Manchester City of Literature, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, Nanjing City of Literature and 42nd Street are delighted to announce the launch of a new project, Connectedness Through Comics.

The young people at 42nd Street, an innovative young people’s mental health charity in Manchester, wanted to express some of the thoughts, feelings and fears they had encountered during the pandemic. They also wanted to give other young people the chance to be creative.

Working with these young people, we commissioned a Manchester-based visual artist, Ian Bobb, to address their provocations. In the brief to Ian, we touched on topics including ‘the new normal’, ‘how can we adjust to the new world?’ and ‘information overload and its impact on mental health’.

Ian has produced an interactive 3-page comic strip to inspire new stories of young people’s creativity and resilience in Manchester and Nanjing. Some of their work will be shared during International Mother Language Day celebrations as a digital exhibition including an interview with the artist Ian Bobb in February.

You can find the comic strip on our projects page, alongside a resource pack which contains some practical exercises for young people to download and respond to the strips in their own words and in their own way.