KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Shobo is a videogame developer and writer of African science fiction and fantasy from Lagos, Nigeria. He co-created the Afrofuturist science fiction comic New Masters at Image, the Kickstarter comic Outcasts of Jupiter, and the all-ages adventure comic Buckhead. He is a recipient of the 2019 Creators for Creators Grant and spends much of his time writing comics and videogames and researching the mythology, religious concepts, and history of the Yoruba people.

Shof is a comic book artist and director in animation born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He co-created the African futurist series New Masters and kickstarted the comic Outcasts of Jupiter. He was the art director for Liyana, an animated documentary, which won several awards including Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival and Grand Prize at the New York Children’s Film Festival. He previously worked in video games as a character designer and art director and is currently directing a Nigerian sci-fi animated short film with Triggerfish and Disney titled Moremi.

Tillie Walden is a cartoonist and illustrator from Austin, TX. She is the creator of six graphic novels, including the Eisner award winning books Spinning and Are You Listening? She has been awarded an LA Times Book Prize as well as multiple Ignatz awards for her work. She graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont where she now teaches during the school year and summers. 

Chuck Wendig is the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers, The Book of Accidents, and more than two dozen other books for adults and young adults. A finalist for the Astounding Award and an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, he has also written comics and games, and for film and television. He’s known for his popular blog, terribleminds, and books about writing such as Damn Fine Story. He lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his family.

Claudia Aguirre is a cofounder of Boudika Comics, where she self-publishes comics and is a GLAAD Media Award and Eisner Award nominee. Her comic works include Lost on Planet Earth, Hotel Dare, Firebrand, Morning in America, and Kim & Kim.

Mark Bouchard is the writer/co-creator of the graphic novellas It Took Luke: Overworked & Underpaid and Leaf Peepers. They are also the editor/creator of the anthology Everything Is Going Wrong: Comics On Punk & Mental Illness. Mark lives in Chicago with their dog, Juicebox; some of their favorite pastimes include watching the train pass by their window and listening to music that sounds like how chewing tinfoil feels.

Ed Brubaker is one of the most acclaimed writers in comics, winning five best writer Eisner and Harvey Awards in the last ten years. His bestselling work with Sean Phillips on CRIMINAL, INCOGNITO, FATALE, and THE FADE OUT has been translated around the world to great acclaim, and Marvel's movies featuring his co-creation, The Winter Soldier, have all been international blockbusters. Ed lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their crazy dog, where he works in comics, film, and television, most recently on HBO's new hit series WESTWORLD. Sign up for his newsletter here.

Maureen Burdock is a graphic storyteller and scholar. She is the author of Feminist Fables for the Twenty-First Century: The F Word Project, and she has contributed comics to various collections, including the Eisner-winning anthology Menopause: A Comic Treatment; Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology; and Pathographics: Narrative, Aesthetics, Contention, Community. You can follow her work at maureenburdock.com.

Cedric Caballes is a die-hard RPG fan and the creator of the hit Tapas webcomic The Witch's Throne. He cites his fascination with fantasy role-playing games and shonen manga as what inspires most of his artwork, which range from character designs to multiple webcomic concepts under his pen name WhatAHero. Cedric was born in the Philippines, raised in the United States, and currently lives in Maryland, daydreaming of magic, dragons, and level-up notifications whenever he's not busy drawing or writing.

Deniz Camp writes comics. The son of Turkish and Filipina immigrants, born in the Philippines but raised in the American midwest, he’s known for 20th Century Men (Image Comics), Agent of WORLDE (Scout Comics), Maxwell's Demons (Vault Comics), and Bloodshot Unleashed (Valiant Ent). He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, 11 chickens and a mountain of hope.

Cherish Chen is a Chinese American writer in Los Angeles. In a previous life, she was a producer in film marketing and digital production, producing movie trailers and something called the RocketJump Film School. Stories rooted in the nebulous space between the real and the fantastical are her bread and butter. She writes the upcoming Image Comics miniseries Radiant Red.

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of more than twenty books for young readers including the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy. Her work has received a plethora of honors, including dozens of starred reviews, NAACP Image Award nominations, a Coretta Scott King honor, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and a Christopher Award. Her work has been named to ALA Notable Books and Bank Street Best Children’s Book lists and she lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York.

Simon Curtis first appeared in Nickelodeon's Spectacular!, and released his viral album, 8Bit Heart, in 2010. The following year, his debut album at retail, RA, landed at number 19 on Billboard's Dance and Electronic Albums chart, all without the aid of a label, manager or publicist. Now, Simon has over 111 million plays and 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, as well as almost 1 billion plays across YouTube. His debut novel from Simon & Schuster, Boy Robot, was released in 2016, and the sequel, Robot Army, is set to arrive in 2024. The Witches of Silverlake is Simon’s debut graphic novel.

Dozer is a nonbinary illustrator, comic artist and bird parent from Germany. They’ve done work on BOOM! Studios’ Lumberjanes, several German TV and movie illustration and animation gigs, and their own wrestling fan-comic. They are always looking for new exciting stories and diverse characters to illustrate!

A resident of Portland for over 20 years, Aaron Durán's been writing for twice that amount of time. When he isn't crafting tales, he's creating a menu or a homebrew to share with friends and loved ones.

Jumata Emill is a journalist who has covered crime and local politics in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana. He earned his BA in mass communications from Southern University and A&M University, he’s also a Pitch Wars alum and a member of the Crime Writers of Color.

Jay Faerber was raised in rural Pennsylvania on a steady diet of comic books and cop shows. After working on various titles for Marvel and DC Comics, Jay wrote and co-created the comic book series NOBLE CAUSES, DYNAMO 5, NEAR DEATH, and COPPERHEAD, among others. He has also written for the TV series Ringer, Star-Crossed, Zoo, Supergirl and Invincible. He lives in Burbank, CA with his wife, son, dog, and cat.

Mark Fearing has never been bitten by a werewolf, a zombie, or a vampire. But he was bitten by the creative bug which is far more dangerous. Books he's illustrated include The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot, by Margaret McNamara, and Ben Franklin's in My Bathroom!, by Candace Fleming, as well as The Great Thanksgiving Escape, which he also wrote. He lives in Oregon with his family.

Asiah Fulmore is a freelance illustrator who currently lives in Columbia, SC.  She holds a BFA in Visual Communication, from Winthrop University in South Carolina and since has been interning under comic book illustrator Sanford Greene. She has worked with DC comics, NBC Universal, Surfing Giant Studios, and Benedict College. She is currently celebrating her first comics — Amethyst Princess of Gemworld, by Shannon and Dean Hale, and Family Time by Lily and Robert Windom.

Carson Grubaugh is a professor, oil painter, and cartoonist, and was named the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist of 2011 and placed 3rd in the Portraiture category of the 15th Art Renewal Center Salon. Carson collaborated with Dave Sim on the Eisner Award Nominated graphic novel The Strange Death of Alex Raymond and comic book You Don't Know Jack: Two-Fisted Comic-Store Manager. Following Strange Death, Carson created The Abolition of Man, the first comic book series in the world to be entirely illustrated by an artificial intelligence.

John Steven Gurney is the author and illustrator of the Fuzzy Baseball graphic novel series and the picture book Dinosaur Train. He has illustrated over 140 chapter books, including the A to Z Mysteries, the Bailey School Kids, and The Calendar Mysteries series. He has illustrated board games, advertising, posters, puzzles, and a shopping bag for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. John has worked as a caricature artist from Atlantic City to Las Vegas, and on the streets of New York City, but primarily in New England.

Katherine Higgs-Coulthard graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor's in education and earned a master's degree from Indiana University, before completing her doctorate in Education through Northeastern University. She has taught kindergarten, third, and fifth grades. Now she trains teachers at Saint Mary’s College and offers writing camps and classes for children and teens through Michiana Writers’ Center.

Matthew Holm is part of the fantastic sister-and-brother team behind the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse graphic novel series, the New York Times bestseller Sunny Side Up, and the Squish series. He is also a graphic designer and freelance writer.

Jay Hosler is a biology professor at Juniata College and a cartoonist. His first graphic novel, Clan Apis, won a Xeric Award. His book Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth, was a Junior Library Guild selection and has been included in the Texas Library Association's "Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List." He lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.

Hugh “H.D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer from Atlanta. He's the winner of several indie book awards and he is committed to telling stories about Black kids and their many expansive worlds.

Maiya Ibrahim is the debut author of the SPICE ROAD trilogy. Born and raised in Sydney, she has been writing stories since she learned how to boot up a PC and open her notepad. When not writing, Maiya can be found indulging in Lebanese food with her family, playing Skyrim, watching Game of Thrones, or swimming with friends at one of Australia's many spectacular beaches.

Dave Kennedy is a freelance artist, currently working full time creating horror and fantasy comics with John Carpenter, Sandy King Carpenter and his old school-mate, writer Mike Sizemore. He is currently working with Mike on Fetch - a tale of a girl battling unimaginable odds (and Gods) to bring her best friend home. Before settling into comic work, Dave worked for many years in the videogame, graphic design, storyboarding and concept art industries. You'd think he'd be tired of drawing by now, right? Wrong. He's just getting started.

Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Simmons College. She is the New York Times best-selling author of the historical fantasy novels Loki: Where Mischief Lies; The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which won a 2018 Stonewall Honor Award and the New England Book Award; and its sequel, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. When not writing, she works as an independent bookseller, drinks too much Diet Coke, and naps with her Saint Bernard, Queenie.

Megan Wagner Lloyd is the author of the kids' graphic novel and Indie Bestseller Allergic, co-created with illustrator Michelle Mee Nutter, which the New York Times called "madcap fun." She's also the author of the picture books Finding Wild and Fort-Building Time, illustrated by Abigail Halpin, Building Books, illustrated by Brianne Farley, and Paper Mice, illustrated by Phoebe Wahl.

Camilo Moncada Lozano is an Mexico City-based artist best known for his work on Codex Black, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views in its original incarnation on Tapas. Along with his work in comics, Camilo is responsible for the 2017 animated short film Donaji & the Magical Poncho.

Marcos Martin is a Catalan comic book artist whose work at includes such titles as Batgirl: Year One, Breach, Dr. Strange: The Oath, Amazing Spider-man, and Daredevil. In 2013 he founded the online platform Panel Syndicate with writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrator/colorist Muntsa Vicente in order to distribute their creator-owned comic, The Private Eye. Both projects have received critical acclaim for being one of the first DRM-free, pay-what-you-want comics and has continued to publish other works by the same team as well as opening up to other renowned creators.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Nick Medina appreciates blues-based music, local folklore, and snowy winters. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication, and has worked as a college instructor. He enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, exploring haunted cemeteries, and all sorts of scary stuff. Sisters of the Lost Nation is his debut novel.

Maria Ingrande Mora (they/she) is a content strategist and the author of the acclaimed young adult fantasy, Fragile Remedy (Flux, March 2021), a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Their love languages are snacks, queer joy, and live music. A graduate of the University of Florida, Maria lives near a wetlands preserve with two cats, two teenagers, and two billion mosquitoes.

Haley Newsome is a comic creator, illustrator, and internet artist with millions of followers across Youtube, Instagram, and Twitch. She loves horror movies, animation, and ghosts. She started Unfamiliar during sleepless nights in art school. This is her first graphic novel. Haley has lived in Idaho, Oregon, Calgary, and Tokyo, and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Gabe Cole Novoa has an MFA in Writing for Children and writes speculative fiction featuring marginalized characters grappling with identity. Gabe is the author of the Beyond the Red trilogy, written under a former pseudonym. He also runs a popular writing-focused YouTube channel, bookishpixie, and is active on Twitter.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Roye Okupe is an award-winning filmmaker, author, speaker, and entrepreneur whose passion for comics and animation led him to found YouNeek Studios in 2012. In 2019 he partnered with Dark Horse Comics to further expand the YouNeek YouNiverse, an interconnected line of sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero graphic novels inspired by African history and mythology, and created by African artists and writers.

Sarah Sax studied illustration, animation, and storytelling at Hampshire College. She is a former Creative Director at Lumos Labs (Lumosity) in San Francisco and cares deeply about how, why, and what people create (and how to foster the creative spark in those who've forgotten or are fearful of trying).

Mairghread Scott is an animation and comic book writer. Her animated work includes Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures, and Star Wars: Resistance. Her comics work ranges from Batgirl to Transformers. She’s also released two original graphic novels, The City on the Other Side and Toil and Trouble. Mairghread lives in southern California with her husband and son. She hopes, one day, to finish that cross-stitch. Her most recent work is Sea Serpent's Heir: Book One with Skybound Entertainment.

Renee Scott is a young adult librarian based in NYC, reviewer for School Library Journal's blog, Good Comics for Kids, as well as a dedicated otaku and gamer. She is a lifelong fan of comics, anime, and manga. She can be found on Twitter at @libraryladynyc, and on her review blog, The Library Lady of NYC Reviews.

Alex Segura is an acclaimed, award-winning writer of novels, comic books, short stories, and podcasts. He is the author of the noir novel Secret Identity (Flatiron Books), Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and the Pete Fernandez Mystery series (including the Anthony Award–nominated crime novels Dangerous Ends, Blackout, and Miami Midnight). He’s won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story two years in a row; written comic books including the superhero noir The Black Ghost, The Dusk, and The Awakened; and worked at Oni Press, Archie Comics, and DC Comics.

Stephen Shaskan has written and illustrated over a dozen children's books, including the Pizza and Taco series of graphic chapter books. He holds a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design and worked with kids for twenty years as an early-childhood educator and an after-school and summer art teacher.

Mike Sizemore is a writer of horror and science fiction based in London, Uk. He’s written several graphic novels for Stormking including both Vortex books and the upcoming Fetch which is his first book aimed at younger readers. He’s looking forward to having a comic that his kids can read. He’s currently working on the final volume of Asylum with Sandy King Carpenter.

Kyle Starks is the Eisner nominated creator of Sexcastle and Rock Candy Mountain (both at Image Comics) and has also written a bunch of other great stuff like Rick and Morty and Invader Zim and is generally recognized as a pretty good, laugh making, funny boy. His most recent work is I Hate This Place with Skybound Entertainment.

Lily Tyndall is a Library Technician in the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress. She works daily conserving general collections items and often treats comic books and other serial publications through her work with the Serials Division. Lily holds a BA in American Studies from Georgetown College at Georgetown University and an MA in Art & Museum Studies from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University.

Andrew Wheeler is a Shuster and Eisner-winning writer and editor. His credits include Another Castle at Oni Press, Love and War at Comixology, the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurers Guides, and the Prism-nominated all ages LGBTQ anthology Shout Out. His most recent book is Sins of the Black Flamingo, with Image Comics. He has also contributed to the Marvel and DC Pride anthologies.

Jennie Wood is a non-binary author, musician and creator of the Flutter graphic novel series. Flutter was named one of The Advocate’s best LGBTQ graphic novels of the year, a Barnes & Noble book of the month, a Virginia Library Association Diversity Honor Book and published as a collection by Dark Horse. Their work can be seen in several anthologies, including The New York Times best-selling FUBAR, the Eisner award-winning Love is Love, Planet Comics, and John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight.

Alec Worley is a freelance creative writer from South London. He works full-time in comics, fiction, and audio drama creating stories in the worlds of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and every genre in between. He’s worked on tales for Warhammer, Judge Dredd, Star Wars and more. John Carpenter’s Night Terrors: The Coffin Road is his first American graphic novel.

MODERATORS

Monisha Blair is the head librarian at Key Middle School in Springfield, VA. She earned her Masters of Information from Rutgers University in December 2020, with a concentration in School Library Media. She achieved a B.A. in Journalism from George Washington University in 2005. Since January 2020, Monisha has reviewed middle grade fiction, picture books, and young adult fiction for School Library Journal. She served on the SLJ Best Books Committees for 2020-2022.

Kristi Chadwick is a Consultant for Massachusetts Library System, providing advisory and continuing education for multitype library members all across the Commonwealth. Kristi is also the columnist for Library Journal's Science Fiction & Fantasy reviews. You can find her discussing writing, books, libraries, and her love for coffee, chickens, and fountain pens on Twitter @booksnyarn.

Crystal Chen is a teen librarian at The New York Public Library. She chaired YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2020-21 and is currently a community admin for We Here (wehere.space).

Sandra Farag, MLIS, is Head of Youth Services at Kalamazoo Public Library (MI).

Grace D. Gipson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. As a Black future feminist/pop culture scholar, Dr. G's area of research interest centers on Black popular culture, digital humanities, representations of race and gender within comic books, Afrofuturism, and race and new media. Outside of the classroom, you can find Dr. G working in the community and on her social networks: Instagram- @lovejones20 and Twitter- @GBreezy20.

Alea Perez has been a Youth and Young Adult Services manager in the Chicago suburbs since June 2015. She aims to help children, teens, and their caregivers discover the many services libraries provide. Alea is dedicated to advocacy for youth and teen services, youth and teen services management, graphic novels for youth and teens, and equity and inclusion in the field at large.

Ashley Rayner is a Librarian at NORC, University of Chicago (IL).

Becky Spratford, MLIS, is a Readers' Advisor in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She provides content for EBSCO’s NoveList database and writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Becky is a 20- year locally elected Library Trustee and a Board member for the Reaching Across Illinois Library System. Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Third Edition [ALA Editions, 2021]. You can follow Becky on Twitter @RAforAll.

Desiree Thomas is a Youth Services Librarian in Worthington Ohio. She has worked in libraries for the past 22 years and believes that our lives are made better when we share stories and learn about each other. She is an avid gardener, yogi, and reader’s advisory enthusiast.

Allison Tran is a Library & Cultural Services Supervisor for the City of Mission Viejo in California. She's dedicated to fostering self-expression, curiosity, and empathy in the community through art and literature. Before earning her Masters of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University in 2006, Allison taught English in Japan.

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