Call for Proposals
Image Credit: Artist- Zara Slattery
We will acknowledge the receipt of all proposals. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by an interdisciplinary selection committee. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be completed by the week of March 1, 2024. While we cannot guarantee that selected presenters will receive their first choice of presentation format, we will attempt to honour preferences.
Please note: Presenters are responsible for costs associated with their session (e.g. handouts and supplies) and personal expenses (travel, hotel, and registration fees). All presenters must register for the conference. Registration fee levels (to be determined) will be posted on the conference registration page in early 2024. Our intention is to make this conference logistically and financially accessible. Discounted rates and some limited scholarships will be available for students, artists, and others in need. All venue facilities will be fully accessible. Please do let us know if you require disability accommodations as they will be made available as needed.
*pre-conference workshops are not included in the main conference registration. They will require separate registration and payment.
We invite the submission of abstracts for in-person presentations focusing on health, illness, caregiving, and disability as they intersect with comics in any form (e.g., graphic novels and memoir, comic strips, manga, mini comics, web comics, etc.).
The conference will feature in-person presentations, workshops, and a variety of innovative digital outputs. For those unable to attend in person, we will live stream all keynote addresses. Remote presentations will be solicited for a virtual conference to be held at a later date in 2024. Details on this special online event will come after the July conference
The theme of this year’s conference is the magic of comics and the future of Graphic Medicine, and we invite applicants to consider the way these concepts relate with one another. As we have space for only a limited number of presentations, priority will be given to abstracts that directly address the conference theme and engage with the following questions:
What magic are you experiencing and sharing via comics as they relate to health, well-being, caregiving, illness, and disability?
How might the addition/application of Graphic Medicine bring magic to work in your field?
How is Graphic Medicine sparking magic across disciplines?
What possible creative horizons do you envision for the future of Graphic Medicine?
How can Graphic Medicine bridge the real and the imagined?
Presentation Formats:
Lightning talks: These 7-minute presentations should provide an engaging and concentrated synopsis of new, ongoing, or completed scholarly, creative, or professional work in Graphic Medicine. This format is designed with the promotion of sustained conversation in mind.
Oral presentations: These 20-minute presentations are largely for collaborative, interdisciplinary, or other work that requires a longer presentation format.
Panel discussions: These 30-minute presentations or interviews by a panel of speakers are meant to address a single topic from a variety of perspectives.
Workshops: These 60-minute, hands-on, activity-driven sessions are for participants who wish to obtain particular skills with regard to comics. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
New approaches to drawing for health
New approaches to teaching with comics
Comics and storytelling
Mini-comic tutorial
The use of comics to unleash wonder and magic
Proposals should be submitted as a PDF titled with your surname. The abstract of the proposal should not exceed 300 words. Please include the following information in this order:
Author(s)
Affiliation(s)(if applicable)
Email address of primary contact
Title of proposal
Abstract of proposal (300 word maximum)
Sample images or web links to work being discussed (if applicable)
Presentation format preference(s) (see options above)
Equipment needed (e.g., AV projection, whiteboard, easel, etc.)
Proposals should be submitted by January 26, 2024, by the link below: