Meet the Jury for the 2026 Mini-Comic Bursary for Black and Indigenous Creators
Meet our jury members Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet, Maya McKibbin, and Rin Oyinloye (last year’s bursary winner!) for the 2026 Mini-Comic Bursary for Black and Indigenous Creators! Conundrum Press sincerely appreciates their contributions which make this bursary possible.
This annual bursary, which aims to support these under-represented voices in Canada’s comics industry, provides a $1000 to a Black or Indigenous person living in Canada for the creation and production of a mini-comic. This bursary is limited to developing and emerging creators but all ages and genders are welcome.
How to Apply: Send 3-5 pages from the proposed project to andy@conundrumpress.com
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist practicing in amiskwaciwâskahikan on Treaty 6 Territory. She grew up West of the city near the hamlet of Calahoo where she lived with her relatives on a quarter section of land. Her family lines are Cree and Métis descending from Michel Band, as well as Dutch and mixed European. She works in painting, printmaking, drawing and installation, recollecting personal stories of grief and tenderness in between important moments of deep belly laughter.
Working alongside other artists in initiatives of community care, Kiona co-organizes Making Space in partnership with Sanaa Humayun. She likes visiting her moshom on the farm, and gossiping with her mom, relatives, and friends on the prairies. (Photo credit: Seth Arcand)
Maya McKibbin is a 2S multidisciplinary animator and illustrator living on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ Nations. They are Irish-settler, Ojibwe with roots in White Earth Nation and diaspora from Zacatecas in Mexico. They grew up in ch’atlich and later in England. Maya has illustrated multiple publications in children’s literature with writers including Rebecca Thomas, David A. Robertson and Kathy Stinson. Maya’s work has also appeared in graphic novels and comics, including Image Comics’ The Silver Coin #5, Salmon Run, Shades of Fear and Scholastics Haunted Canada volume series. Under director Amanda Strong, they art-directed Inkwo: For When The Starving Return, a stop-motion horror film. The short has screened at over 70 festivals and has garnered over 20 awards, it is currently under consideration for Best Animated Short Film.
