Kendal, 29th March 2019: The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2019 is delighted to announce further guests for its weekend-long event in Kendal in October, including a number of creators well known for their work on the top British SF weekly comic 2000AD and major US publishers such as Boom! Studios, Image, Marvel and DC.

Announced are British comic creators Laurence Campbell, Kate Charlesworth, Staz Johnson, John McCrea, Declan Shalvey and Simon Spurrier, who join a guest list that already features Comics Laureate Hannah Berry, Becky Cloonan, Garth Ennis, Duncan Fegredo, Junko Mizuno and Rob Williams.

Award-winning Czech comics creator and film maker Vojtěch Mašek has also been announced as a second Artist in Residence in Kendal later this year.

His presence is just part of the festival's growing Comics Cultural Exchange and outreach programme to develop the comics form, this project a partnership with the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Frame Festival which will also see artist Jacob Phillips heading to the Czech Republic in November.

Vojtěch is the award-winning author and illustrator of a dozen graphic novels, including Elephants in Marienbad, Look for Doc, Woman in Everything, Pandemonium, Sisters Dietl and The Dragon Never Sleeps.

Most of these were awarded the Muriel Prize of the Czech comic festival KomiksFEST! for best story or best graphic novel, including, last year, the graphic novel Svatá Barbora (Saint Barbara), a graphic novel about a highly publicised child-abuse case, created with writer Marek Šindelka and illustrator Marek Pokorný.

A contributor to the Words without Borders project, he has also written many screenplays, including the feature film Tomík (1999) and the short Fricassé (2003), which was selected as Quinzaine des réalisateurs in the International Film Festival in Cannes.

His residency comes hot on the heels of the announcement of a Comics Cultural Exchange that has enabled comic artist Mikiko to travel to Canada this April. It's a project developed in partnership with Quebec BD, funded by the British Council, the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The Exchange also brings Montreal-based Julie Rocheleau to Britain later this year.

"We've got a diverse range of both British and international guests - both writers and artists - at this year's Festival. In fact, I think the number of international guests is possibly our widest yet, with creators from Australia, Belgium, Italy, Mexico and elsewhere yet to be announced!"

- Festival Director Julie Tait

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Kendal at various venues across the town 11th - 13th October 2019

Early Bird Passes are on Sale Now until 31st March 2019 at www.comicartfestival.com/buy-tickets