Comics and conflict at the Imperial War Museum

August 13, 2011 — War Comics

Comics and conflict

19th-20th August, 2011

Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ

The Comics and Conflicts Conference will be held on 19-20 August, 2011 at the Imperial War Museum in London, and is aimed at comics scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts. Conference speakers and guests include: Pat Mills (Charley’s War); Martin Barker and Roger Sabin on Doonesbury; Garth Ennis (Troubled Souls, War Stories) and Francesca Cassavetti (Fabtoons).

Here’s a run down of the two days of events:

Friday 19th August:

9.00am – War Comics Conference opens; coffee and registration

10.00am – introductory talk by MARTIN BAKER and ROGER SABIN about the depiction of war in the Guardian’s comic strip Doonesbury

11.00am – choice of parallel sessions: REPRESENTING TRAUMA (Chair, Ariel Kahn) / ETHNICITY, NATIONALISM AND REPRESENTATION
(Chair, Paul Gravett)

12.20pm – Lunch

1.20pm – Panel on THE IMAGE AND REALITY OF WAR: (Chair, Garth Ennis) featuring Tim Pilcher, Darin Jensen, Isabelle Delorme

2.40pm – choice of parallel sessions: FORM AND CONTENT: (Chair, Roger Sabin) / CONFLICT AND IDEOLOGY: (Chair, Alex Fitch)

4.00pm – Coffee break

4.20pm – In conversation with PAT MILLS, from Charley’s War to Ayatollah’s Son (Chair: Grant Rogers) followed by signing

Listen to the full length interview with Pat Mills about Charley’s War conducted by Garth Rogers in 2008

6.00pm – Close

Please note: ticket cost for the entire day is £30.00 / Students £15.00 including Pat Mills talk or £6 for Mills talk only.

Saturday 20th August

10.30am – Artist DAVID COLLIER talks about his work from American Splendor to Chimo, followed by comic making master class at noon (separate ticket)

11.30am Artists and publishers discuss Trauma and Conflict (Chair, Paul Gravett) with Danish artist MIKKEL SOMMER, writer and illustrator of Obsolete, and ADRIAN SEARLE, the publisher of Dougie’s War, plus artist DAVE TURBITT.

2.00pm Artists and publishers discuss The Personal and the Political (Chair, Alex Fitch) with FRANCESCA CASSAVETTI and her mother, EILEEN CASSAVETTI talking about the latter’s wartime diary which Francesca has published as a comic; joined by SEAN DUFFIELD, publisher of War – the Human Cost plus contributing artists DANIEL LOCKE and BEN NAYLOR; and DAVID BLANDY talking about his short film Child of the Atom.

3.00pm In Conversation with GARTH ENNIS – from Troubled Souls to Battlefields; a rare UK appearance by the writer, followed by signing

Listen to Alex Fitch and Duncan Nott’s 2008 interview with Garth Ennis – part one / part two

4.30pm Film Screening: COMIC BOOKS GO TO WAR, directed by Mark Daniels, which looks at the work of Joe Sacco, Keiji Nakazawa (Barefoot Gen) and Marjane Satrapi among others, featuring new interviews with the creators + short film: CHILD OF THE ATOM by David Blandy, which explores a return visit to Hiroshima by the child of a local man and the representation of Nuclear Holocaust in Japanese animation.

All Saturday events are £6 / the film screening is FREE!

Imperial War Museum,
Lambeth Road,
London SE1 6HZ

Nearest tube: Lambeth North (Bakerloo) / Elephant and Castle (Northern line, City Branch) / Southwark (Jubilee)

Book tickets at http://wartime.iwm.org.uk

The Comics and Conflicts Conference is organised by Alex Fitch (presenter of Panel Borders, the UK’s only weekly broadcast radio show about comics), Ariel Kahn (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Roehampton University) and Paul Gravett (Comica Director).

The Comics and Conflicts events form part of a Children’s literature festival being held from 13-21 August 2011, which accompanies the Imperial War Museum’s new exhibition Once Upon A Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children.  For more information about the exhibition and the festival visit the Imperial War Museum web site.

Comics and Conflicts flyer, designed by Peter Stanbury

Comics and Conflicts is curated by Alex Fitch, Paul Gravett and Ariel Kahn