U.K. University Hires First Professor of Graphic Novels

By Dianna Dilworth 

Lancaster University has appointed French graphic novelist and critic Benoît Peeters as visiting professor in graphic fiction and comic art, the first university in the U.K. to hire someone with this title.

Peeters, a well known scholar on Hergé and Tintin, will hold the position for three years. The author of Tintin and the World of Hergé and Hergé’s biography, Hergé, Son Of Tintin will give lectures, run creative writing workshops, and supervise post-graduate students.

“The appointment will bring a new dimension to our University and, in particular, to our English and creative writing courses,” sid Simon Guy, professor of arts and social sciences at Lancaster University. “It will also demonstrate strong commitment to our collaboration with the increasingly popular and fast-expanding Lakes international Comic Art Festival.”