Working in partnership with the Czech Literary Centre, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) has announced the addition of five Czech comic creators to the Festival’s line-up in October.

The Czech Literary Centre is also supporting two international artists’ residencies in association with LICAF.

Katerina Cupova and Stepanka Jislova will be working in Kendal before this year’s weekend -long festival, and a similar exchange enabled graphic novelist Sayra Begum to work in Prague this summer, and Rachael Smith, the creator of Quarantine Comix, is set on visiting the European capital later this year.

The Here & Now exhibition – one of a number of exhibitions in the works this year – is also funded by the Czech Literary Centre.

“We’re thrilled to welcome five talented comic artists to Kendal this year,” said festival director Julie Tait.

“And the Literary Centre’s support for our ongoing, year-round international Comic Creator Exchange program is much appreciated.”

The Czech Literary Centre, a section of the Moravian Library, supports and promotes Czech literature abroad and in the Czech Republic.

Its aims include promoting prose, literature for children and young adults, poetry, drama, comics, non-fiction and new forms of literature. It also acts as an information hub for foreign publishers, translators, Czech studies specialists, event organisers and others interested in Czech literature.

Other international partners of LICAF include Denmark’s Art Bubble, Congo’s Bilili BD Festival, the Flemish Institute, the L’Institut Francais (the French Institute), the Italian Cultural Institute, the Philippines-based Komiket, Lyon BD Festival, the US-based National Cartoonists Society, and a number of international embassies.

Returning with a physical festival in Kendal between October 15 and 17 the Lakes International Comic Art Festival is bringing the best comic artists, writers and creators to the Lake District for a packed comic art weekend with the overall message – Comics Can Change the World.

The festival programme includes live drawing, creative workshops, a comics market place, debates, cartoonists, satire, exhibitions and some of the most amazing comic artists from across the globe.

The festival is held at venues throughout the Brewery Arts Centre and across the town of Kendal.