Prairie Comics Festival

About Prairie Comics Festival

Prairie Comics Festival is a free to attend weekend festival in Winnipeg celebrating the best in comics creation on the prairies!

Festival Info at-a-glance:
251 Donald Street
MILLENNIUM LIBRARY, second floor
Saturday, May 4 2019: 10:30 am – 5 pm
Sunday, May 5 2019: 1 – 5 pm

This festival features a market for creators of comic content, including artists, writers, and publishers, to interact with fans, promote their material, sell their wares, and meet other creators. Eligible content includes webcomics, print comics, graphic novels, zines, comics in non-traditional formats, and cartoons. The focus of this content is on original comic content, along with content created by the artists under license from the copyright holder.

In order to ensure a strong showcase of creators for our limited space, the table selection is juried rather than first come, first served.

More than just a space to promote the creation of comics and discover new stories (many of which are unlikely to be found anywhere outside of this festival!), this weekend is intended to be a community experience to share your love of the comics medium! Panels will be held in an adjoining room where you can volunteer to share your passion and knowledge with fans and creators.

Admission and table space is free in order to encourage all to attend!

The event will take place in Winnipeg’s Millennium Library, the venue is accessible.

Have any questions about the festival? Contact us

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The planning committee for the 2019 festival is Hope Nicholson, Scott A. Ford, Nyala Ali, Jayne Cormack, and S.M. Beiko, along with co-organizers: The Winnipeg Public Library.

Special Guests

Amy Chu

Amy Chu

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Amy Chu is a full time comics writer and coffee drinker. Her titles include: the Green Hornet, Red Sonja, and Dejah Thoris Princess of Mars for Dynamite Entertainment, and the superhero title SUMMIT for Lion Forge, about an astronaut with the power of plasma fusion. She has also written characters such as Poison Ivy and Wonder Woman for DC Comics, and Ant-Man, Deadpool, and Emma Frost for Marvel. Amy lives in Princeton, NJ with her family and extensive Lego collection. Follow her on twitter @amychu instagram @amy_chu and on Facebook/iwritecomics.
Cecil Castellucci

Cecil Castellucci

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Cecil Castellucci is an award winning and NY Times Bestselling author of books and graphic novels for young adults including Don’t Cosplay With My Heart, Boy Proof, The Plain Janes, Soupy Leaves Home, The Year of the Beasts, Tin Star, and the Eisner nominated Odd Duck. In 2015 she co-authored Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure. She just wrapped up writing Shade, The Changing Girl, an ongoing comic on Gerard Way’s Young Animal imprint at DC Comics. She is also a librettist for two comics graphic operas, most recently Hockey Noir which premiered in Montreal in 2018. Her short stories and short comics have been published in Strange Horizons, Tor.com, Womanthology, Star Trek: Waypoint and Vertigo SFX: Slam! She was the Children’s Correspondence Coordinator for The Rumpus, a two time Macdowell Fellow and the founding YA Editor at the LA Review of Books. She lives in Los Angeles.
SJ Wordburglar

SJ Wordburglar

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Comics creator Website Halifax’s Sean Jordan is a comic creator, rapper and retired paperboy, perhaps better known by his stage name Wordburglar. From photocopying comics in the back of a Shoppers Drug Mart to rapping about them, his passion for drawings with words has manifested into hilarious comics and award winning songs. Current comic works include: “The Last Paper Route” inspired by his true-life adventures in paper-routing, and the retro comedy series “Snakor’s Pizza”, about a snake-person who sells pizza.

Guests

Bedside Press

Bedside Press

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Comics publisher Website Bedside Press is a Winnipeg-based publisher dedicated to promoting lost comic book stories and helping new stories find their audience. Bedside Press is focused on a diversity of storytellers and works range from comic book reprints to anthologies of new content.
Autumn Crossman-Serb

Autumn Crossman-Serb

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Comics creator Website Autumn Crossman-Serb is a Muslim illustrator/comic artist who was born and raised in Winnipeg. Her passions are monster girls, scifi/fantasy, and romantic comedies. She is currently working on a story for the new Beyond anthology and a Dreamphone colouring book.
Jamie Isfeld | To Tell Stories

Jamie Isfeld | To Tell Stories

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Comics creator Website Jamie Isfeld is a comic creator, illustrator, and web developer from Winnipeg, Canada. She delights in making stories for all ages, from young children to adults.
Scott A. Ford

Scott A. Ford

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Comics creator Website Scott A. Ford is an award winning comic creator, illustrator, and designer from Winnipeg, Canada. His work puts an emphasis on atmosphere and rich visuals, drawing inspiration from video games, graphic design, film, and animation. His comic projects include Boreal, Ark Land (ChiZine Publications), Giants’ Well, and Romulus + Remus.
Ryan Harby | Honey Dill Comics

Ryan Harby | Honey Dill Comics

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Webcomics creator Website Ryan is a writer and illustrator based out of Winnipeg who makes silly cartoons that live inside the Internet. His webcomic, Honey Dill, is a mix of awkward moments and weird characters, sometimes paired with rocket ships, monsters, and time travel.

Schedule

Schedule of Events

Tuesday April 30, 2019
7 pm to 8:30 pm
An Evening with cartoonist Seth, McNally Robinson
https://www.facebook.com/events/420419848702750/

Friday May 3, 2019
School visits with Cecil Castellucci and Amy Chu

Festival Begins

Saturday May 4, 2019
Festival opens at 10:30 am, closes at 5 pm
Sunday May 5, 2019
Festival opens at 1 pm, closes at 5 pm
Millennium Library, second floor
https://www.facebook.com/events/407258286760543/

Panels

Saturday May 4, 2019
11am-12pm: Pitching to Publishers
12-1pm: Creating Comics: The Basics – Youth Workshop
1-2pm: The Publishers’ Perspective
2-3pm: Making 3D References for your Comics – Workshop
4-5pm: Comics and Culture

Sunday May 5, 2019
1:30-2:30pm: Writing for Comics
3-4pm: Special Guests Panel

Saturday May 4, 2019

9 pm to 11 pm
Kick-off Party at Wee Johnnies (177 McDermott Ave)
https://www.facebook.com/events/422047885033138/

Friday June 7, 2019

Book Launch: This Place, 150 years retorld
https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-17346/This-Place-150-Years-Retold—-Book-Launch/#.XMC9ijBKhhE

Partners

In-kind support for the Prairie Comics Festival is provided by the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Public Library.

Sponsors for the 2019 festival include Bedside Press, University of Winnipeg, IDW Publishing, and Boom! Studios.

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Vintage background photos of Winnipeg on this site courtesy of the Rob McInnes Postcard Collection.

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