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Small Press Expo Sponsors Keith Knight, Miss Lasko-Gross and Diane Noomin at the National Book Festival

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National Book FestivalSmall Press Expo (SPX) is proud to announce it is again a sponsor of the Library of Congress National Book Festival. As a part of this sponsorship, SPX is bringing Keith Knight, Miss Lasko-Gross and Diane Noomin to the National Book Festival.

Keith Knight is a musician and cartoonist. His works include The K Chronicles, (Th)ink and The Knight Life series. He has received the Comic-Con Inkpot Award for career achievement, multiple Glyph Awards for best comic strip and the Harvey Kurtzman Award for best syndicated comic strip. His art has appeared in various publications worldwide, including The Washington Post, Daily KOS, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon.com, Ebony, ESPN the Magazine, L.A. Weekly, MAD Magazine and the Funny Times. The first collection of his Knight Life strip is The Knight Life: Chivalry Ain’t Dead (Grand Central).

Miss Lasko-Gross is a comics artist and author known for her semiautobiographical graphic novels Escape from Special and A Mess of Everything. Her first graphic novel was nominated for YALSA’s Great Graphic Novel award, and A Mess of Everything was named by Booklist among the top 10 graphic novels of 2009. Lasko-Gross has contributed to and worked on a variety of comics and collections. Her latest graphic novel, Henni (Z2 Comics), features a girl with cat-like ears and a tail who questions the religious rules of her community.

Diane Noomin is a comics artist best known as the creator of Didi Glitz. She is one of the original contributors to Wimmen’s Comix and is the editor of the anthology series Twisted Sisters. Her work has appeared in many books, magazines and underground comic publications, including Weirdo, Young Lust, Short Order, Arcade, El Perfecto, True Glitz, Aftershock, Real Girl, Lemme Outta Here, Mind Riot, Titters, Dangerous Drawings, The Comics Journal/Special Editions, The New Comics Anthology, The Nose and The Nation. Noomin has received an Inkpot Award and been nominated for Harvey and Eisner awards. Her book Glitz-2-Go (Fantagraphics) is the first collection of more than 40 years of Didi Glitz comics.

The primary goal of this sponsorship is to bring creators from the indie comics community to the National Book Festival to provide greater exposure for them and their works to the diverse audience that attends this prestigious festival.

The National Book Festival takes place Saturday, September 5, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

Keith Knight will be in the Graphic Novel Pavilion, signing his books from 6:00PM-7:00PM, and from 7:15PM – 8:05PM will be on a panel with his fellow cartoonists Lalo Alcaraz and Scott Stantis.

Miss Lasko-Gross and Diane Noomin will be in the Graphic Novel Pavilion signing books from 6:00PM-7:00PM, and will be on a panel with Trina Robbins from 8:10PM-8:55PM.

National Book Festival Announces Guests

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NatBookFestThe National Book Festival is a fantastic convention in Washington, DC that began in 2001. Over the 15 years, it has welcomed numerous guests including some of the top comic/graphic novel creators.

This year’s guests have been announced, and the guests for the “Graphic Novels” track include:

This year is certainly an interesting group, and includes many award winning creators. The convention usually includes panels followed by signings, as well as a large book store. This year’s National Book Festival takes place Saturday, September 5, 2015 from 10am to 10pm at the Washington Convention Center. It’s free to the public.

National Book Festival 2014: Rep. John Lewis & Andrew Aydin

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Rep. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin appear at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: John Lewis has served as the U.S. States representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District since 1987. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party. Rep. Lewis had been serving America long before his congressional career began, as he is revered as a major civil rights icon, lending his resounding moral voice to the cause for more than 50 years. He was a key player in the movement to end racial discrimination and segregation as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In the first book of his graphic memoir trilogy, “March” (Top Shelf Productions), published with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell, Rep. Lewis recounts his lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, chronicling the days of Jim Crow to the broader civil rights movement, and telling of his experience at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “March” has been recognized as the winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, a No. 1 Washington Post best-seller, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book.

Speaker Biography: Andrew Aydin is an aide to Rep. John Lewis and co-author of the first book of the Congressman’s graphic novel memoir trilogy, “March” (Top Shelf Productions).

For transcript, captions, and more information.

National Book Festival 2014: Bryan Lee O’Malley

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Bryan Lee O’Malley appears at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: Award-winning cartoonist, writer and artist Bryan Lee O’Malley is best known for his New York Times best-selling Scott Pilgrim series. O’Malley first captivated readers with the story of Scott Pilgrim, a 23- year-old slacker-sometimes-musician on a mission to defeat the seven evil exes of his love Ramona Flowers. The popular graphic series was adapted into the major motion picture “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” in 2010. O’Malley has received many accolades, including the Doug Wright, Harvey, Joe Shuster and Eisner awards. In his latest graphic novel, “Seconds” (Ballantine/Random House), O’Malley tells the story of Katie and her magical mushrooms, a tale of existential angst, everyday obstacles, young love and ancient spirits.

For transcript, captions, and more information.

National Book Festival 2014: Jeffrey Brown

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Jeffrey Brown appears at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: Jeffrey Brown Ignatz Award winner Jeffrey Brown began his career with the self-published “Clumsy.” He earned an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago School as a painter, but he soon found his niche in drawing comics. He is the author-illustrator of “Star Wars: Jedi Academy No. 2: Return of the Padawan” (Scholastic), the much-anticipated sequel to the New York Times best-seller “Star Wars: Jedi Academy.” Brown also wrote and illustrated “Darth Vader and Son” in 2012, and its sequel “Vader’s Little Princess” in 2013, among many other titles.

For transcript, captions, and more information.

National Book Festival 2014: Gene Luen Yang

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Gene Luen Yang appeared in the Graphic Novels Super Session at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: Gene Luen Yang is a writer of both graphic novels and comics. His work “American Born Chinese” is a creative text that chronicles the Asian-American experience in a way that resonates with teen readers. It was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award; it was also a winner of the 2007 Eisner Award. “Boxers & Saints” (First Second) is a two-volume project that set during the Boxer Rebellion, a war that took place on Chinese soil over 100 years ago between the Boxers (anti-Christians) and their Chinese Christian enemies during a time of national turmoil. This historically based fiction offers two perspectives, as “Boxers” focuses on the story of Little Bao, a boy who becomes a leader of the Boxer Rebellion, and “Saints” follows the story of Vibiana, a girl from the same village who becomes a Christian. “Boxers & Saints” was a National Book Award finalist, noted on Booklist’s Top 10 Religious Books for Youth, awarded Library Journal’s Best Book of the Year and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Yang believes both graphic novels and comics can be used effectively as educational tools in the classroom. He teaches at Hamline University as part of the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

For transcript, captions, and more information.

National Book Festival 2014: Vivek Tiwary & Kyle Baker

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Vivek Tiwary and Kyle Baker appeared at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: Vivek Tiwary is an author, Broadway theater producer and founder of Tiwary Entertainment Group. Tiwary’s debut graphic novel, “The Fifth Beatle” (Dark Horse), tells the true story of Brian Epstein, the visionary manager behind the spotlight who led the Beatles to stardom. Despite his ambitious drive and pivotal role in mobilizing what would later become the most influential rock/pop band of all time, “The Fifth Beatle” reveals the brief life of Epstein, a tale of both triumph and tragedy. Tiwary portrays the story of a flawed and imperfect hero troubled by personal obstacles. “The Fifth Beatle” is written by Tiwary, with art illustrations by Andrew Robinson and Kyle Baker and lettering by Steve Dutro. It is a No. 1 New York Times best-seller and will be adapted into a feature film this year.

Speaker Biography: Cartoonist, writer and animator Kyle Baker has few peers in the field. He has won eight Eisner awards, five Harvey awards and five Glyph Comics awards. Baker’s breakthrough work, “Why I Hate Saturn,” won him his first Eisner in 1991. Baker was responsible for the revival of the Plastic Man comic series, and he has done the animation for several Looney Tunes projects. He is the illustrator of “The Fifth Beatle” (Dark Horse), a graphic novel about the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, written by Vivek Tiwary.

For transcript, captions, and more information.

The National Book Festival 2014 in Pictures

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On August 30 at the Washington Convention Center, the Library of Congress held the 2014 National Book Festival. The convention featured panels on graphic novels and such speakers as Raina Telgemeier, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Vivek Tiwary, Kyle Baker, Liza Donnelly, and Jeff Smith. Gene Luen Yang also spoke earlier in the day.

Here’s photos from the festival.

Gene Luen Yang’s 2014 National Book Festival Gala Speech on Diversity in Comics

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This past Saturday was the 2014 National Book Festival held by the Library of Congress. This year’s gathering was held in the Washington, DC Convention Center and part of it was a graphic novel session featuring numerous comic writers. Writer Gene Luen Yang had the honor of speaking during the gala, where he talking about diversity in comics.

I got to see him speak on the topic, particularly Asians in comics, during Saturday, and if you haven’t seen him speak I highly recommend it.

You can read a transcript here.

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