Comics Creators Network Meeting

Join members of the Comics Creators Network (CCN) Steering Committee at our next all networking meeting. This is a chance for current SoA Members (or those of you that maybe wish to join us in the future) to meet the committee and other fellow comic creators.

We will start the event with general welcomes from the committee and will open the floor for any attendees who may wish to introduce themselves(please note that this is fully optional). We will then move onto the breakout rooms where attendees will be put into smaller discussion groups.

This event is for SoA Members. Not a member, sign up here with our special #SoAatHome offer and get 20 per cent off for the first year of membership – use code SOAATHOME20.

Programme

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• Welcome and introductions from the Comics Creators Network Steering Committee (5-10 mins)
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• Welcome from attendees (optional) (10 mins)
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• Breakout rooms hosted by the Comics Creators Network committee members for informal chat, networking, information sharing (45 mins – three 15 min sessions)
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• Return to the main room where we will discuss: (20 mins)

 – What can the Network do for you?

 – What are our aims for 2025?

 – How can we address challenges facing comics creators and advocate for better industry standards?

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• Closing comments (5-10 mins)

Send us your questions

If you would like to send questions in advance, email comics@societyofauthors.org  with ‘CCN Meeting’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.

#SoAatHome Fundraising Bookshop

Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the #SoAatHome. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.

The Line-up

Nyla Ahmad  

Nyla Ahmad is Reading Communities Manager at Scottish Book Trust, leading on programming Book Week Scotland. Nyla was the inaugural awardee of Literature Alliance Scotland’s Next Level Award and currently serves on the Glasgow Zine Library board of trustees. She previously co-led the BHP Comics project, Full Colour, a mentoring programme for young comics creators from BAME backgrounds. She has also worked for the Glasgow Women’s Library on their museum access project, Equality in Progress. Nyla’s MPhil thesis examined South Asian and Muslim representation in comics. She served as chair of the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance Awards for three years. 

X: @NylaNylaNyla

Hannah Berry 

Hannah Berry is a comics creator, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, and current UK Comics Laureate. She is the author of three highly acclaimed and occasionally award-winning graphic novels published by Jonathan Cape, and in 2018 was inducted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. 

X: @streakofpith  | Website: www.hannahberry.co.uk | Instagram: @streakofpith

Zara Slattery 

Zara Slattery is a graphic novelist, illustrator and tutor and author of the award-winning graphic memoir, Coma. She collaborates with writers and organisations in creating work on issues around the environment, identity, health, disability and was recently the disability consultant for Canterbury Cathedral’s Miracle Windows comics project. She’s currently working on the medieval eco-fable, Sweeney’s Progress, with writer Gregory Norminton. 

X: @inksplattery | Instagram: @zaraslattery | Website: www.zaraslattery.com

Simon Moreton 

Simon Moreton is an artist and author. He draws and writes about everyday life, memory, identity, and our relationship to the histories of the places we live in. As well as being a committed self-publisher, his comics have been published by Avery Hill, Uncivilized, Kilgore Books, and Retrofit. His latest book, WHERE?, was published by Little Toller in 2021, and is about his father’s death and his childhood in the Shropshire countryside. He is Associate Professor of Creative Economies at UWE Bristol, working to support equitable futures for cultural and creative work. 

Instagram: @simon.moreton | Website: www.simon-moreton.co.uk | X: @simon_moreton

Woodrow Phoenix 

Woodrow Phoenix is a writer, artist, and graphic designer based in London and Cambridge. His work has appeared in national UK newspapers, in magazines and comics across Europe, the USA and Japan, and in television projects for Walt Disney and Cartoon Network. His most recent book, Crash Course, was published in August 2020 by Street Noise Books. 

X: @mrphoenix | Website: @woodrowphoenix.co.uk

Alice Nuttall 

Alice Nuttall is an indie comics creator and writer of three webcomics, Footloose, Cherry, and Black Market Magic, co-created with artist Emily Brady. She is an admin for The CVA, an online group supporting UK-based indie comics creators, and a regular attendee at comic conventions around the UK. 

Instagram: @alicenuttallbooks | X: @Ally_Nuttall

Maria Stoian

Maria Stoian is an award-winning comics artist and illustrator based in Edinburgh, where she teaches at Edinburgh College of Art. She is the author of the graphic novel Take it as a Compliment, a collection of real-life stories of sexual violence. In collaboration with writer Heather Parry she designed and illustrated The Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide and The Illustrated Fair Work Guide. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Nib and in anthologies such as We Shall Fight Until We Win and the Eisner-winning Drawing Power. 

Website: www.mariastoian.com | X @mariadraws | Instagram: @maria_stoian

About the Comics Creators Network

The Comics Creators Network is a pressure group of working authors that advocates for the rights of traditionally and self-published creators of comics and graphic novels in the UK.

We want to raise standards across the publishing environment by holding publishers to account and highlighting best practice. We will advocate for fair contracts and set standards for effective and equitable collaboration between creators. 

We also advocate for a more diverse, inclusive, and accepting comics industry. We want to improve access to comics, from routes into the industryto best practice for industry events.

Together, we aim to:

• Empower comics creators with practical advice on all professional areas
• Develop professional practice with free events and webinars
• Negotiate fairer terms and agreements with publishers
• Advocate for better industry standards.

We advocate on behalf of all comics creators for a better industry. To receive legal advice and take advantage of all the resources offered by the network, join the Society of Authors using the code COMICS20 to receive 20% off membership. If you are already an SoA member, email comics@societyofauthors.org.

Need to know

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles
• If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email events@societyofauthors.org
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Before the event

• Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
• If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
• Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails

During the event

• This online event will take place on Zoom Meetings; you will have the option to turn your camera on or off; you will be muted on arrival
• This event will not be recorded.
• Attendees have the option to turn on the live transcript
• This event is 90 minutes

After the event

• Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome

Booking

Book your place using the registration form below.

For event or registration questions, email events@societyofauthors.org.