The eagerly awaited Toronto Comic Arts Festival hits May 8-9 and early information on the show is coming out. Headlining guests include Daniel Clowes, James Sturm, Dash Shaw and Jeff Lemire.

The Oscar-nominated Clowes will be on hand to launch his major new graphic novel Wilson from premier Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly. Clowes will make his début appearance in support of the work at TCAF, May 8 and 9 2010, at the Toronto Reference Library.
Drawing a diverse array of cartoonists from around the world, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is a phenomenal exhibition of international comics talent combined with a celebration of Canada’s homegrown artists. TCAF showcases the talents of its guests through an ambitious programme of exhibitor presentations, gallery showings, lectures, workshops, discussion panels, interactive readings, an artists’ marketplace and the 2010 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning.
Until now TCAF has been a bi-annual event, but due to overwhelming demand 2010 comes quickly on the heels of the smash success of TCAF 2009, which saw over 10,000 people attend the Toronto Reference Library event in a celebration of comics, graphic novels and the fine authors, illustrators and artists who create them. The 2010 Festival will be bigger than ever and makes extensive use of the iconic Toronto Reference Library, including the building’s brand-new event venue, The Bram & Bluma Appel Salon.



At the center of Festival proceedings are a who’s who of acclaimed graphic novel creators, each of whom is unveiling a new book. Featured guests include Daniel Clowes for Wilson; James Sturm, author of the internationally acclaimed The Golem’s Mighty Swing, and his new full-length graphic novel Market Day; Dash Shaw, the multi-disciplinary cartoonist whose The Unclothed Man In The 35th Century A.D. recently premiered on The Independent Film Channel, with Body World, his new graphic novel from Pantheon Books; Canadian graphic novelist Jeff Lemire, creator of the award-winning Essex County Trilogy, débuts his newest graphic novel Sweet Tooth: Out of the Dark Woods.
The addition of The Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at Toronto Reference Library also make possible TCAF’s first major installation, The Webcomics Pavilion. The large-scale exhibition space will feature several of the top cartoonists who serialize their work online, who are among the most popular and best-known in the world! The Webcomics Pavilion is currently scheduled to feature:
• Canadians Kate Beaton (Hark, A Vagrant!), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), and Joey Comeau and Emily Horne (a softer world)
• U.S. Cartoonists Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie), Andrew Hussie (MSPaint Adventures), David Malki ! (Wondermark), and Jonathan Rosenberg (Goats)
• All the way from Malmo, Sweden, Rene Engström (Anders Loves Maria).
• … and dozens more creators
Over the next two weeks TCAF will announce additional featured guests and related events, including details about the official kick-off event Friday, May 7. For more information visit the TCAF website regularly: http://torontocomics.com.

1 COMMENT

  1. Last year’s TCAF was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever done. I can’t wait to be back this year. I’ll be helping with the planning of some fantastic kid events.