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Small Press Expo gives an update on its 2023 show

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Small Press Expo

It’s a new year and convention season is already underway. This year’s Small Press Expo (SPX) will occur September 9-10, 2023 at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, with events occurring in the days preceding the show throughout the Washington, D.C. area.

The convention has released a list of key dates as well as the latest COVID-19 policy.

COVID-19 AND SPX

COVID-19 is still an issue and the convention is taking it seriously. This is where the convention currently stands and the health measures being taken at this year’s show.

  • Masking will be required for everybody, attendees, exhibitors and SPX staff/volunteers.
  • If there is a current Covid wave close to the show, proof of vaccination will once again be required to gain entry. This decision will be made and communicated to the SPX Community in mid-late August.
  • For exhibitors, they will once again limit the number of people behind tables to 2-3 people, with medical exceptions allowed.

ATTENDEE KEY DATES

  • First week in June – For those attendees coming from out of town, the hotel room block will be made available.
  • Late June – Advance tickets will go on sale.
  • Late June – Special Guests will be announced.
  • Mid-August – Sign-up forms for workshops will become available.
  • Mid-August – Ignatz nominees/voting, Debuts and Programming slate will all be announced.

EXHIBITOR KEY DATES

Below is the planned schedule for table registration and other exhibitor milestones for SPX 2023. Dates may change.

To be placed on the Exhibitor Email List, please fill out this form on the convention website.

  • March 4 – Invitations sent to publishers and creators on our Invite List.
  • March 18 – Response for accepting/declining Invite List invitation due.
  • March 20 – Table lottery opens.
  • March 31 – Table lottery closes.
  • April 1 – Ignatz Submissions open.
  • April 24– Lottery winners and Wait Listed exhibitors contacted
  • May 1– Table payment and hotel room block information sent to all table holders.
  • May 22 – Payments due for all tables.
  • May 31 – Ignatz Submissions close.
  • July 10– Table Assignments sent out, begin signing up for badge pickup names and names for the program guide/web site.
  • July 31 – Debut submissions begin.
  • August 5 – Names due for Program Guide.
  • August 14 – Debuts posted on web site, debut submissions end.
  • August 19 – Names due for web site and badge pickup.

The 2022 Ignatz Award Winners revealed

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Ignatz Awards

Last night as part of the Small Press Expo (SPX) the winners for the 2022 Ignatz Awards was announced. The awards are a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

For the first time in three years, SPX 2022 has featured a full slate of programming and workshops, along with a live presentation of the Ignatz Awards ceremony.

Beginning this year, voting for the Ignatz Awards was opened to anybody on the SPX email lists and anyone requesting a ballot. There was no in-person voting at the show as has been tradition. 

The Ignatz Awards nominees were determined by a panel of comics professionals. This year’s team of jurors included:

  • Cuyler Hedlund
  • Josh O’Neill
  • Breena Nunez
  • Alex Hoffman
  • Hazel Newlevant

Congrats to all of the nominees and winners. The winners are in bold below.

2022 IGNATZ NOMINEES AND WINNERS

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

  • Halcyon, illustrated by Ron Regé Jr. (Fantagraphics)
  • Four Years Collected: Vol 2, by K Czap (Czap Books)
  • The City of Belgium, illustrated by Brecht Evens (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life, illustrated by Reimena Yee (Hiveworks Comics)
  • Faster, illustrated by Jesse Lonergan (Bulgilhan Press)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY

  • LAAB Magazine #2: Eat / Shit – ed. Ronald Wimberly and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)
  • Isolated: A Pandemic Comics Anthology – ed. Tana Oshima (Self Published)
  • Smut Peddler Presents: Sordid Past – ed. Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus Comics)
  • Good Boy Magazine #1 – ed. Michael Sweater and Benji Nate (Silver Sprocket)
  • Baltic Comics Magazine š! #42 ‘Scientific Facts’ – ed. David Schilter, Sanita Muižniece (kuš!)

OUTSTANDING COLLECTION

  • Arrive In My Hands by Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)
  • Cover Not Final: Crime Funnies by Max Huffman (Adhouse Books)
  • Think I’ve Still Got It! By Wang XX, Translated by R. Orion Martin (Paradise Systems)
  • Mr. Boop by Alec Robbins (Silver Sprocket)
  • The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories by Rumi Hara (Drawn & Quarterly)

OUTSTANDING COMIC

  • Four Years Collected: Vol 2 by K Czap (Czap Books)
  • I See A Knight by Xulia Vicente (Shortbox)
  • Pee Pee Poo Poo #69 by Caroline Cash (Self Published)
  • Are Comic Books Real? by Alex Nall (Self Published)
  • Ode to Keisha by Jamila Rowser and Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL

  • Discipline by Dash Shaw (New York Review Comics) 
  • Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine, by Mohammad Sabaaneh, translated by Dalia and Mouin Rabbani (Street Noise Books)
  • Clutter: A Scatterbrained Sexual Assault Memoir, by Ariel Bordeaux (Fieldmouse Press)
  • No One Else by R. Kikuo Johnson (Fantagraphics)
  • What is Home, Mum? By Sabba Khan (Street Noise Books)

OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC

  • Joy by Maritsa Patrinos (Self Published)
  • Pee Pee Poo Poo #69 by Caroline Cash (Self Published)
  • Carrington’s World by Summer Pierre (Self Published)
  • Phonestoned by King Ray (Self Published)
  • Sleemor Gank – Burg Land 1 by Alexander Laird (Self Published)

OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC

  • Blind Alley by Adam de Souza 
  • Ride or Die by Mars Heyward 
  • Vattu by Evan Dahm 
  • Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life by Reimena Yee
  • Technofeelia Vol. 4 ‘Help’ by Amy Kurzweil

OUTSTANDING SERIES

  • Methods of Dyeing by B. Mure (Avery Hill Publishing)
  • Trans Classic Movies by Jett Allen (www.intomore.com)
  • The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (BOOM! Studios)
  • Ley Lines Artists: Keren Katz, Cameron Weston Nicholson, Jordan Jeffries, ed. K Czap & L Nichols (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • The Nib Magazine – ed. by Matt Bors (The Nib)

OUTSTANDING STORY

  • Big Cats by Liz Yerby (Self Published)
  • Ley Lines: The First Few Bars by Keren Katz (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • Ley Lines: Love, or the Axe by Jordan Jeffries (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • The Lover of Everyone in the World, from The Lover of Everyone in the World by Beatrix Urkowitz (Parsifal Press)
  • Winter Break 2029, from Invisible Parade, by Mississippi (Glacier Bay Books)

PROMISING NEW TALENT:

  • Arrive In My Hands by Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)
  • Archeologist Landing by Yara Elfouly (Self Published)
  • Koreans Speak English by Juniper Kim (Self Published)
  • The Third Person by Emma Grove (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Djeliya by Juni Ba (TKO Studios)

Mad Cave heads to SPX and debuts its Ukraine benefit anthology Lower Your Sights

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Mad Cave Studios is headed to Bethesda, MD, for Small Press Expo 2022 (Sept. 17-18). Join Senior Editors Lauren Hitzhusen and Chas! Pangburn at Booth #G1, check out Mad Cave and Maverick favorites as well as the debut release of Lower Your Sights, the Ukrainian benefit anthology, featuring celebrated creators including Eric Paliki, Matt Kindt, Jim Zub, Kevin Cuffe, Bob Frantz, Joe Corallo, and more! The collection also includes exclusive art pieces and write-ups from numerous Ukrainian illustrators; focusing on the consequences of war, the peace/relief effort, and mental health. 

This year’s Small Press Expo will also see the debut of Mad Cave’s newest young adult title, from its Maverick imprint, In the Shadow of the Throne by Kate Sheridan and artist Gaia Cardinali.

When his younger siblings and parents begin to irritate him on vacation, Jordan tries to get some space. But instead of wandering around the museum, he finds himself dropped in a fantasy world of magic where he can finally have some fun and train to become a knight. Except Prince Astel and Sir Griffith are about to uncover a sinister secret kept hidden by the Queen that’ll thrust Jordan in the middle of a magical battle he never could have anticipated.

Bulgilhan Press brings Stray and Die Horny to Small Press Expo 2022

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Bulgilhan Press recently have published two new comics that fans will be able to get at this year’s Small Press Expo (SPX)! Stray by Eisner Award nominee Molly Mendoza and Die Horny by Eisner Award winner Rebecca Mock will both be available at SPX which takes place on September 17th and 18th, 2022.

Stray follows Jack, a chaotic romantic spiraling into disaster desperately seeking comfort in others while ignoring their own destructive tendencies. While thoroughly hung up on the past, Jack meets Stray and their whole world changes. Tender and sensual, lush and palpable, Stray ushers in a new era of cartoonist Molly Mendoza’s wholehearted approach to making comics and telling stories.

Stray debuted at this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival to an excited audience eager to see Mendoza push the boundaries of their distinct wholehearted cartooning to dig into messier themes around heartbreak, grief, vices, lust, and self-actualization.

Lovebirds Iggy (human) and Wortizabella (monster) have just set off on their romantic honeymoon tour of the wasteland. Before they can get too hot and heavy, they’re drawn into a conflict between humans and monsters! But these lovebirds aren’t exactly the conventional allies either side might have hoped for…

Described as a wholesome comic for sickos, Die Horny is a love letter to Power Rangers, pervy 90’s anime, and a desire to create something entirely catered to Mock’s taste, to terrifying and liberating results. Die Horny is set to debut at this year’s Small Press Expo.

Small Press Expo announces the programming at SPX 2022

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Small Press Expo

Small Press Expo (SPX) has announced its first full slate of in-person programming in three years.

The programming slate at SPX 2022 is highlighted by the unique, performative collaboration between punk legend Thalia Zedek and cartoonist Leela Corman. This is a ticketed event to benefit SPX’s Graphic Novel Gift program, tickets for this event and to gain entrance into SPX 2022 can be purchased on the SPX Eventbrite web site.

We will also have spotlight panels on cartoonists such as Maia Kobabe and Ho Che Anderson. There are twenty-one panels in all that will be held on Saturday, September 17th and Sunday, September 18th. The full programming schedule with descriptions can be seen on the SPX web site.

This programming is in addition to the previously announced 14 hands-on workshops, which you can sign up for here.

Here are a few highlights from this year’s programming slate:

  • Trans Identities in Fantasy and Fictional Storytelling, moderated by L. Nichols, with Bread Tarleton, Casey Nowak, Tommi Parrish, and Andi Santagata
  • Ronald Wimberly In Conversation With Keith Knight
  • Narrative Threads: When It Comes To Storylines, Clothing Matters, moderated by Mae Weinstein, with Rebecca Mock, Robyn Smith, Dick Carroll, and Lucie Bryon
  • Punks In Comics: Bianca Xunise and James Spooner in Conversation

Small Press Expo 2022 Features over 170 Debuts!

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Small Press Expo has announced that over 170 books and comics will debut at SPX 2022. The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center and will have over 500 creators, 280 exhibitor tables, 21 programming panels and 14 hands-on workshops to introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics.

A complete list of debuts, including cover images and publishing information, can be found on the SPX web site.

Here’s some of what you’ll find:

A Voyage To Arcturus: An Illuminated Edition – Beehive Books

Visionary cartoonist Jim Woodring has chosen to illustrate an unclassifiable 1920 novel by the legendary British writer David Lindsay. A Voyage to Arcturus is a baffling amalgam of mysticism, science fiction, sexual politics, and outrageous fantasy, and stands as one of the greatest works of sustained, untrammeled imagination ever achieved. Woodring’s drawings capture the writhing currents of interacting forces that lie beneath the wonderfully arcane prose.

Featuring an introduction by Alan Moore.

A Voyage To Arcturus: An Illuminated Edition - Beehive Books

Who Will Make The Pancakes: Five Stories – Fantagraphics

In Megan Kelso’s  suite of five brilliant comics stories united by themes of motherhood, family, and love. Who Will Make the Pancakes collects five deeply social stories by the acclaimed cartoonist Megan Kelso, exploring the connective tissue that binds us together despite our individual, interior experience. These stories, created over the past 15 years wrestle with the concept of motherhood and the way the experience informs and impacts concepts of identity, racism, class, love, and even abuse.

Who Will Make The Pancakes: Five Stories - Fantagraphics

The Bend of Luck – Top Shelf

Some guys have all the luck… but not all luck is good. The award-winning duo behind Coin-Op Comics, Peter and Maria Hoey, return with a mind-bending tale of fortune and family. Imagine a world where Luck, the most ephemeral of ideas, has a physical form. Precious stones of luck, mined like gold, are worn as bringers of fortune. But luck breaks both ways. While the blue gems may grant advantage to those who wear them, their blessing is fickle and unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, good luck can turn to bad.

This graphic novel tale is told in alternating scenes between the two generations, The Bend of Luck follows felicity’s course, like an arrow, through a family’s destiny.

The Bend of Luck - Top Shelf

Good Person Trouble – Fieldmouse Press

Sebastian, the tobacconist, stands trial for the disappearance of his cousin Teresa, but all is not what it seems in this courtroom drama. Bertolt Brecht meets Judith Butler in this debut graphic novel by Noëlle Kröger, translated by Natalye Childress.

Good Person Trouble - Fieldmouse Press

Thieves – NoBrow

In Lucie Byron’s first English-translated graphic novel, What happened last night? Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania… But does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice.

Thieves - NoBrow

Fruiting Bodies – Silver Sprocket

Ashley Robin Franklin tells the story of Frances, her brother, and his annoying friend Trent as they take a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. A wrong turn strands them in the rain-soaked woods. Luckily, they’re found by a beautiful, friendly stranger who is eager to help them—but is her convenient arrival their salvation, or something else entirely?

Fruiting Bodies - Silver Sprocket

A Brief Guide to Crutonia – Self Published

Created by Deborah Lang and Robert Christie, Crutonia is a kingdom full of whimsical characters, strange beasts, and stories to be told. A Brief Guide to Crutonia, from the creators of “Quirk’s Quest: Into the Outlands” and “Quirk’s Quest: The Lost and the Found” features maps, creature profiles, and information about all aspects of Crutonian culture.

A Brief Guide to Crutonia - Self Published

SPX announces a Special Multi-Media Event with Thalia Zedek and Leela Corman to benefit the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program

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Small Press Expo has announced a special multi-media event with famed indie-rock musician Thalia Zedek and award-winning graphic novelist Leela Corman as a benefit for the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program.

This special, one-time only performance will be held on Saturday, September 17 from 5PM-7PM in the White Oak Room at SPX 2022, which will be held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

The performance will include Leela presenting some of her recent comics accompanied with music by Thalia, who will then do a solo performance of her music while Leela’s art is projected on-screen. This will be followed by a Q&A session led by comics creator and teacher, Josh Bayer.

Tickets are $20 for people not attending SPX, and will be an additional $10 for those who buy badges to SPX 2022. Tickets for both this event and to attend SPX can be purchased via Eventbrite. 

More information about more programming and the exhibitors room at SPX 2022 can be found on the festival website. 

The money raised will be used to reinstate the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which awards a grant to library systems that serve under-privileged communities in the Mid-Atlantic region to supplement their budgets so they can purchase graphic novels for their patrons.

Thalia Zedek
Leela Corman

Thalia Zedek is a critically acclaimed indie-rock musician whose eponymously named band’s latest work, Perfect Vision  is available along with her many other recordings on the Thrill Jockey record label:

https://thrilljockey.com/artists/thalia-zedek

Leela Corman is teacher and award winning graphic novelist whose previous works include Unterzakhn (Schocken-Pantheon) and We All Wish For Deadly Force (Retrofit/Big Planet). More information about Leela and her works can be found on her web site: 

http://www.leelacorman.com/

Small Press Expo Announces the 2022 Ignatz Award Nominees

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Ignatz Awards

The Small Press Expo (SPX) has announced the 2022 nominees for the annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

For the first time in three years, SPX 2022 will feature a full slate of programming and workshops, along with a live presentation of the Ignatz Awards ceremony.

Beginning this year, voting for the Ignatz Awards will be opened to anybody on the SPX email lists and anyone requesting a ballot. There will be no in-person voting at the show, as we open up the voting for the prestigious Ignatz Awards to all fans of indie comics. 

Ignatz Awards nominees are determined by a panel of comics professionals. This year’s team of jurors includes:

  • Cuyler Hedlund
  • Josh O’Neill
  • Breena Nunez
  • Alex Hoffman
  • Hazel Newlevant

The Ignatz Awards ceremony will be held at 9:30PM on September 17 in the White Oak Room of the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

BALLOT & VOTING INFORMATION

  • Voting for the 2022 Ignatz Awards will be by email ballot only, there will be no on-site voting.
  • Ballots will be emailed on Thursday August 18 to everyone on SPX’s email lists.
  • Voting ends on Wednesday, September 14 at 11:59 PM (EDT).
  • Please check your spam folder if you do not see your ballot.
  • If you wish to vote for the Ignatz Awards and are not on the SPX email lists, signup for a ballot and get added to the email lists at the SPX website.

2022 IGNATZ NOMINEES

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

  • Halcyon, illustrated by Ron Regé Jr. (Fantagraphics)
  • Four Years Collected: Vol 2, by K Czap (Czap Books)
  • The City of Belgium, illustrated by Brecht Evens (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life, illustrated by Reimena Yee (Hiveworks Comics)
  • Faster, illustrated by Jesse Lonergan (Bulgilhan Press)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY

  • LAAB Magazine #2: Eat / Shit – ed. Ronald Wimberly and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)
  • Isolated: A Pandemic Comics Anthology – ed. Tana Oshima (Self Published)
  • Smut Peddler Presents: Sordid Past – ed. Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus Comics)
  • Good Boy Magazine #1 – ed. Michael Sweater and Benji Nate (Silver Sprocket)
  • Baltic Comics Magazine š! #42 ‘Scientific Facts’ – ed. David Schilter, Sanita Muižniece (kuš!)

OUTSTANDING COLLECTION

  • Arrive In My Hands by Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)
  • Cover Not Final: Crime Funnies by Max Huffman (Adhouse Books)
  • Think I’ve Still Got It! By Wang XX, Translated by R. Orion Martin (Paradise Systems)
  • Mr. Boop by Alec Robbins (Silver Sprocket)
  • The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories by Rumi Hara (Drawn & Quarterly)

OUTSTANDING COMIC

  • Four Years Collected: Vol 2 by K Czap (Czap Books)
  • I See A Knight by Xulia Vicente (Shortbox)
  • Pee Pee Poo Poo #69 by Caroline Cash (Self Published)
  • Are Comic Books Real? by Alex Nall (Self Published)
  • Ode to Keisha by Jamila Rowser and Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL

  • Discipline by Dash Shaw (New York Review Comics) 
  • Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine, by Mohammad Sabaaneh, translated by Dalia and Mouin Rabbani (Street Noise Books)
  • Clutter: A Scatterbrained Sexual Assault Memoir, by Ariel Bordeaux (Fieldmouse Press)
  • No One Else by R. Kikuo Johnson (Fantagraphics)
  • What is Home, Mum? By Sabba Khan (Street Noise Books)

OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC

  • Joy by Maritsa Patrinos (Self Published)
  • Pee Pee Poo Poo #69 by Caroline Cash (Self Published)
  • Carrington’s World by Summer Pierre (Self Published)
  • Phonestoned by King Ray (Self Published)
  • Sleemor Gank – Burg Land 1 by Alexander Laird (Self Published)

OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC

  • Blind Alley by Adam de Souza 
  • Ride or Die by Mars Heyward 
  • Vattu by Evan Dahm 
  • Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life by Reimena Yee
  • Technofeelia Vol. 4 ‘Help’ by Amy Kurzweil

OUTSTANDING SERIES

  • Methods of Dyeing by B. Mure (Avery Hill Publishing)
  • Trans Classic Movies by Jett Allen (www.intomore.com)
  • The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (BOOM! Studios)
  • Ley Lines Artists: Keren Katz, Cameron Weston Nicholson, Jordan Jeffries, ed. K Czap & L Nichols (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • The Nib Magazine – ed. by Matt Bors (The Nib)

OUTSTANDING STORY

  • Big Cats by Liz Yerby (Self Published)
  • Ley Lines: The First Few Bars by Keren Katz (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • Ley Lines: Love, or the Axe by Jordan Jeffries (Grindstone Comics & Czap Books)
  • The Lover of Everyone in the World, from The Lover of Everyone in the World by Beatrix Urkowitz (Parsifal Press)
  • Winter Break 2029, from Invisible Parade, by Mississippi (Glacier Bay Books)

PROMISING NEW TALENT:

  • Arrive In My Hands by Trinidad Escobar (Black Josei Press)
  • Archeologist Landing by Yara Elfouly (Self Published)
  • Koreans Speak English by Juniper Kim (Self Published)
  • The Third Person by Emma Grove (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Djeliya by Juni Ba (TKO Studios)

Small Press Expo Announces Signups for Workshops at SPX 2022

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Small Press Expo 2022

For the first time in three years, participants will be able to sign up for a variety of workshops at Small Press Expo. These are aimed at a wide range of ages and skill sets, from kids just starting out to experienced cartoonists looking to sharpen their skills.

Tom Hart, founder of the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW), will be leading a workshop, as well as several cartoonists associated with SAW. Small Press Expo also has several graduates of the Center for Cartoon Studies leading workshops.

SPX will also host two sessions from Crowdfundr, the sponsor of the Ignatz Awards, who are presenting alternatives for comics project fundraising. Here are a few highlights of this year’s workshops:

  • Bodies, Birth, and Death: A Comics Workshop With Tom Hart
  • Drawing Cute, a Comics Workshop With Shauna A. Grant
  • Making Science Comics: Dinosaur Edition With Coco Fox and Annabel Driussi
  • Figure Drawing For Cartoonists with Danielle Corsetto and Babs New

You can sign up for any of the 14 workshops at this year’s show here on the SPX web site.

SPX 2022 Announces its International Special Guests

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Small Press Expo 2022

Small Press Expo has announced the International Special Guests for SPX 2022. Coming from Canada, England, and Europe. Announced are Aimée de Jongh, Elizabeth Pich, Katriona Chapman, Ho Che Anderson, Barbara Stok, Lote Vilma, and Carla Berrocal as Special Guests at this year’s show.

The guests are made possible by generous grants from:

  • Spain Arts & Culture – Carla Berrocal
  • Goethe Institut – Elizabeth Pich
  • Nederlands Letterenfonds – Aimée de Jongh and Barbara Stok

The first in-person show in three years takes place on Saturday, September 17, and Sunday, September 18, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics, along with over 500 creators on the exhibitor floor.

See the Special Guest page on the SPX 2022 web site for more information.

Aimée de Jongh will be attending SPX fresh on the heels of winning over a dozen international Best Of awards for her latest book from SelfMadeHero, Days of Sand. The Return of the Honey Buzzard, her first graphic novel, won the Prix Saint-Michel for best Dutch graphic novel and was made into a film in 2017. Her following books, Blossoms in Autumn and Taxi!, were translated worldwide and won awards in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Japan. Aimée worked as a graphic journalist in the refugee camps in Greece. Her interest in travel, ecology, and journalism resulted in Days of Sand, her biggest project to date. When she’s not drawing comics, Aimée works in animation as a storyboarder and director.

Elizabeth Pich is a comic artist from the United States and Germany. After studying design and computer science, she now works as a comic artist in Saarbrücken, Germany. Since 2011, she has published several series including the popular webcomic War and Peas, with co-author Jonathan Kunz. Her current book Fungirl was released by Silver Sprocket in November 2021. Her comics are read weekly by over one million readers worldwide.

Katriona Chapman is a comic creator living in London, England. She spent years working as an illustrator before starting to self-publish zines and comics. Her zine Katzine won Best Ongoing Series in the Broken Frontier Awards. She has two graphic novels out with Avery Hill Publishing – Follow Me In (2018) and Breakwater (2020) and is currently working on a third. In 2018, Follow Me In won Best Graphic Non-fiction in the Broken Frontier Awards, and in 2020, Breakwater was on the New York Times list of best graphic novels of the year. It’s also just been translated into French for an edition by Futuropolis. Katriona works as head of marketing for Avery Hill Publishing.

Born in London, England, Ho Che Anderson was named after the Vietnamese and Cuban revolutionaries Ho Chi Minh and Che Gue­vara. Anderson is the author of nu­merous graphic novels, including King, a biography of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.; the horror thriller Sand & Fury; and the science fiction action-adventure Godhead. Ho Che Anderson lives in Toronto, Canada. 

Barbara Stok is an award-winning comic artist from The Netherlands. She briefly studied at the Fotoacademie school of photography in The Hague and worked as a journalist before becoming a cartoonist and illustrator. Her early work was autobiographical in nature, constantly questioning the meaning of life and right and wrong, always with a light touch. She has spent the last few years studying the classical philosophers and taking philosophy classes at university. Her critically acclaimed graphic novel Vincent (SelfMadeHero, 2012), about the life of Vincent van Gogh, has been published in more than 20 countries. Stok’s fascination with philosophy led her to write The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding, the result of five years of research.

Lote Vilma is an illustrator and poet from Latvia. Besides commission work, she writes and illustrates her own books, which have received several awards in Latvia for both writing and illustration. Lote also draws comics, many of which have been published in kuš! anthologies, as well as in magazines such as Kutikuti and Le Monde Diplomatique. Her next big project is a graphic novel based on her own experiences as a student in an art high school while living in a communal flat with an exciting yet chaotic atmosphere.

Carla Berrocal was born in Madrid, where she studied illustration and graphic design. She has written reviews of comics in the Guía del Cómic and also contributed to the radio program of the Fine Arts Circle in Madrid on the same theme.

In 2019, she was awarded an artist residency at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome for her comic project about the Spanish Copla singer Concha Piquer, Doña Concha, (Reservoir Books, 2021).

She works in her own studio and teaches workshops on comics and graphic novels at various institutions. She is also a comic artist for several different publications and an illustrator for countless advertising agencies and publishing houses.

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