Creative Reading with Anna Corfa Isehayek

You are invited to Leeds Arts University Library’s new public event series, where artists are invited to speak about the books they make and the books they read. 

In conversation with the Collections Librarian, guest artists share the ways in which books and reading play a role in their creativity. This intimate event, held inside the university library, will offer the opportunity to interact with the artists and to view examples of their work, along with a few selected items from Leeds Arts University's Special Collection of artist's books. Attendees take home a bespoke Creative Reading List of book recommendations compiled by the guest speakers. 

Our guest for this event is Anna Corfa Isehayek (https://annacorfa.com/), a designer and artist working across various digital and printing practices. A print designer for textiles by trade, she also designs graphics for campaigns and writes speculative feminist comics. Her comics, often use and distort classical formal principles to investigate dominant narratives. She co-runs the community press at House of Annetta (London) and the feminist press Slow + Dirty. Anna will discuss her practice and some of her works, including Toile de Jouy, a zine about Toile de Jouy traditional, printed fabric on which characters with decorations or landscapes are represented in monochrome. Anna says: "The Toile de Jouy has often been said to be an ancestor to the comic, an early example of non-linear illustrated story-telling. Clusters depict scenes forming a tale you will want to cover your sofa with." In engaging with this textile history, her printing and zine work sought to "unravel a French(/European) national identity built on colonial practices of theft, subjugation, and economic domination over much of the world, as well as its own working class."

Practical information

Creative Reading is held inside Leeds Arts University Library. This is a free event but registration is essential. As places are limited, please be aware that booking without attending will likely prohibit others from joining the event. Tickets are not transferrable. Visitors without a ticket will not be admitted. Booking will be open until midday on the day of the event. 

Our building is accessible for wheelchair users. Please contact us to discuss any additional access requirements.

Ticket holders will be met at the reception of Leeds Arts University on Blenheim Walk from 5:15pm and directed to the library. The event will begin at 5:30pm.