Lincoln Peirce: Kenosha Festival of Cartooning Guest Speaker for 2014

Please join us as we welcome Lincoln Peirce when he appears next September at the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning running from Thursday, September 25th through Saturday, September 27th of 2014.

“Some people call it a kids’ strip,” says Lincoln Peirce of Big Nate, the comic feature he created in 1991, “and some don’t.  To me, the labels aren’t important.  What really matters is that it’s funny.” 

Big Nate follows the adventures of Nate Wright, an energetic sixth-grade boy whose larger-than-life personality often lands him in hot water with his classmates and teachers.  “Nate’s school life is at the center of the strip,” Lincoln says.  “And schools can be hilarious places.”  Big Nate currently appears in over 300 newspapers, and in 2013 ranked among the ten most-read features on gocomics.com

In 2010, Lincoln’s characters reached a whole new audience when he began writing and illustrating Big Nate novels for children.  Each of the six titles has been a New York Times Bestseller; the seventh book in the series, Big Nate Lives It Up, will be published by Harper Collins in March of 2015.  There have also been numerous compilations from Andrews McMeel, including Big Nate:  I Can’t Take It! And Big Nate:  Great Minds Think Alike.

When he isn’t cartooning, Lincoln hosts a weekly radio show devoted to vintage country music.  He also plays ice hockey, enjoys cryptic crossword puzzles, and doesn’t understand his computer.   He and his wife Jessica live in the great little city of Portland, Maine, and have two children.

Stay tuned to this official festival site as we continue to profile our guest speakers! 

Don't forget to follow us on twitter and facebook - @KenoshaFestival  Kenosha Festival of Cartooning Facebook

Festival Testimonial: Hilary Price

Thank you to Hilary Price for sharing a story about her time in Kenosha as a guest speaker in 2012! Be sure to make her strip "Rhymes With Orange" one of your daily reads if you haven't done so and follow her blog. She also did a nice TV interview recently that you can find here.

"You may remember that in 2012 I was a speaker at the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning. I don't know what I was expecting Kenosha to be like. I'm pretty sure I hadn't counted on it being like this:

You look out the window of the hotel at Lake Michigan and see fish hurling themselves 2 or 3 feet out of the water into the air. Use a fishing pole if you like but if you are close enough, a baseball mitt would do.

I learned some other fascinating things about Kenosha:  they are the home of Snap On Tools and Jockey Underwear. (I happen to be wearing my Jockey For Hers right now.) And it used to be where you got those cool Nash Ramblers.

Now they are also becoming known for this terrific cartooning festival that happens in September.

I really enjoyed my time as a speaker - the event was not so large it was intimidating and not so small it would have been awkward.  I was able to get to know the fans as well and share a drink or two with my fellow cartoonists. It was well organized and low stress. I had a blast, despite the fact that for the first - and hopefully last - time I accidentally licked the microphone during my presentation.

The festival is happening again next September 25th-27th with another stellar line-up of cartoonists and they need your help to reach their fundraising goal on Indiegogo. All the events at the festival are free and open to the public but only if they can get the money they need to actually pay for staging everything.

Click on the link, watch the video that gives you all the details about speakers and stuff, and support the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning today!"  http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kenosha-festival-of-cartooning/x/5840174

Festival Testimonial: Sandra Bell Lundy

Thank you to Sandra Bell Lundy for sharing a story about her time in Kenosha as a guest speaker in 2011. She even put it in illustrated narrative for us!! Be sure to make her strip "Between Friends"one of your daily reads if you haven't done so. And head over to our Indiegogo and make a donation to support keeping attendance to festival 2014 completely FREE and open to the general public!!