On August 3rd 2024, Comics Youth CIC will be hosting Talking Shelves, a day focused on reading and recommending comics, graphic novels and manga by marginalised creators.
Talking Shelves is organised by the Marginal Changemakers programme. The event will be hosted through two Merseyside indie bookshops; Bear Hunt Books in the Wirral and Dead Ink Books in Liverpool.
Customers visiting Bear Hunt Books and Dead Ink Books on August 3rd will be able to explore the shops’ comics, read recommendations for comics by marginalised creators and share recommendations of their own. The event was created as many young people feel that comics are poorly marketed and distributed and to give marginalised creators more attention.
This event is about giving comics a time to shine, and in particular celebrating and supporting marginalised creators. The hope is that people will leave this event feeling inspired and encouraging other bookshops in Merseyside to adopt this new approach to highlighting comics.
The Marginal Changemakers is an activist cohort focused on changing the publishing industry and creating a better environment for comics to thrive. The community will be at the centre of this change by bringing together different perspectives and shifting the mindset on how the industry treats comics. Talking Shelves is part of the Changemakers’ second campaign, Shelftalkers. In the Changemakers’ previous campaign, they created an Inclusion Charter, which publishers can sign as part of their commitment to making publishing more accessible.
To find out more about Comics Youth please visit www.comicsyouth.co.uk