ICAF 2023 Conference

The International Comic Arts Forum (ICAF) will be held April 20-22, 2023 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Founded in 1995, ICAF brings together an intimate group of comics scholars, teachers, journalists, and creative professionals from around the world for lively presentations and informal roundtable discussions about comics.

ICAF is free and open to the public for attendees. Participants who are giving academic presentations are required to pay a registration fee.

For our first in-person gathering since 2019, this year’s ICAF guest artists include: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Ebony Flowers, Meghan Parker, Priscilla Layne, and Birgit Weyhe, with an academic keynote by Professor Susan Kirtley from Portland State University.

Among the themes that ICAF 2023 will highlight are discussions of comics that focus on Indigenous issues related to decolonization, activism, and language, as well as the work of Indigenous artists. The forum will also feature a roundtable on comics studies scholarship and migration as part of the “Graphic Narratives of Migration” project. To view the full schedule of artist talks and presentations, visit our website: http://www.internationalcomicartsforum.org/2023-schedule.html

Additional details for presenters:

• Registration: Participants with accepted papers are required to pay a registration fee: $135 for full-time/tenure-track faculty; $50 for students, contingent faculty and independent scholars.
• Lodging: Links to Vancouver area hotels can be found at this Accommodation & Area Guide. For participants traveling to Vancouver, ICAF has arranged for discounted hotel rates on UBC’s two campus hotels: Gage Suites ($139 per night, not including tax) and West Coast Suites ($189 per night, not including tax). All prices are in Canadian Dollars. Reservations can be booked here.
• Travel: Taxis and ride-share services are available for visitors arriving by plane to Vancouver’s airport (YVR). Participants can also take the Canada Line rapid transit rail to the Broadway-City Hall station, and then take a number 99 bus West along Broadway to UBC campus, which is where the bus terminates. Additional information about public transportation in Vancouver and UBC is available on the TransLink website.

The University of British Columbia in Vancouver is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. The land it is situated on has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history, and traditions from one generation to the next on this site.