End-of-year events roundup

There's a slew of events coming up til the end of the year.

• On Wednesday 24 November Felix M. Larkin will be giving a lecture on "No Uncertain Voice – the Shemus Cartoons in the Civil War period in Ireland" at St Malachy's Old Boys Association, 442 Antrim Road, from 8.30pm. £5 in, in aid of Glenveagh Special School. Shemus, alias Ernest Forbes, was political cartoonist for the Dublin paper the Freeman's Journal in the early 1920s. Here's one of his cartoons of Carson:

• Next Monday, 29 November, the Coffee House Art Club meet at the Taphouse Bar on Botanic Avenue. Ann describes it as "a social evening, just time that can be spent in the same location as others working on our own personal projects, catch up on chat and exchange tips or techniques." Open to "writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and any others interested", from 7.30pm.
• Thursday 2 December, being the first Thursday of the month, is the latest Comics Creators Pub Meet. We've been meeting in the Garrick Bar on Chichester Street since the dawn of time, but in recent months concerns have been expressed about the space available, so we're considering other venues. Will keep you posted. Join the Belfast Comics Creators Facebook Group or send me your email address to be kept up to date.
• The following Sunday, 5 December, is the Christmas Black Market at the Black Box on Hill Street from 12 to 5pm. The Black Panel will be there, selling the finest selection of independent comics from all over Ireland, north and south, among stalls selling paintings, records, home made soft toys, jewellery and many other creative ventures. Oh, and buns.
• Monday 6 December is the Coffee House Art Club Drink and Draw at The Grand Central (formerly Castro's, even formerly Roast) coffee shop at the corner of Royal Avenue and North Street from 7.30pm. Clothed life models.
• Finally (for now at least), Black Books returns for Christmas at the Black Box on Sunday 19 December, 12-5pm. Described as "a cacophony of stalls manned by book-sellers, zine writers and literary enthusiasts and an afternoon of word-based entertainment, Black Books is a revival and a celebration of the multiplicities of language and printed word. Stalls will include new and secondhand books, zines, rare books & antiquities, comicbooks, magazines, papers and children’s literature." The Black Panel will be there.