Word Balloon Academy 2024

8:00 AM - DOORS OPEN

Please bring reusable water bottles. Coffee, tea and refreshments unfortunately will not be available this year due to rising costs, our apologies!

9:00 AM

Panel: Artists Talk on Grants, How to Get Them and How to Use Them

Location: Bluma Appel Salon

Allison O'Toole (Host), Steven Andrews, Victoria Day, Josh Rosen

Presentation: Comics Kickstarters for Indie Projects

Location: Novella

Adriano Ariganello

10:30 AM

Panel: Exploring Difficult Subjects in Comics

Location: Novella

Lonnie Mann (Host), Özge Samanci, Lucy Sullivan, Cyril Chen

Keynote: Indie Comics: Now more than ever! with Avi Ehrlich

Location: Bluma Appel Salon

Avi Ehrlich, Allison O’Toole (host)

NOON

LUNCH BREAK

1:00 PM

Workshop: Creative Storytelling and Improvisation for Comics

Location: Novella

Sami Alwani

Presentation: Creative Law 101 with Michael Duboff

Location: Bluma Appel Salon

2:30 PM

Workshop: Memory Into a Mini-Comic

Location: Novella

Lara Antal

Presentation: The Art of the CV: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

Location: Bluma Appel Salon

Irene Velentzas

4:00 PM

Panel: State of the Industry III: Return of the Indie Publishers Round-table

Location: Bluma Appel Salon

Andy Brown (Conundrum), Avi Ehrlich (Silver Sprocket), Alexander Finbow (Renegade Arts Entertainment), Tracy Hurren (D&Q), MJ Lyons (host)

PRESENTER BIOS:

Adriano Ariganello is a writer based out of Etobicoke who has been writing short stories, screenplays and comic books for over 20 years. His most recent work includes crowdfunded comics such as: "Unlimited Udo", "Stay Cool" and "Crazy Latte Thing Called Love". When he’s not writing, you can find him strapping on skates and hitting the ice, year-round, like any good Canadian. Find out more at pestocomics.com or @pestocomics on most social media.

Sami Alwani is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Toronto. His work has appeared in Best American Comics, Vice, The Globe and Mail and CBC Arts. Sami received a Doug Wright Award in 2018 for his story “The Dead Father” and again in 2022 for his book “The Pleasure of the Text.”

Steven Andrews runs TO Comix Press, a micropress dedicated to platforming upcoming and marginalized creators. This TCAF marks the press's 10th anniversary, and our eleventh anthology, The City We Chose, is on Kickstarter now! When not stressing over spreadsheets, Steven works in the casual gaming industry as a frontend dev.

Lara Antal (she/they) is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator who loves black humor, black coffee, and colorful characters. In 2024 they were awarded a We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) Grant and a Comics Advocacy Group (CAG) Grant. Their debut graphic novel, Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars, was the recipient of the 2023 Graphic Medicine Award and a finalist for both the Ringo Comic Awards and Pop Culture Classroom's Book of the Year. They regularly contribute comics to The Washington Post in their news, opinion, and travel sections and were included in the Best Illustrations of 2022. They were an artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Ragdale Arts Foundation, and most recently the Peter Bullough Foundation for the Arts. In addition to their studio practice, they have taught courses, run workshops, and lectured at art foundations, LGBTQ+ centers, public schools, and university campuses across the US and Canada. Hailing from Wisconsin, they currently live in Brooklyn with their almost-toothless chihuahua, Chuck.

Cyril Chen (they/them, any pronouns) is an interdisciplinary artist-researcher and educator born and raised in Treaty 4 (Regina SK). Their experimental animation work has been supported by CARFAC Saskatchewan, Canada Council's Emerging Artist Explore and Create program, and the University of Saskatchewan's Capacitor program. They are a Master of Arts Candidate in Communication Studies and New Media at McMaster University, where they are working on a research-creation short comic project exploring transness and grief. They are a recent graduate of Sheridan College's honours bachelor of animation program and previously studied expanded media at NSCAD University. They are currently based in Hamilton, ON.

Victoria Day is a Toronto-based visual artist working across drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics and murals. As a half-Korean artist, she explores the nuances of mixed-race, diasporic identity through the study and integration of traditional Korean art forms within her practice. Victoria has been supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts, and is passionate about helping artists gain familiarity and confidence with the grant system.

Lonnie Mann grew up on Long Island, New York. His recently-released debut graphic novel, "Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood" explores his experiences growing up gay and Orthodox Jewish, and the challenges he faced. Lonnie currently lives with his spouse Ryan Gatts (with whom he drew the book), and their pet rabbit in Tokyo, Japan.

Allison O'Toole is a freelance comics editor and publisher based in Toronto. She edited the Ignatz Award winning anthology Shades of Fear and the Eisner Award winning series Public Domain. She is a monster connoisseur and was named one of Rue Morgue’s “Wicked Women to Watch.”

Josh Rosen is a Toronto-based cartoonist and illustrator. He is the co-creator of graphic novels The Good Fight, with author Ted Staunton (Scholastic Canada, 2021) and World War II - Fight on the Homefront, with author Kate Hannigan (First Second Books, 2023). On top of his graphic novel work, Josh has provided illustrations for magazines, animation projects, and tabletop roleplaying games, as well as a slew of small press comics work. He thinks drawing is great and everyone should do it.

Özge Samanci is an artist and associate professor at Northwestern University. In 2017, Ozge received the Berlin Prize, and I was the Holtzbrinck Visual Arts Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. Her autobiographical graphic novel Dare to Disappoint (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2015) has been translated into six languages. Her drawings appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Slate Magazine. Her interactive installations have been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries.

Lucy Sullivan (@LucySullivanUK) is the creator of BARKING & SHELTER, with a new BARKING edition launched from Avery Hill in 2024. Her new folk-Horror series, SHELTER: EARLY DOORS was winner of ‘Best New Periodical Series’ 2022 in the Broken Frontier Awards. You can also read her story BLACK HAMMER at jefflemire.substack.com. She is comic artist, member of Society of Authors, Association Of Illustrators, UCU & BECTU based out of London, UK.

Irene Velentzas (she/her) is the Editor of Comics and Graphic Novels at HighWater Press. She is a critical writer for The Comics Journal and an enthusiastic comics moderator. She has interviewed Daniel Clowes, Jeff Smith, Derf Backderf, Nate Powell, Tom Gauld, Jeff Lemire, Joe Ollmann, Jillian Tamaki, and more! She is the co-editor of Mental Illness and Sexuality in Comics, a special issue published by the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.