Local author Caroline Huntoon will read from their debut novel Skating on Mars, followed by a Q&A. Life isn’t easy on twelve-year-old Mars. As if seventh grade isn’t hard enough, Mars is also grappling with the recent death of their father and a realization they never got to share with him: they’re nonbinary. But with their skates laced up and the ice under their feet, all of those struggles melt away. When Mars’ triple toe loop draws the attention of a high school hot shot, he dares them to skate as a boy so the two can compete head-to-head.

Learn how Gale Galligan, author and creator of The Baby-Sitters Club, got into comics and eventually turned that passion into a career. Gale will pull back the curtain on their graphic novel-making process, and do a small drawing demo.

This event is part of A2CAF, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!

Learn to draw complex shapes and figures by starting with simple forms and then adding detail. Dan Santat, author and creator of The Adventures of Beekle and A First Time for Everything, will guide this hands-on drawing workshop and let you see how an artist views the world.

This event is part of A2CAF, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!

Join award-winning Special Guest Nate Powell, co-author and comic artist of of the March trilogy and author of Swallow Me Whole and Save It for Later, as he discusses his career in comics with MSU Professor and comics scholar, Julian Chambliss. 

This event is part of A2CAF, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!

Dan Santat, author and comic artist of The Adventures of Beekle and A First Time for Everything, reflects on his books and how his life has influenced the stories he has written and illustrated.

This event is part of A2CAF, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!

Ann Arbor Author Steve Amick celebrates his latest book, You Shall See The Beautiful Things. Envisioned as a “nocturne,” Steve Amick’s playful, multilayered novel expansively retells Eugene Field’s famed verse “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.”

Cartoonist Rob Kirby discusses his graphic memoir, Marry Me a Little, a celebration of a romantic partnership between two men and a personal account of a momentous and historic moment in the fight for gay rights. Rob has been making comics since 1991. He is the author of Curbside Boys and the creator and editor of several anthologies, including the series THREE, for which he received the 2011 Prism Queer Press Grant, and the Ignatz Award-winning QU33R (2014).

Join author Paul Vachon for a presentation on the newly-released second edition of his book Detroit: An Illustrated Timeline, a photographic account of significant events in Detroit's history.

Detroit: An Illustrated Timeline invites the curious reader along that chronological path that is Detroit’s past and present. 

Olympic ice dancing medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani discuss their beautifully illustrated picture book highlighting the achievements of many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have made invaluable contributions to the world. They will be joined in discussion by Paralympian Chuck Aoki.

Join authors Ghassan Zeineddine and Sally Howell as they discuss their book Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging.