Lucy Sullivan Joins Lakes International Comic Art Festival as New Patron
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is delighted to announce that comic writer and artist Lucy Sullivan has joined the organisation as a new patron.
Lucy joins fellow comic exponents Yomi Ayeni, Kate Charlesworth, Keli Lark, Michael Lark, Sean Phillips, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot and Zoom Rockman as an advisor to the Arts Council funded LICAF, as it continues its mission to promote comics and comics literacy throughout the year, in partnership with local, national and international organisations.
Lucy Sullivan is a writer and artist from London whose acclaimed debut graphic novel, BARKING, based on her own experience of a mental health crisis, was first published during the pandemic and quickly sold out. The new edition launched in February 2024 with Avery Hill Publishing and is available for the first time in Canada and the United States.
Alongside her own comics and zines, Lucy has created a variety of commissions for titles including Hey, Amateur!, The Department Of Truth: Wild Fictions and Black Hammer, including the short comic Betwixt, Between for Jeff Lemire. She is the artist on IND-XED with Fraser Campbell, as well as creating stories with John Reppion for Skrawl Magazine, Jordan Thomas for Metallic Dynamite, Peter Davison for YOSHIN10, and Dan Watters for Razorblades.
Her new Folk-Horror series, SHELTER, is currently in development, with support from Arts Council England. The first story, "Early Doors", which was the winner of Broken Frontier's 'Best New Periodical Series' Award 2022, is out now.
This was followed by the research zine, HAGBOUND, self-published in 2023. The second long-form story, "Mothers Ruin", is in development and currently scheduled for publication in 2026.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is developing a wide range of events and projects for 2025 and beyond, in addition to planning its annual weekend-long Festival, returning to Bowness-on-Windermere 26th – 28th September 2025, and Lucy, as well as promoting the Festival in general, will be involved in some of them, alongside other patrons. These events complement appearances by Comics Laureate Bobby Joseph, who is working hard on improving awareness of the comic form across the UK.
"We're delighted Lucy has agreed to become a patron," says Festival Director, Julie Tait. "Like our other patrons, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, in terms of independent comic creation, and more. We were pleased to publish the first edition of her graphic novel, BARKING, and we're delighted the book, and Lucy are now gaining deserved international recognition."
"The coverage and validation I've garnered thanks to the support of Julie Tait, Carole Tait and the LICAF team has had a significantly positive impact on my career," says Lucy. "So, it was without hesitation I said yes to being a patron when Julie asked. Although I did have to clarify what 'patron' meant. I'd always assumed it was a money based post, but it's more of an advisory / cheerleading role, and I am very keen to help in that area as much as possible. As a creator, money is somewhat of an abstract concept, but supporting comics is an easy role for me."
• Lucy Sullivan is online at lucysullivanuk.com | Follow her on social media: Instagram & Threads: @lucysullivanuk Bluesky: @lucysullivan.bsky.social Facebook: @lucysullivanukcom
