PR: SPX 2016 Announces International Guests Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh and Pascal Girard

For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard Email: warren@spxpo.com Small Press Expo Announces International Special Guests Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh and Pascal Girard for SPX 2016 Bethesda, Maryland; August 4, 2016 Media Release - Small Press Expo is proud to announce Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh,  and Pascal Girard as Special Guests for SPX 2016. Small Press Expo is honored that all of these international creators are appearing at the festival for the very first time, This is in additon to previously announced special guests Daniel Clowes, Lisa Hanawalt, Jeffrey Brown, Trina Robbins, Charles Burns, Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez, Sarah Glidden Carol Tyler, Jim Woodring, Drew Friedman, Ed Piskor, and a rare festival appearance by Joe Sacco. Tom Gauld is reknown comic creator, designer and illiustrator. He has weekly comic strips in The Guardian and New Scientist, as well as having his work published in The New York Times and The Believer. In addition to his graphic novels Goliath and You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, he has designed a number of book covers, as well as a can for Diet Coke. This fall he releases Mooncop from Drawn & Quarterly. Gauld lives and works in London. Cyril Pedrosa studied animation design at the Gobelins, a Parisian school dedicated to careers in the moving image. He went on to work on Disney animated feature films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules. A rising star in graphic storytelling, his unique work is a product of his animation background combined with his literary influences of Borges, Marquez and Tolkien. His moving journal of going back to his family roots, Portugal, is a bestseller. NBM will release Pedrosa's latest, Equinox  this September. Aimée de Jongh is an award-winning animator, comic artist, and illustrator from the Netherlands. She has since created work for children's books, TV shows, music videos, and art installations, alongside numerous comic book series. Her animated film Aurora was screened widely in the Netherlands and Janus, a video installation she created with the L.A.-based artist Miljohn Ruperto, was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Return of the Honey Buzzard, her first graphic novel, won the Prix Saint-Michel and is published in English by SelfMadeHero. Pascal Girard was born in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada, in 1981. He began filling his notebook with drawings on his very first day of school and never stopped. Since he was unable to rid himself of this habit, he naturally decided to make it his career. Girard is the award-winning author of Nicolas, Bigfoot, Reunion, and Petty Theft. He lives in Montreal. In September 2016, Girard is releasing an expanded hardcover edition of his first book Nicholas published by Drawn & Quarterly. In the next few weeks, SPX will announce more guests, the 2016 Ignatz nominees and a full slate of programming. SPX 2016 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18, and will have over 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics. 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 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 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. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests. The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. 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. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.smallpressexpo.com.