Thanks to the fine folks at The Beguiling and Word on the Street, we’ll be giving away one Comics & Graphic Novels prize package from WOTS! at the Joe Shuster Awards ceremony this Saturday night.

Every person attending the event will be given a raffle ticket and at the end of the ceremony we’ll be drawing a winner. You must be present with your ticket in order to claim this awesome package!

The prize package consists of copies of these great books (all of which will be available at the festival this weekend):

* CTON’s Super A-maze-ing Year of Crazy Comics, by Clayton Hamner (Owlkids)
* Dinosaur Comics: Your Whole Family Is Made Out Of Meat, by Ryan North (Quack!)
* Essex County (Collected Edition), by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
* Galaxion Vol.1: The Jump, by Tara Tallan (Helikon Comics)
* I’m Crazy, by Adam Bourret (Self-published)
* Mirror Mind, by Tory Woollcott (Self-Published)
* Quarter-Life Crisis Vol. 1, by Evan Munday (Self-Published)
* Sword Of My Mouth #1, by Jim Munroe and Shannon Gerrard (IDW )
* Therefore, Repent!, by Jim Munroe & Salgood Sam (NMK/IDW)
* The War at Ellsmere, by Faith Hicks (SLG Publishing)

The Beguiling and The Word On The Street would like to thank all of the participating author and publisher sponsors for donating these books, and the CCBCAA would like to thank The Beguiling and Word on the Street for making this special give-away possible for attendees of the JSA ceremony!

It’s really great to see that Canadian comics, webcomics and graphic novels will have such a visible presence at all four of the WOTS sites in 2009!

HALIFAX – Strange Adventures will be setting up as an exhibitor.

KITCHENER – Guelph’s The Dragon will be setting up as an exhibitor and running a series of comics related programming at the Graphic Novels tent.  A map can be found here.

TORONTO – A whole slew of comics retailers and creators will be setting up at the event. Plus The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is sponsoring the Comics & Graphic Novels tent and programming in conjunction with Sequential Spiltink.

VANCOUVER – Comics are a large part of the Word Under the Street section of the event, with some comics related programming and plenty of local creators appearing.

If you live in, or near, any of these cities on Sunday, September 27 we here at the Joe Shuster Awards urge you to go out and check them out! 

Of course, one wonders why more Canadian cities aren’t participating in this excellent series of events. Where’s WOTS Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Ottawa, Windsor, Montreal, Charlottetown, St. John’s, etc.?

Concluding our look at the comics related happenings at the four Word on the Street cities is WOTS Vancouver:

Word on the Street Vancouver

Sunday, September 27, 2009 from 11am-5pm

Library Square

http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/vancouver

The Word Under The Street- Local alternative comic book artists and ‘zines. Including exhibitors, events, readings, and presentations. Inside the Library, Alice McKay Room downstairs

11:15 :: Nardwuar – Nardwuar’s Video Vault
Join punk rock journalist Nardwuar the Human Serviette as he screens video interviews he has done over the years with Pierre Berton, Gene Simmons, Jean Chretien, Pamela Des Barres, Anthony Robbins, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Michael Moore, followed by a give-away of books and magazines to trivia winners! Nardwuar is the lead singer and keyboardist for The Evaporators and loves cheese!

12:00 :: Cartooning Art Class with Robin Thompson
Stop getting in trouble from doodling in school and check out this introductory art class. Improve your hand at drawing, create awesome characters and learn how to design your own comic strip! Class limited to a maximum of 20 participants so sign up early. Ages 11 to 16. Materials supplied. Robin Thompson is an instructor, comic book artist, self-publisher and freelancing artist who has worked on indy titles such as Knuckles Malone, Lil’Natas, Outnumbered and Captain Space Man. Pre-registration recommended.

1:00 :: Mandy Moore & Leanne Prain – Join the Yarn Bombing Revolution!
Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti is the definitive guidebook to covert textile street art. This full-colour DIY book features 20 kick-ass patterns that range from hanging shoes and knitted picture frames to balaclavas and gauntlets, teaching readers how to create fuzzy adornments for lonely street furniture. Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain will provide tips from the international knit graffiti community, demonstrate how to put up a tag and offer revealing information on how to create your own yarn graffiti crew. Moore is the technical editrix of popular online knitting magazine Knitty.com, and of various other knitting and crochet books and publications. Prain is a professional graphic designer and co-founded a stitch and bitch called Knitting and Beer in order to expand her skills while knitting at the pub.

2:00 :: Comics and the Classroom
Educators Leonard Wong (Templeton Secondary School), Guy Demers (Tupper Secondary School) and Alejandra Lopez (Illustrated Journey Youth Project) share ideas on how to use comics as a cross- curricular learning tool and a resource for promoting reading and literacy.

3:15 :: Nardwuar – Nardwuar’s Video Vault
See description from 11:15 screening

Comics Related Exhibitors
Cloudscape Comics Collective
Colin Upton
Comix & Stories
Fresh Brewed Illustration
Jonathan Dalton
Later Comics
New Reliable Press
real gone girl studios
Robin Thompson
Sarah Leavitt Comics
Scholastic Book Fair
Steve Rolston
Vancouver Comicon (Leonard Wong)

The third of the WOTS sites – Halifax, Nova Scotia has very limited comics related exhibitors and programming.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Cunard Event Centre — 11am-5pm

Halifax, Nova Scotia

http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/halifax/

Harry Kremer Award winning retailer Strange Adventures will be exhibiting at this event.

The second of the WOTS sites we’re going to look at today is WOTS Toronto.

Comics and Graphic Novels @ The Word On The Street Toronto
Sunday, September 27th, 2009, 11am-6pm
Queen’s Park Circle
FREE
http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca

EXHIBITORS:
You’ll find plenty of comics and graphic novels around the festival with vendors like The Beguiling, The Labyrinth, Hairy Tarantula and publishers like Drawn & Quarterly, Owlkids, Scholastic, Rorschach Press, Beach Studios, DMF Comics, Ultraist Studios, Possum Press and Xeno’s Arrow Comics… not to mention our own booth at the festival for the JOE SHUSTER AWARDS where we’ll be hosting creator signings and selling prints and some related graphic novels. Many creators will be appearing at various booths throughout the day, but those with their own booths include Faith Erin Hicks (who will be at the JSA booth for the day), Diana Tamblyn, Tara Tallan, Lamin Martin, Shannon Gerard, Stef Lenk, and the crew from Sketchkrieg!

PROGRAMMING
Presented in partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, this lively tent features a series of discussion panels and presentations from some of the best creators in Toronto’s comics and graphic novels scene.

Comics & Graphic Novels Programming Outline:
11:00 – 11:15 :: All About Comics & Graphic Novels: A Brief Introduction
Join Christopher Butcher, Director of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival as he presents a brief introduction to comics and graphic novels and the day’s programming at The Word On The Street.

11:15 – 12:00 :: Creating Comics with Owlkids!
Owlkids, the folks behind Owl, Chickadee and Chirp magazines have been publishing great comics for decades! Join CTON, creator of the Owlkids’ book CTON’s Super A-Maze-ing Year of Crazy Comics, and Brian McLachlan, creator of Alex and Charlie from Owl, as they walk you through the process of creating your own comics! Bonus: The first 100 kids 12 and under that attend this panel will receive a gift bag filled with great comics!

12:00 – 1:00 :: Creating Comics and Raising a Family: Finding Balance
It’s tough for anyone to balance their career and home-life and in comics it can be even more-so: they’re very labour-intensive, require long hours spent without interruption and some people still don’t think that creating comics—writing, illustrating, and publishing—is a “real” job! So how do comics creators who are also parents make everything work? Join comics creators: Jim Munroe, Sword of My Mouth; Tara Tallan, Galaxion; and Claudia Davilla, Luz: The Girl of Knowing, as they discuss what it takes to balance creative and financial pursuits with the families they love.

1:00 – 2:00 :: No Rules, No Budget, All Fun! How and Why You Should Make Comics!
There are as many ways to make comics as there are comics to be made! Whether you write or draw or you’re totally new to the medium, but have a story to tell, you can make comics! Our speakers will each outline the process they take to create comics and how you can do it too. Plus, following the panel each of our speakers will be available for one-on-one consultations! Speakers include Georgia Webber, on the comics peer-review group gangLion; Ruth Tait, on digital illustration on a budget; and steflenk, on her new guide to self-publishing produced by the Xeric Foundation.

2:00 – 3:00 :: Graphic Memoirs: Three New Works
Memoirs in graphic novel form such as Maus and Persepolis have broadened the reach and appreciation of the comics medium more than any other genre and are perhaps their authors’ best-known works. Join 3 new graphic memoirists as they read from their new books: Lesley Fairfield, Tyranny; Adam Bourett, I’m Crazy; Tory Woolcott, Mirror Mind.

3:00 – 4:00 :: Sequential Presents: Oh, Canada. Surveying the Landscape of Canadian Comics
What does it mean to be a Canadian graphic novelist? What is the state of Canadian comics and graphic novels and what is its future? Just what makes a comic Canadian anyway? Join Bryan Munn and Salgood Sam, editors of the Canadian comics, news and culture blog Sequential, as they discusses the state of Canadian comics. Joining them will be representatives of Canada’s dual cartooning awards, Brad Mackay and Jeet Heer from The Doug Wright Awards and Kevin Boyd from The Joe Shuster Awards, as well as award-winning Canadian comics creators. This is sure to be a lively discussion!

4:00 – 5:00 :: Sequential Presents: Three New Comics Set in Canada
Following the discussion of the state of Canadian graphic novels, Canadian comics, news and culture blog Sequential will be presenting readings featuring three new graphic novels set in Canada. With one story published on the internet, one published by an American publisher and even one published in Canada, this is a diverse and exciting group of new work. This segment will feature readings by Willow Dawson, 100 Mile House; Jeff Lemire, Essex County; and Evan Munday, Quarter-Life Crisis.

5:00 – 6:00 :: Webcomics
Our most popular panel of 2008 returns for a second go-round! Webcomics, digital comics, online comics, call them what you will, they’re the hot-button topic in a world where ‘print’ is slowly disappearing.
Join Andy Belanger, Bottle of Awesome and Dead End 56, Faith Erin Hicks, Ice and War at Ellsmere; Emily Horne, A Softer World; Ryan North, Dinosaur Comics; and Kean Soo, Jellaby:Monster in the City, as they engage in what’s sure to be a spirited discussion of the possibilities that the internet may hold for the future of comics.

When: Sunday, September 27, 2009

Where: Victoria Park, Kitchener from 11am to 5pm. Located at the Jubilee Drive and Davis Street entrance to the event.  (map)

 
What: Graphic Novel tent featuring creator readings, interactive panels and workshops by local comic creators

Who: sponsored by WOTS Kitchener and The Dragon, serving the Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge area for 11 years. The Dragon has moved into a brand new location within the Old Quebec Street Mall found at 55 Wyndham Street North, in downtown Guelph.

Creator Guests:

Chad Solomon of Rabbit & Bear Paws
Scott Chantler of Northwest Passage
Svetlana Chamkova of Drama Con and Night School
Rob Walton of Ragmop and Chocolate Face Grace
Jay Stephens of The Secret Saturdays and Tutenstein
Lar DeSouza of Looking For Group and Least I Could Do
Eric Kim of Streta, the newest addition to Transmission X Comics
Richard Zajac of G.I.Joe and long time supporter of the HERO Initiative
Alfonso Espinos of Night Spike

Industry Guests:
Jennifer Stewart – Teacher and owner of The Dragon comic shop
Robert Haines – Joe Shuster Awards committee member

Programming:

The purpose of setting up a Graphic Novel Tent at Word On The Street Kitchener is to introduce the larger community to large number of comic and cartoon creators working in the region and all of the great work being produced.

As a literacy festival WOTS is focused on life long reading, so a sizable portion of the content for this event is ‘Kid Friendly’. The greater goal is to show the learning and entertainment value inherent in the comic/graphic novel form, and provide advocacy for a reading form which has been noticed by the greater public more and more.

11:00 to 11:30 – Chad Solomon does a reading from Rabbit & Bear Paws, plus Q&A. This book was a finalist for the Comics for Kids award.

11:30 to 12:00 – Chad Solomon will run a workshop on creating comics

12:00 to 12:30 – Scott Chantler, Chad Solomon and Jennifer Stewart participate in a panel discussing great comics for kids.

12:30 to 1:00 – Scott Chantler does a reading from Northwest Passage, plus Q&A.

1:00 to 1:30 – Scott Chantler and Svetlana Chmakova participate in a panel titled ‘diverse comics for diverse tastes’. The focus will be on teen readers, including the impact manga has had on teen reading habits.

1:30 to 2:00 – Svetlana Chmakova reads her story ‘On The Importance of Space Travel’ published in Flight 5, plus Q&A.

2:00 to 3:00 – Jay Stephens is holding an interactive children’s workshop on comics and animation.

Adult oriented programming begins:

3:00 to 3:30 – Rob Walton does a reading from Ragmop, plus Q&A.

3:30 to 4:00 – More and more adults are reading comics and graphic novels, whether these are new readers or longtime readers. A look at interesting and engaging works which would be of interest to this group.

4:00 to 5:00 – Webcomics! A phenomenon? The Future? How do you do it? Join our guests Lar DeSouza, Rob Walton and Eric Kim for an hour long panel all about webcomics.