Kamome Shirahama is the author of the fan-favorite and critically acclaimed manga series Witch Hat Atelier, serialized beginning in 2016 and published in English and Japanese by Kodansha. Witch Hat Atelier won the 2020 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia, and in 2020, the series won the Harvey Award for the Best Manga category . A food-focused spin-off series, Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, by Hiromi Sato and created by Kamome Shirahama began English-language publication in 2023. A graduate of the design department of the Tokyo University of the Arts, Shirahama lives in Tokyo, Japan. As a freelance illustrator, Shirahama has created numerous cover illustrations for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, including Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Star Wars: The last Jedi, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey.
Lucy Sullivan is a writer & artist from London. Her acclaimed debut graphic novel Barking, based on her own experience of a mental health crisis was first published during the pandemic and quickly sold out. The new edition launched February ’24 with Avery Hill Publishing and is available for the first time in Canada & US. Alongside her comics and zines Lucy has created a variety of commissions for titles including Colossive Press Cartographies, Killtopia, Hey Amateur!, Department Of Truth and a Black Hammer short ‘Betwixt Between’ for Jeff Lemire. She is the artist on IND-XED with Fraser Campbell as well as stories with John Reppion for Skrawl Magazine, Jordan Thomas for Metallic Dynamite, Peter Davison for YOSHIN10 and Dan Watters for Razorblades (Image). Her new Folk-Horror series SHELTER is currently in development with Arts Council England. The first story Early Doors is out now - Winner of Broken Frontier’s ‘Best New Periodical Series’ Award. The second story ‘Mothers Ruin’ is in script development & scheduled for publication 2026 (TBA).
Luke Healy was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, where he also received a BA in Journalism. He has an MFA from the Centre for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, USA. He has published numerous graphic novels including Americana (And the Act of Getting Over It), How to Survive in the North, and more recently with Drawn & Quarterly: The Con Artists and Self-Esteem and the End of the World. Healy’s work has been exhibited in the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art in Manhattan and his clients include The New Yorker, BBC, Vice, and Narratively.
Lonnie Mann grew up in Long Island, New York, and has been reading comics and drawing his whole life. He studied illustration and cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York. And he has published comics in various anthologies. Lonnie currently lives with his spouse Ryan Gatts in Tokyo Japan. Gaytheist is his debut graphic novel.
Kit Anderson (she/her) is a cartoonist from Boulder, Colorado. Her short stories have been published by Parsifal Press and The Rumpus, and she received her MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies. Kit lives near Zürich with her partner and tiny dog where she enjoys walking in the woods and making comics about memory, nature, and wizards sometimes, too.
The corporeal form of Thijs Desmet resides in the medieval town of Gent, Belgium, where he makes comics and studies UFOs in a haunted beguinage. His book “Smoking Kills”, previously by Flemish publishing house Bries as “Van Roken ga je Dood”, came out in 2024 with Fantagraphics Underground. He also explores other media such as animation, zines, printmaking, ceramics and painting. It is theorised that he is actually the ghost haunting the beguinage.
Multi-award-winning contemporary artist FLuX is a practitioner of contemporary classical realism and illustration. FLuX’s work has been exhibited globally and is included in collections with notable artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons. With a
self-taught background in illustration and design, FLuX has worked with commercial clients including Apple, Swatch and others. He is also an author of graphic novels. He has received numerous awards, including Creativity International, Communication Arts, and Society of Illustrators, and has been featured in The Big Book of Illustration and Spectrum.
David Good is a member of the Yanomami tribe, author, explorer, filmmaker, and founder of the Yanomami Foundation. He is currently a PhD candidate in microbiology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. A member of the Explorer’s Club, he coordinates expeditions to Yanomami territory to support programs in health, biocultural research, education, and cultural preservation. His unique ancestry and scientific training provide a rare opportunity to build global awareness on the importance of protecting these few remaining isolated indigenous societies.