The saga of Miriam Libicki and the Vancouver Comic Art Festival began on Friday, May 31, with a message posted to the comic festival’s social media accounts. Libicki is an American-based cartoonist whose best-known works include Jobnik! and Toward a Hot Jew, both of which explore her time as a volunteer soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces after moving to Israel and obtaining dual citizenship in her 20s.
Libicki had, from VanCAF’s inception in 2012 up through 2022, been a fixture at the festival’s tables. But on the 31st, VanCAF announced via an unsigned public message that an unnamed “exhibitor” matching the description of Libicki and her works had received a lifetime ban from exhibiting at the convention. The statement apologized for this individual’s past attendance, on the grounds of “this exhibitor’s prior role in the Israeli military and their subsequent collection of works which recounts their personal position in said military and the illegal occupation of Palestine.”
The post, since removed, was termed an “accountability statement,” and read:
At this year’s 2024 Vancouver Comic Arts Festival, community members approached us to share important public safety concerns involving one of the exhibitors we allowed to participate in the festival. The concerns regarded this exhibitor’s prior role in the Israeli military and their subsequent collection of works which recount their personal position in said military and the illegal occupation of Palestine. The oversight and ignorance to allow this exhibitor in the festival, not only this year but in 2022 as well, fundamentally falls in absolute disregard to all our exhibiting artists, attendees and staff, especially those who are directly affected by the ongoing genocide in Palestine and Indigenous community members alike.
Upon examining these concerns and conducts this exhibitor will not be permitted to return to the festival…
VanCAF’s Board of Directors apologizes for the harm we have caused by our negligence to address this and inability to take action sooner. Necessary actions will be made for the board to revise our current code of conduct policy as well as our submission guidelines to better represent our communities values. During this revision process we will provide full transparency to the community and furthermore will be adhering strictly to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) guidelines.
Even buried on a Friday evening, the news began immediately to take on a life of its own. The Canadian Jewish News ran an item about it before the end of that day which was subsequently picked up by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Consequently, by the end of the weekend, Libicki’s banning had become the subject of news and debate both within the comics and the Jewish media worlds, with further news items appearing in the Times of Israel, the Jewish News Syndicate, the Jerusalem Post, and the Cleveland Jewish News.
The leadership of the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival is not publicly known, and Libicki quickly took her Instagram account private following the festival’s statement. Consequently, few developments were made public between the initial statement on Friday, and follow-up near the close of the day on Sunday, June 2, which was, if anything, even more surprising to observers.
That evening, VanCAF deleted their initial statement banning Libicki, and replaced it on their social media with a second statement. Like the first, it was unsigned by any particular VanCAF personnel. Also like the first, it did not mention Libicki by name, although the people and circumstances it described clearly alluded again to her situation. In what they called “deep and sincere apologies” for their previous actions, VanCAF this time told a story that wound back to 2022, with the first of what they said were two hostile incidents involving protesters against Libicki on the festival floor.
That incident had resulted in Libicki’s agreement to promote non-IDF related recent work during the 2024 festival, which she did attend, but a second incident prompted what VanCAF now described as a hasty decision from a “ramshackle” organization: “We moved too quickly in our initial statement as we feared condemnation from our peers in the comics and activist communities.” While still not disclosing the names of any VanCAF staff or board members, the statement said that the initial statement had been made at a time when their leadership was “extremely diminished,” and that in the ensuing week, the majority of those who had issued the initial statement had since resigned – though whether this was related to the statement itself was unclear.
The dual statements left as many new questions as they did answers, and the Comics Journal’s requests to VanCAF for comment and clarification did not receive a response in the immediate days following the second statement. Libicki, however, was willing to speak with the Journal to provide her own narrative of the events that had taken place. Subsequent to that conversation, we were able to reach former VanCAF personnel Jarrett Samson and Robin McConnell, both of whom had played significant roles in Libicki’s account. Samson declined to offer comments for the article, confirming only that he left VanCAF as of May 20 this year. McConnell, however, agreed to offer brief responses to some of the questions provided by the Comics Journal in writing.
What follows, then, is a conversation with Miriam Libicki, edited slightly for clarity and brevity, but otherwise presented in full, with comments from Samson and McConnell added where appropriate.
ZACH RABIROFF: I want, if we can, to go back to the beginning of how this whole episode got started. If I'm reading VanCAF’s statement correctly, this seems to start back in 2022. You were at VanCAF that year?
MIRIAM LIBICKI: That's right.
And was that the first year that you were at the festival, or had you been there before?
No, no. I was there every year since the festival started. So every year since 2012 up to 2022 I was there, except for the ones that were remote due to the pandemic.
The statement that VanCAF put out alludes to the first of two incidents that happened in 2022. Do you know what that incident was? And can you describe it for me?
I do know what it was. It was an incident at the end of the show where two people walked by my table. They just saw some of my book covers: they saw the cover of Jobnik!, and they saw the cover of Toward a Hot Jew, which was then still in print, and both of those depict Israeli soldiers on the cover.
Without picking up the books, they pointed at them and they said, “Is this anti-Zionist?” And I started to try to explain my work and myself, but all I got out was “No, it's not anti-Zionist.” And then they said, “That's good,” and they ran away. And then later I found out that immediately after running away from my table, what they had done was they went to a volunteer and started screaming about, “How was somebody like me allowed to exhibit that; It was a Zionist propaganda; that it was like having the KKK at the festival,” and numerous other things. And they were screaming and cursing at a young volunteer. And then the festival directors stepped in and they screamed and cursed at them also. And then a couple more people were screamed and cursed at by them before they left, but they never screamed and cursed at me. It was a very, very quick interaction that I had with them in which they did not pick up the books or look through them or anything. So that was 2022.
So you found out about all of that secondhand? Somebody else told you about it?
Yeah, somebody else told me about it.
Who was it that told you?
One of the festival organizers who had been screamed at, they told us about it at the show. One of [the festival organizers] came by our table and said, “You are going to need to submit copies of your book to the board.” But I didn't even know that they were serious. Like, I had copies of the book on the table, but they did not try to take the copies of the book that were on the table. They just said this thing. And then kind of smiled and walked away.
So then, another one of the guests of the con who had nothing to do with me, but for some reason had also been screamed at – I went up and talked to them at the end of the show, and introduced myself, and was like, “I heard somebody screamed at you about me.” And I had a nice but confused conversation with that person. So I did hear about it from multiple people at the show, but I didn't see it myself.
What was the attitude of the VanCAF organizers at the time? What was their response to it?
It seemed like they thought the person who complained was acting crazy and that, yeah, they hadn't read the book. But I do think they were troubled by it, and that's why they said you have to submit your book. So I was kind of confused about how they were responding, because they knew that I was a long-time exhibitor. They weren't really acting hostile or suspicious toward me. I thought that it was kind of understood that this was some sort of weird, random incident that didn't really have to do with me. But then they did say, “We need to review your books.”
And did they tell you this while the 2022 festival was still going on?
They said it kind of while I was tearing down at the very end of the day. But I didn't know if they were actually joking or not, because they didn't ask to take my books that I had there on the table. So I actually did not know how to take that statement at the time.
So that's 2022. Then what happened?
Later on that summer, I think somebody did follow up with me and said, “Can you email us copies of your books?” And I think then I just said, “Sorry, I don't have digital copies, because I don't sell digital copies of my books.” So I guess, again, I was not taking it very seriously, because I was like, “Well, I can send you physical copies.” And they're like, “No, we need digital copies.” And then I just didn't respond to that. So that was kind of the follow up to 2022. Maybe like summer of 2022.
Do you remember who it was from the festival that contacted you about it?
I think all my emails from the festival that I've ever had have been from [then-festival director] Jarrett Sampson. It was Robin McConnell who came to my table and said, “You have to submit your comics.” But the emails were always from Jarett.
So you did not send the copies of your books, but they didn't follow up with you to try and get those copies. So where did you think that that left things coming out of 2022?
I guess I put it out in my mind. But then the applications opened for 2023. I actually missed it until I saw other people posting on Facebook about it, so I applied late for 2023. And when I applied, I said “I know my application is late, but please can I at least be on the waitlist?” And they said, “No, because you never sent us your books to review.” So some time in the winter [of 2023] I found printer's proofs of my books and I sent them, and I didn't hear anything after I sent them.
But later on in 2023, when I heard about some people posting about being accepted from the waitlist, I followed up and said, “Am I on the waitlist, and what position,” and they said, “No, because you never sent your books. And I was able to find the email, and they were like, “Oh, well we missed that, and now it's too late because the board has to thoroughly review your work. And there's no time for us to review your work, so you can't come to the festival this year, try again next year.” So that was late April 2023.
And there was no further communication after that?
Right. I think it did kind of just end with them saying, you know, try again next year. So I was upset not to be exhibiting, but I knew that it was partially my lateness with the application. But I didn't say anything publicly about why I wasn't at the festival that year, because I thought it was wrong that a complaint from people who clearly hadn't read the books called for this whole review process of my work, and that the review process had to take place in this highly specific manner. When people asked why I wasn't at the show that that year, I pretty much brushed it off.
Let me just take a step back here. At this point, what was your own assumption about why VanCAF was making these decisions? What did you think was going on?
Well, yeah, I did think that there was something politically – I don't know. I think it was because maybe there were people pressuring them from the left, or maybe some members of the board didn't really know who I was, because I didn't know for those two years who was on the board. They were always very closed-mouthed about it. We tried to find out in late 2023, early 2024, who was on the board and we could not get that information.
I was already worried that my comics were maybe being judged differently. And if it was going to be harder at other indie comics fests, like if they're aligning with younger people who are quite leftist, would I be seen as somebody who couldn't be in that crowd or at those venues?
So that takes us into the 2024 festival. Tell me what happened with that.
So in 2024, because they had said apply again next year, the same day that applications were open, I applied with my new book that came out with the Holocaust survivor, David Schafer. And when acceptances were going out, they emailed me and they said, “We cannot offer you a space. Please let us know if you have any questions.” And right away I was like, “Yes, I do have a question. My question is why?” And then they didn't get back to me for like a week. And then they said, “Well, we made this decision as a board, because there has been an incident, and there've been complaints. And also we want people with new work and you don't have new work.” 1
So I got very upset at that because those reasons did not seem valid to me. Because number one, I did have new work. And number two, as far as I know, there was just the one incident, and that was an incident of people who hadn't read the book. There were no substantive complaints about me, the content of my work, or my conduct at the festival. So it took a long time to get them to really respond. They kind of started to ignore my emails until I said in an email that you need to address this. If I don't get a response from you, I am going to take actions to hold VanCAF accountable. 2
I guess it was more heated than what I had said previously, but that email they responded to, and they're like, “Wow, this doesn't need to go so far. I think we should meet in person and talk about things.” So I agreed to meet in person at a coffee shop, and I told him I was going to bring my partner just to kind of back me up. And he's like, “Okay, I'm going to bring Robin McConnell.”3
What happened at that meeting in February?
First they told us that, because the people who made the complaint hadn't read the book, it wasn't our fault [and that] those people have actually been banned from the festival. But they were saying that it's a very sensitive time and that those weren't the only complaints. And we said, okay, what were the substance of the other complaints? And they wouldn't tell us. They were like, “Times are just very sensitive, and Israel is committing war crimes.”
And we were like, okay, but I'm not responsible for what Israel is doing. I didn't try to argue back that Israel's position was okay. That's not something that I can do anything about. And I told them that the one book that was already out of print, so I wouldn't have that at the table anyways. And they were like, “Well, we would like you to not display Jobnik!, and not display any IDF imagery. We didn't realize that you were promoting this book about a Holocaust survivor, because actually we didn't read your application.” Like, during that meeting, they told me that they didn't read my application for 2024.
Just to clarify, they had rejected your application and they were now saying that they didn't read it?
Yes. So then they were like, “We do think that is an important book.” Basically they offered me a deal. They said, we will give you a half table if you don't have Jobnik!, and if you don't display any IDF imagery, which I guess there is one background backdrop I have that is based on the book cover. So that could be construed as displaying IDF imagery. So again, it seemed like I was being singled out, but on the other hand, my partner and I had already discussed maybe retiring Jobnik! from shows for a while, because it is an older book. And we also did know that people are rightfully very sensitive. They're seeing terrible imagery of IDF soldiers, and these things that Israel is actually doing. So we understand why people are upset by that, especially now. So we were like, yeah, we're okay with that. We're okay with not selling the book. We want to focus on the newer book. We don't want it to be a distraction. We don't want to have confrontations at our table. So we agreed, and then they agreed that we could have a half table.
So tell me about the confrontation that happened in 2024.
At the show, two days minus one half hour of the festival went by very unevenly. I sold almost all the copies [of my book]. There were plenty of people wearing Palestine pins, wearing keffiyehs, and slogans on their shirts. And I had no problem with them because I don't have a problem with people protesting, and they had no problem with me. Nobody questioned me about my identity or my politics.
And then half an hour before the end of the show, two people came by my table, and first they started asking about screen prints. And I talked to them about the process of screen printing. They thanked me for my advice, and they started to walk away. And then one of them turned around and said, “Aren't you Miriam Libicki who does Jobniki?” Which is not the name of my comic, but I knew what she meant. And I said yes. And then this person started on a new attack, and was asking all kinds of leading questions about why my army comics weren't out. And when I kind of admitted that VanCAF had asked me not to [display them], they were kind of trying to draw me out: “Didn't I think I had been censored, didn't I think I had been silenced?” And I really didn't know where they were coming from. I thought perhaps they were a Jewish person who was more right wing than me or something.
But I was kind of just trying to give polite answers without committing to anything they were saying. And they were like, “Do you know there's a table in the other room which is, like, covered with Palestine flags and stuff?” And I was like, okay, that's fine. And they're like, “But they're taking people's signatures, and they're taking people's names.”
And I said, okay – like, I really don't know what this has to do with me. I was trying to be like, “I guess if that disturbed you, I understand why you're disturbed by it. It's a tough time for people who have ties to Israel. I kind of think that for me, the best thing is just to keep my head down and hope things get better.” And that's what I said to them. And then they smiled and walked away.
And then like five minutes after that, Robin McConnell comes up to my table and he says, “What did you tell those girls, Miriam?” And that is when I realized it was the same two people from 2022, and that I hadn't recognized them. But then when he said that, I made the connection.
So at this point, do you have any idea who those people are?
No, and in fact, I still don't. It's something I'm kind of trying to figure out, although I don't really want to dig around. I don't know. I feel digging around might make me insane.
Basically what happened is after they left my table, they did the same scene as 2022. They went to organizers, they went to the staff of the convention center, which is why that location is mentioned in the statement. And again were just screaming and cursing people out – not me, screaming and cursing other people out, to the point where they were becoming really aggressive. Apparently they were cursing in front of one staffer's small child, and they were physically removed by security. So again, I didn't witness this, but was told this afterwards by different people who had seen it.
What did Robin say to you then when he came to your table?
He said, “What did you say to them?” And then I was like, oh my God, it was those two. He was angry at me, as if I had fallen for something. And I was just trying to rack my brain for what I might have said that was incriminating. And so I told him that the festival told me not to display things. And at one point I might have said I'm pro-Israel and pro-peace. I don't think I would even necessarily have said I'm pro-Israel. To somebody who was coming from the left, I wouldn't necessarily describe myself that way, but I thought I was talking to someone who was a lot more right wing than me and maybe Jewish. And so I said pro-peace, but pro-Israel, and that was the closest to some sort of Zionist statement that I could have gotten. And he seemed angry that I had said that. But when I asked him what happened, he just walked away and he wouldn't answer me.
My spouse [Mike Yoshioka] went to go talk to Robin, and then Robin just screamed and yelled at him, and was saying that he [Robin] got yelled at because of me. And he was saying, “If Miriam doesn't have the proper responses to these things, then this is going to keep happening.” But Mike said, “You told us that those people were banned and they couldn't come back to VanCAF.” And Robin's like, “Well, we can't watch the doors. Like, we can't check everybody coming in.” So he was blaming me for speaking to them, but not not saying that the show had any responsibility.
Mike also found Jarett and tried to ask Jarett what happened, and Jarett said, “I can't talk to you right now.” So Mike talked to staff at the Roundhouse, and that's when he got more details. And then I later heard from other people who had been nearby and had seen the scene.
Did you finish tabling for the rest of that day? The day wasn't over yet.
It was almost over. The incident at my table happened from like 4:25 to 4:45. And then Robin came over at like 4:50. So there wasn't much of the day left.
What happened then?
What happened then was nothing we saw. Neither Robin or Jarett at the show would tell us what happened. So we were not informed of a complaint against us. We were not informed of anything. And Mike tried to email and phone both Robin and Jarett in the next few days. And they would not take his calls or answer his emails. So we heard nothing. We got no official communication before the post went up on Friday evening that I was banned
So that post was the first that you saw of it along with everybody else?
Exactly, yes.
What was your response when you saw that?
It was really shocking and upsetting. Not only the ban – Mike had told me that he thought because of the way Robin had yelled at him, we were banned from VanCAF. I was hoping that wouldn't come to pass, but the really upsetting thing was that basically they painted this huge target on me with all these vague but really toxic allegations.They brought indigenous people into it as if I'm not safe to be around indigenous people. They tried to imply that I was selling Jobnik! at the festival, which I was not. The way they described me without naming me – like, there was no other person it could be. So I was just really horrified. I thought that I would get canceled, and I thought that it would have consequences for my career.
The absence of your name from the statement is conspicuous, and I was wondering if you had any idea why you weren't named in it?
I guess because it was an official communication, they thought that was going to be how they made it not defamation. I don't know.
Did you try to reach Robin or Jarrett after that statement came out?
No, I didn't send an email. I keep Shabbat, so it was almost sunset at that point. All I did was send a DM to the Instagram account of VanCAF and I said, “Please stop people tagging me and saying my name in your post.” And then took my Instagram to private, because I was just really frightened – like, people were already naming me and I was being tagged by people I didn't know. On that day I texted Mike. That's the only person.
So there was no communication between May 25th when that statement came out, and June 3 when the follow-up was posted? Had you been notified in advance of the follow-up?
Actually, yes, because when I texted Mike about the first statement, the so-called accountability statement, he's like, “Time to get a lawyer.” And I agreed. But [the story] had already taken off in the Jewish community, so through a friend of a friend, a human rights lawyer reached out to me and I agreed to work with him.
So from Monday afternoon, I was talking to a lawyer about what my options were. And he crafted a cease and desist letter. And so whatever day the statement came down, that was minutes after he sent a cease and desist letter.
And then the apology, we did hear about it slightly in advance, but again, they sent it Friday night, it was already after Shabbat had started. And my lawyer was also not checking his emails. So we didn't see it till Saturday night. And then we replied to them and we did say yes, we wanted them to post it.
There were certain things in the statement that we didn't agree with, and there were certain things we asked them to change, but we told them to just put it out as soon as possible because if we went back and forth haggling over what their statement said, it's just more and more delay of actually apologizing.
That statement alludes to almost the entire board of VanCAF leaving under their own volition in the meantime. Do you have any idea what the circumstances were?
No, I have no insights to that. Somebody told me after that at the VanCAF afterparty on Sunday night, which we were not at, that Jarett announced his resignation at that party. So that would mean that by the time of the statement coming out, he was at least by his own description not the festival director of VanCAF anymore. I have no idea who's on the board, so I don't know who resigned when, or who they say is still on the board for the transition process.
So with whom is your lawyer communicating?
I'd have to check back if it was [the general VanCAF informational email] , but it wasn't anybody's name at VanCAF .
What's your sense of where things stand now? I mean, do you consider this an apology, or are you trying to do more at this point?
I think that it's a start. I think it's a necessary start, but that more definitely has to happen. This amount of transparency is not going to work. At least I need to know who's on the board.
But on the other hand, I think that a lot of people I wasn't in touch with were calling for VanCAF to lose their city funding and federal funding. And I really object to that, because I remember before VanCAF existed there wasn't a really great indie community in Vancouver, and there is quite an indie community [now]. And VanCAF in its inception, for the first eight, 10 years it ran, was a wonderful show. It was one of our favorite shows of the year. We really consider it our home show. I really fear that if people are going after the funding of VanCAF, once you take that away, it's really hard to get it back.
So to be clear, you’re not calling for any kind of protest.
No, I don't think a protest or boycott is the way to go. I think that they've shown that they're willing to reform, and so we're waiting to see if they really are able to be accountable and to prove that they have changed their ways so that VanCAF can continue, so that we can continue to have a good indie show in Vancouver.
So your goals at this point – you would like to have more transparency to the extent of at least knowing who's on the board. What else are the outcomes that you're trying to get?
Well, I think that I would like them to take some public actions showing that they've learned from this and that even if they are brigaded and dogpiled again, that they'll know how to deal with it, and why what they did was not the right action. They'll have plans for what to do instead, and they'll be open with the community about what mistakes were made and how they will operate differently in the future. I think that has to be a public process now. And because I think there probably will be backlash in the so-called activist left community, they'll have to be able to show that they can deal with that, that they are able to stand up to a backlash if they want to have a comic festival in this day and age that truly represents the community.
Are you and your lawyer doing anything to pursue those goals?
Everything's happened so fast. So for now, I'm just saying the apology is necessary and I find it truthful, even if to people outside of VanCAF it's still very confusing. It's necessary but not sufficient. That's how I feel about it. I hope to keep talking to them and hope to keep figuring out how we can pursue justice. From my point of view, it's probably not going to be financial because as I said, they're an arts festival. They don't have a lot of money. But I think they need to show that they can act differently and they can be different going forward.
So you're not planning to file any lawsuits?
Not at this time. It seems like they're open to working with us, so I'm hoping not to. Although when we approved their apology letter, we didn't say anything that binds us to future actions or otherwise.
Would you attend VanCAF again if that possibility were put back on the table?
I wish I could. I would love to because I remember how much it meant to me and my whole family for so many years. I really would like to be in a world where I could attend again. But that world has to be pretty different than what we have right now. There would definitely have to be a lot of changes made and a lot of actions taken in order to make me feel that that's my hometown festival again.
Is there anything else you want to add at this point?
I feel like I need to get the word out that my IDF service happened 24 years ago. It happened from 2000 to 2002. Indeed I was not drafted. I did volunteer because I had received my citizenship after my 18th birthday. So I did volunteer for the service, but the service I did was the same service and I was the same age as Israelis who were drafted. And my reasons for joining the Army at the time – I was already in the pro-peace camp. I already believed that Israel and Palestinians needed to both have human rights and self-determination in that land. But at the time, it was more about having a sense of belonging and proving that I could belong. A way to prove that I could be a real Israeli, too if all of the real Israelis had to go into the draft.
And when I joined in the summer of 2000, there was still a peace process in place. It was during the Oslo peace process which, you know, wasn't perfect, but it was the negotiated peace process between leaders of Israel and leaders of the Palestinian people. And then Second Intifada started two months into my service, and that's kind of the backdrop of Jobnik! I was never a right winger, I never planned to be part of an occupying force. For some people, military service anywhere in the world is beyond the pale. And that's fair. But if I can set the record straight about when and what my army service was, I want to get that out there.
Do you feel in general that your Army service or your position on Israeli and Palestinian politics are valid grounds to decide whether you should be at the festival?
I think that if my IDF service in 2000 is grounds for barring me from a festival, then anybody who served in any military in the world ... because all militaries commit violence and injustice. Canada was part of the invasion of Afghanistan. The US invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan, and other places. Unjustifiably, many places in Central America. So if when you served doesn't matter, and your current politics doesn't matter, then that disqualifies a lot more people than me.
Following the conclusion of this interview, Libicki expressed to the Comics Journal that she would prefer the names of Robin McConnell and Jarrett Samson be redacted from the article. It was the judgment of the Comics Journal, however, that both individuals were pertinent to the story, and that their names should therefore be left on the record. In the response that follows, Robin McConnell also confirmed his and Samson’s roles in the events Libicki described.
Robin McConnell Responds
Following our interview with Libicki, the Comics Journal reached Robin McConnell, who agreed to provide a brief set of written responses to Libicki’s account of events. Speaking generally about the events in question, McConnell offered the following comments:
I supported Jarrett as a colleague in February [the in-person meeting with Miriam] but wasn't involved in the decision making. I asked Miriam what happened with protesters, as I was just yelled at, and immediately wanted to hear what happened there and if any follow up was needed. After that, as I was helping my friend pack up his table, I was quite shaken, and Mike [Miriam's partner] wanted to know what to do next, and I told him several times that I really didn't want to talk about it. He refused to leave, and I eventually told him to leave me alone quite sternly. I did not approach him to discuss.
When I was VanCAF [Executive Director]., any investigation into materials or complaints involved direct conversations with artists or exhibitors and had never banned an artist, and in most cases provided additional support for folks.
I can confirm that there were three folks that confronted us. Again, I was Jarrett’s support, he's my friend and a well meaning guy. They were verbally abusive to us and to volunteers, and after we didn't give them the response they wanted, started yelling at volunteers and went downstairs yelling, but we didn't see who they yelled at because we disengaged. Security likely kicked them out because they were disruptive.
On the question of whether he advised the VanCAF Board in any capacity on whether Libicki should be banned from future shows, McConnell denied any involvement in that decision-making:
No, I said they need to talk to her and work on a resolution, as there was a lot of online backlash for her being at the show. I regret the heat of the moment tone, and the whole situation breaks my heart because there is no clean resolution. I have known Miriam a long time, and interviewed her many years ago, and appreciate her place in comics. And [I] joined in the initial conversation to help smooth things [over to] keep everyone happy.
I will also say that Jarrett said it was important for Miriam to be there with her Holocaust book this year, and was a big part of easing things over after emails between them seemed to be miscommunicating.
McConnell added a final, general comment to his responses:
I am not in a position to answer most of your questions at this time, unfortunately. Hopefully I will be able to share more in the future. I will say openly that this whole situation breaks my heart. There is no outcome that makes everyone happy. I had grown VanCAF from a small volunteer org to having staff in place, being able to pay everyone that took part in programming during the festival … if folks were on a panel, they got a cash honorarium. I really cared for the festival and I know that everyone else does as well. So the whole situation is just really, really hard.
After providing these statements, McConnell offered responses to a few of the follow-up questions given to him in writing by the Comics Journal. Asked about the specific title he held at VanCAF, and the time period during which he held it, he replied:
I was executive director from 2019 until July 2022 when I resigned. I was brought back in the following winter to support recruiting a new ED and left in April after onboarding a new person. More recently, my support was requested again to help with overseeing a project outside of the festival and with complicated grant issues and financial management. I don’t take part in curatorial decisions.
He did not respond to inquiries about other members of the VanCAF Board, or why their names had not been made public.
Asked about the number of individuals who had confronted Libicki and convention organizers in 2022 and 2024 (McConnell’s initial statement had mentioned three people, while Libicki had remembered two), McConnell confirmed that he recalled one guest confronting organizers in 2022, but three in 2024. He also described his account of Mike Yoshioka’s interactions with him at the close of the 2024 festival:
It was three [people in 2024]. I was yelled at by three people. it was horrible. I will never forget how hostile they were. I have never been treated like that. [It was the] second time I was yelled at defending Miriam's work and presence.
I was helping pack up the bookseller’s table at the end of the show, and was still in severe shock from what had happened, and Mike was extremely insistent on talking to me. I explained several times that it wasn’t a good time, and I wasn't doing well after that. He would not leave me alone, wanting to know what to do.
Also, the concept of banning the people in a public, city-run community center that has several entrances is pretty much impossible. We did not even have photos of the person that yelled at us. In 2022, the first show back [after Covid shutdowns], when most community events in Vancouver were mask-mandated, we couldn’t even be mask-mandated because the show took place in a public space that could not enforce the mandate, although 99% of people did willingly wear masks that year. 4
With regard to the February 2024 coffee shop meeting with Libicki and Yoshioka, McConnell confirmed that he attended along with Jarrett Samson on behalf of VanCAF, and said:
I was there to support Jarrett with the conversation. Talking in person through situations is always preferred over email, as email loses quite a lot, and in-person allows for collaboration. Not showing Jobnik! and military imagery was mutually agreed, as it would take away from the focus of her booth. It seemed like quite a pragmatic option.
McConnell did not reply to additional questions posed by the Comics Journal, for reasons he declined to state.
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The post Miriam Libicki on VanCAF, bannings, and political protests appeared first on The Comics Journal.
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