The current Comics Laureate is comic writer, artist, tutor and editor Bobby Joseph.
Bobby follows in the footsteps of comic creators Dave Gibbons, Charlie Adlard and Hannah Berry, and illustrator and bookseller Stephen L. Holland in the unpaid role promoting the comics form, also known as ‘The Ninth Art’.
The Comics Laureate is an ambassadorial and educational role for the comics medium and aims to raise awareness of the impact comics can have in terms of increasing literacy and creativity.
Working closely with the Lakes International Comics Art Festival, the Comics Laureate champions the role of comics in improving literacy through a programme of educational visits, workshop events, guest appearances and conferences. A key focus will be working to increase the acceptance of comics as a creative art form in schools, libraries and throughout the education system.
• For information on the Comics Laureate’s upcoming appearances please contact Carole Tait
Bobby Joseph was announced as the Comic Laureate 2023-25 during the Lakes International Comic Art Festival on 30 September 2023, in Bowness-on-Windermere.
Bobby is an acclaimed comic writer, artist, tutor and editor whose work has often challenged and inspired its readers. His early work includes the creation of Skank magazine, where his best-known strip, “Scotland Yardie”, first featured later collected by Knockabout Press.
Bobby has written for The Guardian newspaper, Dazed and Confused and Vice.com. His comic work was a prominent feature at the Anarchy in the UK comic exhibition at the British Library in 2015 and was seen by over 60,000 visitors. He is also a vocal advocate for diversity and BAME representation in comic books and is credited on the BBC website as instrumental in featuring some of the “first comics by black creators featuring black characters.”
Scotland Yardie, published by Knockabout Comics in 2017, was the first BAME graphic novel to be studied as a module on an English Literature MA course at King’s College, London.
• Read: Bobby Joseph becomes first person of colour appointed UK comics laureate – Guardian article