PR: Small Press Expo announces Pizza Island as guests for SPX 2011, with Kate Beaton, Sarah Glidden, Lisa Hanawalt, Domitille Collardey, Julia Wertz and Meredith Gran

Small Press Expo Announces Pizza Island as guests for SPX 2011, with Kate Beaton, Sarah Glidden, Lisa Hanawalt, Domitille Collardey, Julia Wertz and Meredith Gran

 

For Immediate Release                              Contact: Warren Bernard

                                                                       E-Mail: warren@spxpo.com

Bethesda, Maryland; July 7, 2011 – The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons is pleased to announce that the cartoonist studio Pizza Island—composed of Kate Beaton, Sarah Glidden, Lisa Hanawalt, Domitille Collardey, Julia Wertz, and Meredith Gran—will be guests for SPX 2011, held September 10–11, 2011, at the Marriott North Bethesda Hotel and Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland, next to the White Flint Metro station. 

These guests are in addition to the previously announced cartoonists Roz Chast, Craig Thompson, Jim Woodring, Chester Brown, Johnny Ryan, Jim Rugg, Jay Stephens, Matthew Thurber, Ann Telnaes, and Diane Noomin.

Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant is one of the most popular web comics, receiving over 500,000 unique hits a month. This fall it will be celebrated in a collection published by Drawn and Quarterly. Visit her site at http://www.harkavagrant.com.

Sarah Glidden is the creator of the well-reviewed How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less, published by Vertigo Books. She is now working as a citizen journalist touring Syria for the Common Language Project to study the Iraqi refugee problem, posting her cartoon commentaries from this trip at http://www.cartoonmovement.com/comic/10. Visit her web site at http://www.smallnoises.com.

Lisa Hanawalt is a cartoonist and illustrator whose work was published in The New York Times, Vice Magazine, McSweeneys, The Believer and Glamour. In 2009, her mini-comic Stay Away From Other People won an Ignatz Award, and she followed that up in 2010 with I Want You #1 winning the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic. Her web site is http://lisahanawalt.com.

Julia Wertz has had two volumes of her popular web comic series Fart Party published by Atomic Books. Her latest book is Drinking at the Movies from Three Rivers Press, which details her migration from San Francisco to New York City. Julia's web site is http://www.juliawertz.com.

Meredith Gran is the author of Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars In Brooklyn, which was published by Villard Books, a Random House subsidiary. A compilation of her web comic, you can see new episodes regularly at http://www.octopuspie.com.

Domitille Collardey is a cartoonist and illustrator, having worked for a number of French magazines as well as McSweeneys. She is currently working on another comic book for Editions Delcourt.

For detailed information about all of our announced guests, visit the SPX web site at www.spxpo.com.

SPX culminates with the presentation of the Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning on Saturday night, September 10 at 9PM. The event is open to the public. The Ignatz is the first Festival Prize in the US comic book industry, voted on by SPX attendees. 

SPX is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that brings together more than 300 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, as well as a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests.

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at http://www.cbldf.org.

The hours for SPX 2011 are 11am–7pm Saturday, September 10, and 12–6pm Sunday, September 11. Admission is $10 for a single day or $15 for the weekend.