Toronto Comic Arts Festival Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

Press Release:

Fans of comics, manga, and graphic literature will be clearing their calendars this May to attend the 10th Anniversary of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival! Taking place May 11^th and 12^th 2013 at Toronto Reference Library & The Appel Salon, TCAF is expected to draw a record crowd of 20,000 across all festival events, and will reach new heights as one of the most celebrated literary comics events in the world!

Founded in 2003 in conjunction with The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival seeks “to promote the breadth and diversity of comics, and what is considered comics, as legitimate medium of literary and artistic worth.” By partnering with Presenting Sponsor Toronto Public Library, TCAF has achieved its goal of changing the Canadian comics landscape… and the first ten years were just the beginning! TCAF 2013 will feature the largest and most international array of comics authors and artists in the history of the Festival, a virtual who’s who of literary cartoonists including featured guests:

• Art Spiegelman: Author of Maus, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Co-Founder RAW Magazine. Debuting:Co-Mix
• Francoise Mouly: Art Editor of The New Yorker, Founder of Toon Books, Co-Founder RAW Magazine
• Taiyo Matsumoto Author of Tekkon Kinkreet (adapted into film by Sony Pictures). First North American event. Debuting: Sunny Volume 1. (Japan)
• Raina Telgemeier: New York Times Bestselling Author of the childrens’ and middle-grade graphic novels Smile and Drama
• Blutch: Angouleme Grand Prix Winner. First North American event. Debuting: So Long, Silver Screen. (France)
• Gengoroh Tagame: Acclaimed Japanese gay comics creator. First North American event. Debuting: The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. (Japan)
• Dash Shaw: Author of BodyWorld. Debuting: New School.
• Maurice Vellekoop: Acclaimed illustrator and comics author. Artist of TCAF 10^th Anniversary Poster.

(More detailed biographies follow at the end of this release).

These seven featured guests join a fantastic and diverse array of more than 300 Canadian and international cartoonists who will make up the 2013 Festival.

PROGRAMS:

The World’s Stage (in Toronto): The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is the most internationally-focused comics Festival in North America, and TCAF 2013 will see the largest number of international cartoonists yet! Representative cartoonists will be on hand from more than 17 countries, including Austria, Australia, Brazil, England, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, The U.S.A., Canada, with more to be announced. TCAF 2013 will prominently feature gallery showings and installations of work by Australian, Finnish, French, and Japanese cartoonists, details TBA.

TCAF TURNS TEN: The 10^th Anniversary of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival will not go unobserved, as a massive participatory gallery-show will mark the official kick-off of the festival, held at and in conjunction with Steamwhistle Gallery. The thousand-plus cartoonists who have participated in TCAF events since 2003 will be invited to contribute their special vision ofToronto and Comics in a wonderful celebration of the Festival and the city we call home.

The World Of Taiyo Matsumoto: This talented and prolific cartoonist’s career will be explored through a full program of Festival events, headlined by an exhibition of original artwork and goods, to be held at and in conjunction with The Japan Foundation, Toronto. Further events will include a special screening of the filmTekkon Kinkreet (based on his graphic novel), with Director Michael Arias and Screenwriter Anthony Weintraub in attendance.

Everything You Love… And More!: TCAF 2013 will reprise our most popular programming from the history of the Festival, including our popular Webcomics Pavilion, OWLkids Kids Area, Wowee Zonk Small Press Area, Panel Discussions and Interviews, Workshops, Readings, and much more. These events will take place in and around Toronto Reference Library, official TCAF hotel The Marriott Bloor-Yorkville, and the Yonge-Bloor neighbourhood.

Over the next several months, TCAF will announce additional Featured Guests from Canada and around the world, details of programming and related events, and a full run-down of all that’s in store at the 2013 Festival. We will be sending PR for all events, but be sure to check the TCAF Website and social media for up-to-the-minute updates!

TCAF Website: http://torontocomics.com
Twittter: @TorontoComics
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2204475413/

SPONSORS
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival would not be possible without the assistance of our sponsors and partners, including presenting sponsor Toronto Public Library and retail sponsor The Beguiling Books & Art.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $157 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil  a investi 157 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

TCAF is produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

TCAF would like to recognize the efforts of the following organization in planning TCAF on an ongoing basis: The French Consulate in Toronto, The Japan Foundation, The Italian Cultural Institute, NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad), The Flemish Literature Fund, and the Australia Council for the Arts

In addition, TCAF would like to thank publishers Drawn & Quarterly, VIZ Media LLC., OWLkids, Fantagraphics, Picturebox Inc., Random House Canada, Scholastic Canada, and First Second for their assistance.

Sponsorship opportunities for TCAF 2013 are still available, please contact us at:contact@torontocomics.com for more info.

PRESS
All general press inquiries, interview and press accreditation requests should be submitted to: media@torontocomics.com.

FEATURED GUEST BIOGRAPHIES:

Art Spiegelman is the acclaimed author of the hugely-influential autobiographical graphic novel Maus, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. The co-founder of the influential comix magazine RAW, Spiegelman comes to TCAF following his successful presidency of The Angouleme Comics Festival in France, and to debut his new career retrospective Co-Mix from Drawn & Quarterly.

Francoise Mouly is the art director of publishing institution The New Yorker, choosing their provocative covers and illustrations amongst many other tasks. A majorly influential force in the history of comics, Mouly co-founded RAW magazine, and continues the task of defining visual literacy through her new children’s graphic novel imprint Toon Books.

Taiyo Matsumoto is a Japanese comics creator whose kinetic style and thoughtful, considered narratives have won him fans across the world. Best known for his work Tekkon Kinkreet (adapted into an animated film of the same name) Matsumoto has had a stunning career and has a strong list of works available in English, French, and, of course, Japanese. Matsumoto will debut his new series Sunny at TCAF, published by Viz Media. In addition, Taiyo Matsumoto will appear alongside Tekkon Kinkreet director Michael Arias, and screenwriter Anthony Weintraub at several events including a special screening of the film.

Raina Telgemeier is the New York Times Bestselling-author of the graphic novels Smile and Drama from Scholastic Publishing—the former of which has spent nearly two years at the top of (or very near-to) The New York Times Bestseller List and won multiple industry awards, and the latter of which has debuted this fall to rave reviews and bestseller status too!

Blutch is one of the most respected cartoonists in France, winner of the highly-prestigious Angouleme Grand Prix (perhaps the highest honour in cartooning), and a phenomenal talent whose work will finally be making its North American debut at TCAF 2013. So Long, Silver Screen will be published by PictureBox Inc., a series of interlocking short stories that will delight fans of the medium.

Gengoroh Tagame is perhaps the most famous gay cartoonist in the world, despite the translations of his work into languages other than his native Japanese not beginning in ernest until the last few years. Tagame’s work will finally make its English-language debut in the new collection The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, assembled by veteran manga editor Anne Ishii, designed by Chip Kidd, and published by PictureBox Inc.

Maurice Vellekoop is the Toronto-born artist and illustrator who has spent his distinguished career seamlessly mixing alternative comics and illustration for clients as diverse as The New York Times, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, and Toronto’s own Pink Triangle Press. Vellekoop is the illustrator of the Tenth Anniversary Toronto Comic Arts Festival poster.

Dash Shaw is a comics wunderkind, creating a series of ambitious, intelligent graphic novels that are constantly pushing against the boundaries of the medium. His graphic novels The Bottomless Bellybuttonand BodyWorld have racked up numerous award nominations and critical acclaim, and he will debut his new graphic novel New School at TCAF 2013, to be published by Fantagraphics Books.

For a full, up-to date exhibitor list including full biographies and artwork, please visit http://torontocomics.com/exhibitors/.