Graphic Storytelling Social is a showcase of research, teaching and creative work about comics, graphic novels and visual storytelling at UTS. The format of our event is a series of short, sharp Pecha Kucha style presentations about the graphic storytelling projects coming out of the Faculty of Design and Society and our immediate community.

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We're hoping that this event will help us to share what we see at UTS, which is a Faculty that is leading the nation in graphic storytelling. Faculty of Design & Society produces great creative work, world class teaching and new knowledge around comics and graphic novels. This is the place to be if you want to learn, make or research comics

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For our first event we have a special guest, Lee Lai, the shining light of Australian comics at the moment. Lee lives in Montreal and is visiting Australia this month promoting her new book, Cannon. Cannon is published in Australia by Giramondo in 2025, is shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, the QWF Literary Awards, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the GLAAD Media Awards, and was named a ‘best book of 2025’ by the New York Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, NPR, Guardian Australia and ABC Arts.
https://lee-lai.cargo.site/

- Also presenting will be
- CJ Wu discussing their ZineMap project https://zinemap.com/
- Holly O'Neil discussing using drawing and comics as an ethnographic research tool https://www.hollyoneil.com/
- Fionn McCabe discussing the art of making comics about making comics https://www.fionnmccabe.com/
- Meg Oshe and Gabriel Clark who will discuss the recent ARC Linkage project Folio Stories of Australian Comics. https://foliocomics.com/
- Patrick Grant who will discuss pedagogical outcomes and processes for comics.

What: Graphic Storytelling Social

When: Friday March 20th. 5 to 7pm ( 530 start.)

Where: Studio 5a @ UTS, Level 5, Building 5a, 1 Quay St, Haymarket

Who: Lee Lai, CJ Wu, Holly O'Neil, Fionn McCabe, Patrick Grant, Gabriel Clark and more

For information contact gabriel.clark-1@uts.edu.au or patrick.grant@uts.edu.au

This event is a collaboration with the School of Design and the School of Communications at the University of Technology Sydney.

Come along if any of these key words float your boat:

research methods, research translation, creative practice, visualisation, creative industries, creative writing, drawing, storytelling, comics, design, multimodal, fiction, non fiction, performance, graphic novels, oral history, explainers

Image by Lee Lai from their amazing book Stone Fruit.

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Studio 5a is on level 5 of Building 5a at UTS in Haymarket. Its the old municipal markets building with the clock tower at the entrance. Its behind paddies market. https://www.instagram.com/vcstudio5a/

Contact the host of Graphic Storytelling Social