final report by patrick holt, adult services librarian, southwest regional library
The Triangle Comics Creator Network:
A Renewed Commitment to the Local Arts Community
For several years, Durham Comics Fest has included spinoff programming for active and aspiring professionals in comics and comics-adjacent fields under the aegis of the Triangle Comics Creator Network (TCCN), and in FY2020, we were able to improve these offerings even more. Following the lead of our insightful and energetic collaborators at Chapel Hill Public Library, we began incorporating professional development presentations at TCCN meetings, and the response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. In Durham and Chapel Hill, presenters included printmaker Bill Fick on screen printing collaborations, cartoonist Andrew Neal on working with small presses, comics writer Chris Sims on writing original and licensed properties, writer Erim Akpan on publishing in literary magazines, Small Press Expo organizer Megan Raley on effective festival tabling, book artist Paul Keene on artist books, and more. This change, made possible by support from the Friends of the Durham Library, Chapel Hill Public Library, Atomic Empire, and others, solidified a long-standing goal of TCCN: finding practical and inspiring ways to support both the professional and creative sides of this often-neglected corner of the local arts scene, and we saw the success of this effort immediately.
FY2020 also saw the publication of the TCCN Comics Anthology, a showcase for these artists funded by the Friends of the Durham Library and co-edited with Kayla E., Josh Jones, and Laura Bullard. The work, almost all of which was created specifically for the anthology, was an impressive range of expressions: funny, surreal, heartbreaking, honest. We see this as the first of many such showcases, and we’re excited to have a concrete record of this community’s energy and creativity to share.
Canceling Durham Comics Fest 2020 was a disappointing but necessary decision during the COVID-19 pandemic, but fortunately, we’ve been able to maintain contact with the comics-making community by way of “Patrick’s Comics Newsletter,” a twice-monthly update on resources and events that are relevant to cartoonists in one way or another. Since March, these have largely been virtual events, resources related to artist relief funds, and other ways to be healthy and connected without access to the usual support networks. One subscriber wrote to express appreciation for the newsletter, saying, “I just wanted to thank you for continuing to send out the comics newsletter. With so many things shut down, sometimes it can feel like the world has just ‘stopped.’ It’s nice to see some things keep going.”
Virtual programming for comics-makers is in the works for FY2021, we still plan to pursue a second edition of the TCCN anthology, and with any luck, Durham Comics Fest will make a comeback in one form or another. Reach out to me at pdholt@dconc.gov if you have questions about comics programming at Durham County Library — I’ll be happy to hear from you!
