In 2019, the Czech Literary Centre (CLC), a branch of the Moravian Library, signed a memorandum of long-term cooperation with the Lakes International Comic and Art Festival (LICAF), which takes place every October in Kendal, UK. Both parties agreed to organize exchange residencies for Czech and British artists for the period of at least three years, i.e. from 2019 to 2021.
Another result of the close cooperation between the CLC and the LICAF organisers is the focus on Czech Comics in 2021. (Originally, the Czech Republic should have been the focus of the 2020 festival but due to the pandemic this has been postponed to 2021.)
Five Czech events at this year’s festival
Czech comics art will also receive considerable attention at this year’s LICAF Live (October 9 – 11). Five Czech events are prepared, the most significant of which is a digital exhibition of the comics artist and illustrator Toy_Box. Another important part of the festival’s programme will be a short film mapping the origin of the silent comics Raymond, created by Vojtěch Mašek during his 2019 residency in Kendal.
Visitors to the festival’s website can also look forward to a video trailer of the English edition of the graphic novel Zátopek (translated by Jan Novák, published by SelfMadeHero), a lecture by Pavel Kořínek from the Institute of Czech Literature, and Lucie Lomová’s participation in Pass the Panel.
The complete overview of LICAF Live can be seen HERE.
LICAF’s Czech focus in 2021
The Czech Literary Centre’s cooperation with the Lakes festival will culminate in October 2021, when the Czech Republic will be the main guest country of the festival. Here, the CLC plans to present six Czech comics creators in close collaboration with both Pavel Kořínek and British journalist, editor and comics expert Paul Gravett.
The programme of the Czech focus will consist of at least 4-5 events (lectures, discussions, live drawings, book presentations). For example, the launch of the English edition of the graphic novel The Sisters Dietl by Vojtěch Mašek (translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood, forthcoming in Centrala) is planned. A key part of the Czech presentation at LICAF 2021 will be the new comics exhibition Here and Now produced by Czech Centres.