ugric Studies and French as well as an MA in Arts Management from City University London.

Gert Meesters gert.meesters@skynet.be Gert Meesters (1972‐ ) is lector of Dutch language and literature at the University of Liege, Belgium. He holds a PhD in Germanic linguistics and literature from the University of Leuven. Besides his academic work he has been writing for the general press (currently the Flemish news weekly Knack) as a comics critic and journalist. Alok b. Nandi nandi@fluxtopia.net ‐ www.aloknandi.net In parallel to strategic design consulting, Alok b. Nandi is active in media art and design, with a focus on interactive mise‐en‐scene and narrative architecture. His background combines engineering, management and film studies. He has conceived the homage book "Satyajit Ray at 70" (with exhibitions in Cannes, Paris, London, etc) and directed the performing arts evenings "Les voies de Tagore" with vocalist Sharmila Roy. He was a Japan Foundation fellow in 1996, and worked on Japanese cinema and urban life in Tokyo. He was awarded for the web‐mise‐en‐scene of urbicande.be in 1997, selected for Imagina 2000 and 2002 with Transfiction, mixed realities platform. He exhibited in Cannes Film Festival, London, Paris, "utHOPEia" in Salzburg and Vienna, Panopticon in Ecole du Louvre, MAAD in Lille. Interventions in festivals include Porto 2001 and lille3000. Other works include: weekly radio chronicle from nov. 2006 to june 2008 on "Books & India" broadcasted on Paris‐based RadioBFM in the IndeHebdo program ‐ see mahanet.com, writings in Beaux‐Arts Magazine, Cahiers du Cinema, Inside Internet, Publish. Invited professor and regular speaker in international conferences and jury member in film and media festivals. Invited expert by EU, Canada and Belgium a.o. and commission member (VAF Experimentale Media Kunst 2006‐2007, CFWB Commission des Arts Numériques 2006‐2008). Founder and organiser of {creativity * conversation} events which include Pecha Kucha Night Brussels, as well as interventions on food design and typography. Muriel Stiennon murielstiennon@hotmail.com Muriel has a master in applied communication and has always been interested in comics. She now tries to create her own comics and graphic novel, being an evening student at the "Academie Jean‐Jacques Gailliard" in Brussels. Peter Van den Eede peter@vooruit.be Peter programmes literature and political debates at the Vooruit Arts Centre in Ghent. http://www.vooruit.be Bieke Van Duppen bieke.vanduppen@wpg.be Bieke is Foreign rights and export manager at WPG Publishers Belgium (http://www.wpg.be/foreignrights/).