St. Louis Small Press Expo 2016

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ST. LOUIS SMALL PRESS EXPO (SPEx) GROWS AGAIN IN 2016

New Collaboration with Pulitzer Arts Foundation Makes SPEx a Two-Day Event

The St. Louis Small Press Expo (SPEx) show and sale becomes a two-day event in 2016, taking place October 14 and 15 at two notable St. Louis institutions. Growing this year’s festival is SPEx’s increased variety and accessibility of programing, partnering with Pulitzer Arts Foundation to host a kickoff event on Friday, October 14 at the Pulitzer, 3716 Washington Boulevard, 63108. Organizers will co-curate hands-on workshops, panel discussions and readings featuring a mix of national and regional guests. The main SPEx event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. on Saturday, October 15 in the Great Hall of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Branch, 1301 Olive Street, 63103. All events will be free and open to the public.

Applications for tables will open May 1. SPEx seeks the widest possible variety of participants. Publishers of zines, limited run art books, comics, traditional books, broadsides, journals of literature and art are all encouraged to apply, especially those with a unique format or target audience. Applications are entirely online and will be available at stlouissmallpressexpo.com.

The St. Louis Small Press Expo was founded in 2014 to showcase and better connect the St. Louis small press community. The overwhelmingly positive response inspired the SPEx team to seek a much larger venue. In only its second year, the partnership with Central Library has helped SPEx grow to include 64 publishers and welcomed more than 900 guests. That’s an increase of 45 percent in vendors and 125 percent in attendance. Central Library will host SPEx again in 2016. A wide variety of small press publishers from the St. Louis region as well as notable indie guests from across the nation will be featured.

The St. Louis Small Press Expo is the work of:

About the St. Louis Public Library
The St. Louis Public Library has 17 locations across the city and sees more than 2.3 million visitors each year. The Library has more than four million books and items in its collection and more than 83,000 Library cardholders. . For more information about the St. Louis Public Library and its services, visit slpl.org.

About Pulitzer Arts Foundation
Pulitzer Arts Foundation is a non-collecting arts institution that presents experimental, progressive, and multidisciplinary exhibitions and programs, encompassing both historic and contemporary art from across the globe. Founded in 2001, the Pulitzer is dedicated to utilizing the naturally lit, contemplative spaces of its Tadao Ando-designed building—one of the country’s most celebrated examples of contemporary museum architecture—to create multilayered experiences that link the visual arts with other cultural forms and heighten audience understanding and enjoyment. Through diverse exhibitions and public programming, the Pulitzer seeks to deepen community engagement with art, and to inspire audiences to think differently about art and its relationship to their lives. Deeply committed to serving the broader St. Louis community, the Pulitzer is an integral part of the Grand Center arts district and the wider cultural and civic landscape in St. Louis.

The Pulitzer is free and open to the public Wednesday through Saturday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. For more information, visit pulitzerarts.org or call 314.754.1850.

OUR VENDORS

A Queer Press

A Queer Press is edited by Jared Rourke, formerly editor of the imprint Queer Young Cowboys. (St. Louis, MO)

Adventures of the Holy Ghost

John Hendrix is an acclaimed illustrator & an illustration and typography prof at Wash U. His latest publication is a collection of comics about a squirrel and a ghost who discuss theology. (St. Louis, MO)

Alex Nall

Alex Nall is a cartoonist, avid self-publisher & Chicago Zine Fest organizer. His latest book ‘Teaching Comics: Volume 1’ collects comics inspired by his time as a teaching artist. (Chicago, IL)

Amewi

Comics, fanart & illustration! “Creating characters and stories are what I find is my biggest strengths and also my favorite thing to do.” – Amewi (St. Louis, MO)

Amphorae Publishing Group

Literature that is passionate, progressive, inclusive, collaborative, empowering & experimental. This includes children’s books! (St. Louis, MO)

Andrea Bell

Andrea is an illustrator and comic artist living in Chicago throughout the best and worse seasons. Her work reflects adventure, honesty, and strong relate-able characters combined with an intriguing palette. (Chicago, IL)

Architrave

Architrave represents a new kind of periodical literature: poems printed as individual pages that allow readers to curate their own collection in the same way that music lovers create playlists. (St. Louis, MO)

Anna Bongiovanni

Anna Bongiovanni is a queer cartoonist whose work has been published online, in anthologies, in mini-comics, and whose first graphic novel, Out of Hollow Water, was published by 2D Cloud in 2013. They are the creator of The Grease Bats, a monthly webcomic. (Minneapolis, MN)

Black Rock Press

The Black Rock Press preserves the history and traditions of the art of the book while simultaneously turning a creative and critical eye toward its relevance in contemporary art and culture. Its publishing and outreach activities support and strengthen the academic pursuits at its heart, connecting students to local and global communities. (Reno, NV)

BOAAT*

BOAAT Press is a publisher & builder of books, an online literary journal, a writing workshop & residency host, & a lit-focused news source. BOAAT is a featured publisher at SPEx. (Charlottesville, VA)

Boulevard magazine

Celebrating thirty-one years of continuous publication, Boulevard is an internationally acclaimed literary magazine. The magazine publishes fiction, poetry and definitive essays on the arts and culture. (St. Louis, MO)

Brainfreeze Comics*

Brainfreeze is a curated collection of underground, alternative, and small press comics & zines. The books range from handmade one-of-a-kind objects of art to masterfully reissued collections from renowned alternative publishers. Brainfreeze is a featured distro at SPEx. (Nashville, TN)

Brandon Daniel and Rachel Wyrick

Brandon Daniels and Rachel Wyrick’s projects include comic books, screen printing, painting, collage, and printmaking. (St. Louis, MO)

BubbleSort Zines

BubbleSort Zines are zines that explain how computers work with cartoons, stories, and diagrams. They cover topics like circuits, computer memory, and encryption, and aim to make these topics clear even for people who don’t feel like computers or math are their strength. (San Francisco, CA)

Caitlin Metz

Caitlin Metz makes books and zines that explore shame, sexuality, identity and mental health. Through the use of narratives, vulnerability and confession, Caitlin aims to facilitate the intersection of shared experience, creating work based on personal history and identit(ies) that will resonate with others who are living similar and different truths. (St. Louis, MO)

Caitlin Moriarity & Coyote Bynum

Caitlin and Coyote are collaborators and neighbors who create the indie comics Sky Faraday and Small Things. Think: sci-fi, whimsey & badass female protagonists. (St. Louis, MO)

Carrie Colpitts

Carrie’s perzine, My Aim Is True, is about teaching and other happenings in her life. She writes about body acceptance, fat acceptance, and gender (specifically trans issues). (Springfield, MO)       

Central Print*

Central Print’s mission is to promote the art of printmaking by providing workshops, classes and programs, for people of all ages, focusing on the use and preservation of historic letterpress printing equipment. (St. Louis, MO)

Christianne’s Comics

Christianne makes comics, usually short stories featuring transgender characters (but not always), usually comedies (but not always). (Centralia, MO)

CMA

CMA brings multiple poetry collection books, a handmade book of essays and a zine. (St. Louis, MO)

Concrete Jungle

Concrete Jungle is a zine for broken hearts and restless minds. It is also a nonprofit small press that builds community by providing an outlet for talented individuals to express themselves and putting it in print. (St. Louis, MO)

Copper Canyon Press

Since 1972, Copper Canyon Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to authors, editorial acumen, and dedication to the poetry audience. (Port Townsend, WA)

Cullen

Cullen’s work is an exploration of his dreams and fantasies of worlds he wishes existed. (St. Louis, MO)

Cup of Stars

Cup of Stars self publishes mini comics. Themes: empowering women, mythology and fantastical monsters. Prolific & beautiful. (Minneapolis, MN)

Curtis Tinsley

Curtis Tinsley is a freelance illustrator and comics artist. SPEx first encountered him in 2009 in Nicky Rainey’s parents’ basement drinking a tallboy. Her mother confirmed that yes, Curtis was 21. (St. Louis, MO) 

Dan Zettwoch

Dan draws slice-of-life, historical and goofball art comics and (mostly) publishes them as limited edition mini-comics booklets. He also makes illustrations and homemade silkscreened prints in his basement. (St. Louis, MO)

december

december is a nonprofit publisher of a semiannual literary magazine filled with outstanding poetry, prose, and visual art. (St. Louis, MO)

Dingo 8 Books

Uncommonplace book is a new journal -a place to compile knowledge: found, creat(iv)ed, (un)usually written into a book. Think: recipes, poems, stories, maps, drawings, pictures, and found objects. (St. Louis, MO)   

Dorothy, a publishing project

Dorothy is dedicated to works of fiction or near fiction or about fiction, mostly by women. Each fall, Dorothy publishes two new (paired) books simultaneously. (St. Louis, MO)

Drift Plain Collective

The Drift Plain Collective cooperatively distributes hand-crafted artist’s books, chapbooks, zines, broadsides and prints. They specialize in limited-edition printings that are produced by individuals or artist/writer collaborators. (Iowa City, IA)

fort gondo

fort gondo compound for the arts is a nonprofit arts forum founded on St. Louis’ Cherokee Street in 2002. fort gondo created a publication initiative that includes paperback monographs of work by local artists, as well as an ongoing zine library of one-of-a-kind artist-designed booklets. (St. Louis, MO)

Frotoon Comics

Frotoon Comics is the brainchild of designer/illustrator Dmitri Jackson. Dmitri self-publishes minicomics that explore politics, music and cultural identity. (St. Louis, MO)

Ghost Town: A Mystery (Graphic Novel)

Ghost Town is an graphic novel, self-published through a successful kickstarter campaign. It is about a dystopian America & is a study in collage. (St. Louis, MO)

GregMc Graphics

Greg makes comics, prints, buttons, and stickers. SPEx is especially fond of his longstanding comic, Laser Dog. (St. Louis, MO)

Headmetal Comics

Headmetal Comics’ motto is: “Amplified Vibrations. Not Media Consolidation.” In 2016, Headmetal is working with local StL creator Ian Wood on a project that combines comics and illustrated children’s books. (St. Louis, MO) 

How’s Tricks

How’s Tricks is a DIY art zine featuring collage, mixed media, and literature established in 2009. There have been 8 issues so far and the 9th will debut at the Small Press Expo. (St. Louis, MO)

Ink and Drink Comics

Ink and Drink Comics is a collective of comic book creators, writers and artists. They’ve published 13 books with over 90 contributors in the 5.5 years, and continue to publish two genre-based anthologies each year. (St. Louis, MO)

KZine

KZine was started in August 2012 to showcase the work of local artists. Submissions of poetry, photography, essays, short stories, and any type of art are always welcome. (Joplin, MO and Pittsburg, KS)

LATHE ZINE

Curated Tomfoolery surrounding the Psychoses of architecture and design. (St. Louis, MO)

[CANCELED]: Lauren Jordan

Lauren Jordan makes zines and recipe comics about food. She is currently working on a macaroni and cheese-themed zine, a queer romance graphic novel pitch and a restaurant-building card game. (Chicago, IL)

Lawrence Lindell Studios

Lawrence Lindell Studios is an independent art studio specializing in illustrated art books, cartoons and comics. (Los Angeles, CA)

Lobo Heights

Lobo Heights is home to illustration, comics, and (sometimes global) collaborations from Javier Suárez. It serves as a platform for the underrepresented PoC communities. (Chicago, IL)

Maggie Thurston with Ratchethart Forest

Ratchethart Forest and Shakti Fever are mini comics that veer wildly from comedy to horror to mystery to psychedelia. (St. Louis, MO)

Manuel Comics

Manuel Comics is the work of Cam del Rosario. His work includes the (now sold out) comic, Kanye Stops Kanye From Interrupting T. Swift. (Louisville, KY) 

Marie Enger

Marie creates short horror comics alongside longer horror works and gritty, sharp illustrations dealing with monsters and cryptids. Marie also colors and letters comics for Dark Horse, Image, ABRAMS, and Table Titans. (St. Louis, MO) 

Marnie Galloway*

Marnie is a self-publishing cartoonist; also published by One Peace Books, Ninth Art Press and So What Press. Best known for wordless comic “In the Sounds and Seas,” which won the Xeric Award, was nominated for LA Times Book Prize for Best Graphic Novel, and made Notable list in Best American Comics. Marnie is a featured artist at SPEx. (Chicago, IL)

Matt Bryan and Mike McCubbins

Matt Bryan and Mike McCubbins make comix, mini comics, posters, animation and more. They are best known for their 2013 graphic novel “Book of Da.” (St. Louis, MO)

Mega Giganto LLC

Mega Giganto LLC is a wife & husband team of comic artists. Their focus is primarily webcomics, mini comics, illustration and fun stuff. (St. Louis, MO)

Micah Liesenfeld

Micah began self-publishing in 1998 with comix such as Space Car Junkie, Feldspar, and Ninja Guy. One small press project called “Vikings and Sea Monsters” includes a 10 song CD, 10 postcards, and a miniature easel. (St. Louis, MO)

Mystery Spot Books

Mystery Spot Books produces small-run artist books, zines, and other publications that trace the contours and quirks of place-based experience in the human-altered landscape. The project is named for the tourist trap wonder attractions. (Minneapolis, MN & Austin, TX)

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge is a journal of contemporary literature presented by the University of Missouri – St. Louis & its MFA program. (St. Louis, MO)

neither/nor*

neither/nor is a zine distro in Kansas City, Missouri, located inside the flea market: Holy Cow Market and Music. The distro specializes in local, personal, self-care, DIY, radical and feminist zines. In addition to making zines accessible to the public, it serves as source for new and old zine makers/enthusiasts to sell their zines and support one another. Jess Hogan runs the distro and is one of the Kansas City Zine Con organizers. (Kansas City, MO)

New Haven Comics

New Haven Comics is a wide variety of self-published comics including all ages superhero comedy, science fiction, and action/adventure. (St. Louis, MO)

Noir at the Bar*

Noir at the Bar is a reading series known for its gallows humor and bloody content. They will bring five readers to SPEx 2016 & present Noir at the Library. (St. Louis, MO)

Nun Huns (Plus One)

Nun Huns (Plus One) Is a collaborative group (myramcnugget.com, bridgetlcarey.com, sarahboudreau.com, brandonbandy.myportfolio.com) who work in graphic design, illustration and printmaking to make prints, zines, books, stickers, etc., of things that are important to them. These topics range from coffee to race issues. (St. Louis, MO)

One-Trick Pony Comics

One Trick Pony Comics brings long and short stories that aim to toe a line between sad and funny. (Chicago, IL)

Please Hold Magazine

Please Hold Magazine is a web-based quarterly multimedia arts and literary magazine publishing experimental work by emerging and established artists from around the world. (St. Louis, MO)

Pochino Press

Pochino Press offers a multi-media stage for change makers and culture creators. The press has worked on projects in Ethiopia, Taiwan, El Salvador, and the United States, including contributions from writers with roots in the St. Louis region. (Oakland, CA)

Pulitzer Arts Foundation*

Through engaging exhibitions, programs, and partnerships with artists, curators, and innovators across disciplines, Pulitzer Arts Foundation strives to inspire both the St. Louis community and international arts audiences to think differently about creativity in daily life. (St. Louis, MO)

Ray Nadine*

Ray Nadine presents ‘Dollhouse,’ a romance melodrama set in St. Louis about a girl, a band, and the terrible decisions they make. Ray also brings ‘Anchored,’ a mini-comic one off about a lobster-trapper who falls in love with a selkie. Ray is hosting a digital comics workshop at SPEx. (St. Louis, MO)

Raziel I Puma

Raziel I Puma posseses a variety of illustrated prints and comics that echo a similar theme of isolation in a cold (metaphorically and physically) city environment, mostly through images of people. (Chicago, IL)

River Styx Magazine

Since 1975, River Styx has published an international, award-winning journal of poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and art. The magazine publishes tri-annually, hosts a monthly reading series, and sponsors annual contests for poetry and micro-fiction. (St. Louis, MO) 

Rob Armbrister

Rob Armbrister is an Illustrator and Designer making a series of Paper Toys and an all-ages comic called Moon Birds. (St. Louis, MO)

Same Coin Press

Same Coin Press makes zines and photobooks. The work is characterized by quiet, intimate portrayls of humans & landscapes. (Fairfield, IL)

Sara Wong

Sara Wong brings an illustrated book about cryptozoology—Hoaxed! A Book of Fantastical Fakery, and a small wordless illustrated pamphlet book of monsters hidden in everyday life—Monsters! They’re Just Like Us. (St. Louis, MO)

Saturday Press & PIECRUST Magazine

Saturday Press is a print shop focusing on Letterpress, Lithography, and Book Arts. PIECRUST magazine is a curated set of printed matter and ephemera collected in an envelope. (Reno, NV)

Shitty River Comics

Shitty River Comics is a community-based project aimed at offering creative sanctuary to working professional and non-professional artists and writers. (St. Louis, MO)

Skin & Bone*

From content to product, Skin & Bone is focused on continuing the exploration of color, texture and emotion through studies of the male form. Skin & Bone is a featured publisher at SPEx. (Chicago, IL)

Somnadrome Press

Latino publishing and craft from the heartland. (St. Louis, MO)

Sopearb Touch

Sopearb Touch creates zines, illustrations, greeting cards, and bookmarks. They are characterized by beautiful illustrations and glib references to pop culture. (St. Louis, MO)

Sorry Mom Comix

Sorry Mom Comix is best known for their flagship project, feminist buddy-comedy comic “American Spirits: Freelance Ghostbusters,” as well as the critically acclaimed zine series “Trans Man Walking.” (Los Angeles, CA)

Stacie Spaunhorst

Stacie Spaunhorst’s work includes her new chapbook, Inescapably Boring, a collection of confessional and often cheeky poems about the people and places she’s known through her occasionally-wretched childhood and her years as a military wife. (St. Louis, MO)

Stephanie Gobby Illustration

Stephanie Gobby is a designer and illustrator. Her SPEx table will carry a children’s book about a fish attaining the unattainable in the face of adversity as well as a graphic novel of E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops.” (St. Louis, MO)

Taller Leñateros*

Taller Leñateros is a publishing collective operated by contemporary Mayan artists. They are a featured publisher at SPEx. (Chiapas, Mexico)

Temporary Art Review

Temporary Art Review is a platform for contemporary art criticism that focuses on alternative spaces and critical exchange among disparate art communities. Temporary is an international network, highlighting both practical and theoretical discourse. (St. Louis, MO)

The Cossack Review

TCR is a literary magazine that publishes new writing in print and online. (Kansas City, MO)

The Ladydrawers Comics Collective

The Ladydrawers research and publish comics and texts about the cultural impact of gender, sexuality, race, and economics. (Chicago, IL)

The Man Cave (Cheatin’ Snakes and Kevin Sandwhich)

The Man Cave will invite guests into a physical cave structure installed at SPEx. Additionally, they will present zines, risograph comic books, prints and patches. (Kansas City, MO)

The Moon Zine*

The Moon Zine is a free, monthly compilation zine created in St. Louis. Each issue is composed of themed submissions and hand-made collages, making every copy unique. The Moon Zine will host a zine-making workshop during the kickoff event at the Pulitzer this year. (St. Louis, MO)

Tyler B. Ruff, author & illustrator of The UNFORGIVEN

The Unforgiven is an indie comic series about a group of people doing their best to survive in a world that doesn’t want them in it: rebels fighting to take down a corrupt government and put an end to oppression and tyranny. (Waterloo, IL)

Unheard

Jack Probst writes comics about his life, from his time working in a record store to his current office job, weird things his pets do, and, most recently a comic about sitting through the Star Wars marathon. (St. Louis, MO)

Vice Versa Press

Vice Versa Press is an independent publishing entity that produces art multiples and alternative literature in short-run quantities. They also specialize in hand-layout graphic design and formatting. (Chicago, IL)

Westminster Press

Westminster Press is an Art Gallery, Consignment Shop, and Printmaking Studio dedicated to promoting work by artists of marginalized identities, inclusive of women, LGBT folks, people of color, and allies. (St. Louis, MO)

WomenArts Quarterly Journal

WomenArts Quarterly Journal aspires to nurture, provide support, and challenge women-identified artists of all cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, and abilities in their role in the arts and seeks to heighten the awareness and understanding of the achievements of women creators. (St. Louis, MO)

Work Press & Publication

Work Press & Publication is a small press run by artists Tate Foley and Will Arnold. Their investments are time and energy, and their product is not just a singular object, but a practical example of the doctrine that hard work gives way to good ideas and that those good ideas, in turn, manifest into hard work. (St. Louis, MO)

WORK/PLAY

WORK/PLAY offers silkscreen and letterpress goods in the form of sketch books, small zines and other publications. (St. Louis, MO)

YourWords STL*

YourWords STL is an after-school, volunteer, tutoring organization, dedicated to teaching St. Louis youth how to amplify one’s voice through writing. (St. Louis, MO)