We have a packed schedule for you this year. All of our panels and workshops will take place in the Department of Discovery on the ground floor of the building. They also continue to be free and we aim to record them so that we can publish them onto our YouTube channel. If you are attending a panel or workshop and ask a question which is recorded you can let our volunteer know that you would not like to feature in the video which will let us know to edit it out later on. We will probably ask if we can still use your question but use a voiceover to ask it.
Guests
With special thanks from the Bristol Pride Community Fund we have been able to invite some very special people to our festival this year.
Hamish Steele (he/they)
Hamish is an Eisner awarding winning comic book creator, animation director and TV writer with over a decade of experience in traditional publishing and self publishing. His webcomic DeadEndia was adapted into the Netflix animation Dead End: Paranormal Park, which he also worked as the show runner. His most current published work, GO-MAN, draws on Hamish’s own childhood experiences in an action packed, superhero series.
Eve Greenwood (they/he)
Eve has been working in the comic scene for over a decade as well as a continuing positive force for the comic community. They are the founder of the micropublisher Quindrie Press and now the co-director of Small Press Scotland CIC. They were nominated for a Creative Edinburgh Leadership Award for 2025 for their work in the Scottish comics community.
Along with their self published work they are also a freelancer in writer, illustrator, letterer and editor as well as giving University talks on comics and publishing.
Ollie Hicks (they/he) & Emma Oosterhaus (she/her)
Ollie and Emma are the collaborative team behind GRAND SLAM ROMANCE, a queer magical girl softball romance series, rated one of Comixology’s best comics of 2025 and winning second place in the Top 10 Best Smut Comics of 2025 by The Mary Sue.
Outside of their collaborative work, Ollie and Emma both write and illustrate their own self published and traditionally published work. Both embracing the messy, funny and horny stories in life.
Timings
- 11:30 Comics and Disability Panel
- 12:30 Writing Comics: Getting Ideas, Getting Started, and Keeping Going with Ollie Hicks
- 13:30 Autobiographical Comics Panel
- 14:30 How to diversify skillsets for a swiss army knife career with Ang Hui Qing
- 15:30 Depicting Your Culture into Comics Panel
Panels & Workshops
Take a look at the two workshops/talks we have planned. Both of these should max out at 45 minutes as we need time to turn around the room for the next event. The panels are aimed to be much more conversational between creators and the host. This year we are privileged to have Sarah L Miles come and be the host for this year’s panels. Sarah is a seasoned panel host and moderator, running panels at events such as San Diego Comic Con, MCM London and Thought Bubble.
11:30 – Comics and Disability Panel
Featuring Sarah Millman aka Milmo and SK Schäfer
A look at what it is like to work in comics as a disabled creator, how the industry helps or hinders, and what the benefits or drawbacks of working in comics are.
12:30 – Writing Comics: Getting Ideas, Getting Started, and Keeping Going
Delivered by Ollie Hicks (They/He)
A comic’s creation and production can be a rewarding yet long road. Ollie will be sharing their tips and tricks on seeing a comic project through from start to finish and keeping motivation at every step.
Ollie Hicks is a Gender Non Conforming Butch Dyke Freak. They are the writer of the graphic novel trilogy GRAND SLAM ROMANCE (co-created with Emma Oosterhous). Since 2020 they have been professionally editing comics. They edited over 40 titles whilst working in-house at Rebellion (and picked up an Eisner award nomination for their work on The Ballad of Halo Jones Full Colour Omnibus Edition) and more recently co-edited Discord Comics’ Succulent: Trans Inclusive Sapphic Erotic Comics with Tab Kimpton and Niki Smith.
13:30 – Autobiographical Comics Panel
Featuring Fredde Lanke, Wolfgang Crowe & Theo Parish
Autobiographical comics tell a very personal story and it can be told in so many ways. Weather it be the raw depiction of traumatic incidences and the scars they leave behind, using humour to look back on parts of their life or just documenting your journey to show others they are not alone. How do creators portray personal anecdotes in sequential art when queer lives are far from straight forward?
14:30 – How to diversify skillsets for a swiss army knife career
Delivered by Ang Hui Qing (They/Them)
This workshop is about how to begin diversifying your skillsets for a “swiss-army knife” career, so that when one avenue of work dries up, you can pivot for options. Also great if you are a curious or indecisive creative, or stumped with choice paralysis! This is designed as a jumping off point for people of all creative disciplines to think about their strengths, wants, needs and potential markets.
Ang Hui Qing is a visual development artist and illustrator. They are based in Bristol, UK, after moving from Malaysia. They’ve worked in animation, children’s books, editorial, and comics. Their main love is telling stories with colour and characters. Their art seeks to explore the fantastical in the mundane, and the mundane in the fantastical.
15:30 – Depicting Your Culture in Comics Panel
Featuring Dominique Duong, Pigeon & Shazleen Khan
While we celebrate comics and zines about queers lives, we also celebrate comics from other diversities. Independent creators use their craft to tell stories of their backgrounds and cultures, bringing a richer variety of stories from all different walks of life. We’ve gathered three accolades in their craft to chat about how expressing and taking inspiration from your culture can play an important role in shaping your comics.
