Cs: Hello all, Just a gentle reminder that the deadline for abstracts for Comics Forum 2013 is the 14th of July. Details below or, as always, on the CF2013 page at the website: http://comicsforum.org/comics-forum-2013/
COMICS FORUM
Leeds
21-22 November 2013
Small Press and Undergrounds: A Conference on Comics
Although comics tend to be understood as a mass produced and highly industrialised medium, there has long been a tradition of small scale/artisanal production through which voices alternative to the “mainstream” have been able to speak. Small press and underground publications have served as platforms for artistic experimentation, political expression and technical innovation that have often had major influences upon the field of comics, and upon wider culture as well. Technology has also driven change, with the growth of the internet and web 2.0 facilitating low-cost worldwide distribution that perhaps challenges the term “small press”. Comics Forum, part of the Thought Bubble sequential art festival (which has always been a popular venue for small press creators to present their works), is ideally situated to consider this aspect of comics. At Comics Forum 2013, the fifth event in the annual conference series, we will discuss a wide range of subjects relating to small press and underground comics.
Subjects for discussion may include, but are not limited to:
- Fanzines
- International manifestations of the small press
- Methods of production and distribution
- Notable small press/underground comics creators and/or movements
- Political applications of small press and underground comics
- Small press/underground comics as a platform for speaking the unspeakable
- The small press in the age of the internet
Proposals of 250 words are invited for talks of 15-20 minutes in length, and should be emailed along with a short biography (around 100 words) to comicsforum@hotmail.co.uk. Please put the phrase ‘CF2013 Paper Submission’ in your subject line. The deadline for submission is 14/07/2013 and notification of acceptance or rejection will be emailed by or before 01/08/2013.