Programming Schedule
In addition to all the incredible exhibitors tabling at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, TCAF offers an amazing weekend full of panels, workshops and creator spotlights at both the Mattamy (50 Carlton Street) and the nearby Courtyard Downtown Marriott (475 Yonge Street)
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Watch this space as we continue to roll out the weekend's complete slate of programming as the festival approaches.
Mattamy Athletic Centre
Courtyard Downtown Marriott
All Weekend
Saturday 10:15AM-6:15PM ⋅ Sunday 10:15AM-3:45PM
Leaside Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Still Zine: TCAF x CCOL Zine Jam
Join Still Zine, TCAF, and the Canada Comics Open Library (CCOL) for a weekend-long Zine Jam!
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Still Zine is an ongoing Toronto-based community anthology created by Jordan Reg. Aelick (@endlessfret), where contributors share one-page diary entries about everyday life. This year at TCAF, you’re invited to take part in a special edition of the project by documenting your experience at the festival through comics!
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Head to the Leaside Room at the Courtyard Marriott anytime during the weekend to draw your own one-page journal comic. CCOL volunteers will be there with art supplies, zine-making guides, and a cozy reading area full of comics for inspiration. Whether you're a seasoned artist or trying this for the first time, we’ll be there to help! Submit your finished comic in person or by email to jordan@canadacomicsol.org to have it included in a special TCAF 2025 community zine. A digital version will be available on the TCAF website after the festival, and printed copies will be available at CCOL’s lending library (267 College St.) in downtown Toronto.
Saturday, June 7
10:30-11:30AM
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Graphic Novels Grow Up:
20 years of notables comic titles for young adult and teen readers
In 2005 Scholastic launched its Graphix imprint with the publication of Jeff Smith's Bone, and then, in 2006, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese received multiple accolades including an American Library Association (ALA) Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. In the 20 years since, comics, graphic novels, and manga dedicated to teen readers have proliferated dramatically in number and in the range of topics and lived experiences profiled in the pages. In a panel moderated by comics and teen reading scholar, Dr. Lucia Cedeira Serantes (Young People, Comics and Reading: Exploring a Complex Reading Experience), hear from notable and emerging voices in young adult comics, libraries, and education about opportunities in these spaces then and now. With Dani Diaz (Dreamover), Mary Shyne (You and Me on Repeat) with additional panelists TBA.
12:00-1:00PM
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Ask a (Comics) Librarian
Did you know that comics librarianship is over 50 years old? Or that libraries have championed graphic novels as 'real reading' for just as long? Hear from real life library workers from a variety of libraries about what comics librarianship looks like in their professional practice, plus their tips and tricks for starting, growing, and evolving graphic novel collections, and what comics - for kids, for teens, and for adults - librarians are reading and recommending. Panelists to be announced soon!
1:30-2:30PM
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
In a panel moderated by Megan Halsband (Library of Congress, Webcomics Archive), panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities of publishing in born digital formats and turning those webcomics into print. Featuring a variety of notable and award nominated webcomic artists including Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Danielle Corsetto (Girls with Slingshots), and Michael Grover (Deeply Dave), this panel will discuss the benefits, responsiveness and community aspects of publishing digitally and the opportunities when these digital works reach new audiences in print form. Topics discussed will include digital borrowing and reading for schools and libraries, and implications for award lists.
Deeply Digital:
From Webcomics to Print
2:00 - 3:00PM
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Sunday Mass
A Spotlight Interview with Anna Meyer
Boys, bills, parties, work... demon-possession, just another day in the life of a twenty-something "city girl" and recovering Irish American Catholic trying to make her way through the world. Join artist and author Anna Meyer to celebrate the release of her debut graphic novel Saint Catherine (23rd St.), in this spotlight conversation on all things art, authenticity, theology, demonology and no shortage of Catholic guilt. Stop by the 23rd St. table after where Anna will be signing her debut graphic novel!
2:30 - 3:30PM
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Self-Portraits as Self-Love
Workshop on creating avatars that explore identity and embrace your beautiful, unique self
The characters we create are an empowering way to delve into parts of our identity we don't get to "in real life." Join cartoonist Amy Noseworthy in this workshop on crafting characters and avatars as an exercise in building self-esteem and exploring identity. Bring a sketchpad or grab a piece of paper and create an avatar worthy of the power inside in this interactive, creativity-engaging workshop. Beginners welcome!
5:00-6:00PM
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Looking for your next great graphic novel read? Look no further! Our expert panel of comics library workers, educators, publishers, and creators pitch their favorite new, notable and back list titles from the past 5 years. Each panelist will select and talk about their favourite 3-5 comic manga, and graphic novel titles for kids, teens, and all ages audiences. Panelists to be announced soon!
What Should I Read Next?
New and Notable Graphic Novels for Kids, Teens, and All Ages
Sunday, June 8
11:30AM-12:30PM
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
In the last five years schools and libraries have experienced the highest number of bans and challenges since the 1950s - with an exceptional number of bans targeting comics, manga, graphic novels, and other visual materials, especially those by queer and BIPOC creators and about queer and BIPOC stories. In this panel hear from frontline library workers, educators, and comic creators and publishers about what book challenges and bans are - and what you can do to fight them! Learn about some of the recent comics titles that have been banned or challenged - and learn more about the history of comic book bans and challenges in the United States - and Canada (spoiler alert: Canada was more active than you may have realized in the early days of comic book bans!) Panelists to be announced soon!
Be Prepared!
The TCAF Guide to Fighting Comic Book Bans and Challenges
12:00 - 1:00PM
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Food is more than just sustenance; it houses language of memory, culture, and identity. From family recipes and cultural dishes to memorable meals, participants are to discover how food can serve as both metaphor and memory in storytelling. In this workshop, attendees will explore how to weave their personal stories into comics and use them as ingredients to finish a "dish", a one pager comic that breaks down one recipe into several frames. With Summer Kim.
Food Frames
Visual Recipe and Edible Narratives Workshop
1:30-2:30PM
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Gert might hate Fairyland, but there's no hating the multitudinous contributions to comics by veteran illustrator Derek Laufman. From Disney to DC; from the monastery massacre of Crimson Fall to the sore-backed titular artist in A Day In the Life of a Middle Aged Artist; from Gotham to Metropolis to the Land of Ooo to the hateful Fairyland and galaxies far, far away, join Laufman in conversation with festival director Amie Wright in this spotlight live drawing session exploring his process and oeuvre.