From Earth's End and Alison Bechdel come to Writers Week 2014!

The New Zealand Festival is on once again in Wellington this February & March, with the Writers Week section taking place from Friday 7th - Wednesday, 12th of March. And I'm pleased to report there will be a very healthy showing of comics related events this year!

Above: The 'Comicsville' line-up: (from left) Adrian Kinnaird, Robyn E. Kenealy, Dylan Horrocks and Jonathan King.

From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics will be spotlighted at the 'Comicsville' panel, on Monday, March 10th at 10.45am at the Hannah Playhouse (formally Downstage Theatre). I'll be joined on stage with three of the featured cartoonists from the book: Dylan Horrocks - author of Hicksville; Robyn E. Kenealy - author of Roddy's Film Companion and the webcomic American Captain; and cartoonist/film director Jonathan King - author of Threat Level. We'll be discussing the exciting developments and growth of the New Zealand comics scene of the last few years, including the publication of From Earth's End and Dylan Horrocks' latest collection, Incomplete Works.

Tickets are $18, check out the Festival page HERE for more details.

Above: The cover of Incomplete Works by Dylan Horrocks.

As mentioned, Dylan Horrocks has a new comics collection on the way, Incomplete Works, which will be launched at the Festival with a party celebrating its release - as well as Caoilinn Hughes' new poetry collection, Gathering Evidence, hosted by publisher Victoria University Press. This is a free event, taking place Saturday, 8th of March at the Exchange Atrium, 24 Blair St, Wellington Central, from 7.30pm.

See the event page HERE for more details. There are also plans for a Incomplete Works launch in Auckland later in March, so keep an eye out for that.

Above: American cartoonist Alison Bechdel.

The Festival will also be hosting acclaimed US cartoonist, Alison Bechdel. Creator of the widely published comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, she has also produced two bestselling graphic memoirs, Fun Home (2006) - which chronicles her childhood memories and her difficult relationship with her father, and Are You My Mother? (2012) - an exploration of her relationship with her mother and her time spent in therapy. Bechdel will be discussing her work and more, with community art space director Moira Clunie. The panel 'Drawing From Life' will take place on Sunday, 9th of March at 1.45pm at the Embassy Theatre.

Tickets are $18, check out the Festival page HERE for more details.

Online ordering for all of these events is available from February 7th. So lots of great comics events to enjoy, so start saving and if you aren't based in Wellington, make your travel plans now!

- AK!