Silvia Vari

International Graphic Novels and Comics Conference July 2025

Why has this activity been useful for your development or career progression and how this will impact your current or future work?

Organising this roundtable enabled me to establish a novel connection between the Crack! underground comics festival in Rome, which I have been collaborating with for the past three years, and the British academic community working on comics. This opportunity was extremely valuable, as it allowed me to bridge these two distinct yet complementary worlds and gain visibility for my ongoing work with Crack! as well as for my future work on comics. The roundtable sparked interest among both researchers and comics artists in attendance, particularly those involved in academic and creative scenes in Finland and Hungary. This interaction has already led to new conversations and potential synergies between these different comics communities.

This experience was particularly useful in helping me think critically about how to navigate and mediate between academic and non-academic contexts. The differences in terminology, modes of communication, and expectations between these worlds became apparent, and this insight will be essential for shaping future collaborative work. Moreover, having an artist as part of the roundtable discussion also enriched the conversation, as Merieme was able to share her experience of working within independent and underground comics scenes in France and Italy, further bringing an essential, practice-based perspective that grounded and offered further food for thought to an otherwise predominant academic framing.

Have you learnt new concepts or tools outside of your usual discipline?

While I did not learn entirely new concepts during the roundtable, I was introduced to several international initiatives working towards similar goals within different cultural frameworks. This broadened my understanding of how alternative comics cultures and networks operate beyond the Italian/British context. I’ve initiated contact with several of these groups, and we are currently exploring possibilities for collaboration. This roundtable was a productive opportunity to help me think about how to approach the academic context through a non-academic lens and vice versa.

Did you identify any opportunities for future collaboration?

Absolutely. I connected with researchers and comics practitioners from various parts of Europe who are engaged in work closely aligned with that of Crack!. I had in-depth discussions about potential collaborative ventures, particularly with Plenty Collective—an international group of BIPoC comic artists based in Finland—and with Hungarian comics scholar and creator Eszter Szép. We are considering co-organising a roundtable at next year’s edition of Crack!, expanding the dialogue on transnational comics collaboration.