Small Press Expo Announces 20th Anniversary Guests Brandon Graham, Emily Carroll, Drew Friedman and Mimi Pond
For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard
E-Mail: warren@spxpo.com
Bethesda, Maryland; June 19, 2014 – This year is the 20th Anniversary of SPX, which will be held September 13 and 14, 2014 at the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. For our 20th birthday, we are pleased to announce Brandon Graham, Emily Carroll, Drew Friedman and Mimi Pond, all of whom are appearing at SPX for the first time.
These guests are in addition to the previously announced Jules Feiffer, Lynda Barry and James Sturm.
Brandon Graham started out as a graffiti artist in his native Seattle and now is the writer behind the Image comics series Prophet, as well as the creator of his own comic mini-series Multiple Warheads. His other titles are King City, Elevator and Universe So Big. SPX is honored to host this rare East Coast appearance by Mr. Graham, whose work can be seen on his Tumblr blog.
Emily Carroll was the recipient of this years Pigskin Peter Award, which is given to the best Canadian experimental or avant-garde artist. Her magical web-comic Out of Skin was awarded the 2014 Cartoonist Studio Prize given by The Slate Book Review and the Center for Cartoon Studies. Her first book, Through the Woods, is being released next month by Margaret K. McElderry Books. Ms. Carroll's web comics can be seen at http://www.emcarroll.com.
Both Mr. Graham and Ms. Carroll will be signing their latest works at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund tables at SPX 2014.
Drew Friedman's caricatures and comics have graced the pages of such esteemed publications as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Village Voice and Mad. His Old Jewish Comedians series of books was the subject of an extensive show earlier this year at the prestigious Society of Illustrators. He will be on hand at SPX to sign copies of his next book due out in August from Fantagraphics, Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Legends of Comic Books.
Mimi Pond is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. She has drawn comics for the Los Angeles Times, Seventeen magazine, National Lampoon, and has also written for television, including the first full-length episode of The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". She is the author of the cult-classic book The Valley Girl's Guide to Life. Her first graphic novel, Over Easy, was published this past April by Drawn & Qaurterly to critical acclaim and spent one month on the New York Times graphic novel bestseller chart. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the painter Wayne White.
About SPX
Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that brings together more than 600 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. SPX also has a two tracks of of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests that run through both days of the event.
The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. All works nominated for Ignatz Awards are donated to the Small Press Expo Collection at the Library of Congress, which is the first institutional collection in the United States dedicated to the indie comics field.
As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org.
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