St. Louis Public Library

Photo by John Koniak, St. Louis Public Library Title: St. Louis Public Library logo celebrating 150th anniversary
Source: John Koniak, St. Louis Public Library

ST. LOUIS SMALL PRESS EXPO TO SHOWCASE 60+ INDIE PUBLISHING PROJECTS, OFFER WORKSHOPS

Expo Celebrates St. Louis' Independent Publishers and Welcomes Out-of-Town Guests

The 2015 St. Louis Small Press Expo (SPEx) kicks off a weekend of celebrating St. Louis' independent publishers with a welcome party at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, 3151 Cherokee Street, on Friday, September 25, from 7 – 10 p.m.

SPEx takes place at the St. Louis Public Library's spectacular Central Library, 1301 Olive Street, in Downtown St. Louis on Saturday, September 26, from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.  New for this year, SPEx will host panel discussions and hands-on workshops.  All events are FREE and open to the public.

Readers will find a diverse collection of publications to choose from. Writers and artists will discover new places to place their work. Future publishers will find advice on how to get started, and everyone can celebrate St. Louis, where the communities of writers, artists, and printers have created an environment where independent and unique projects are the rule rather than the exception.

The Library's Training Room will feature half-hour, hands-on workshops (collage, bookbinding, pressure prints & more) as well as a screening of "Root Hot or Die," a film about King Cat Comics creator John Porcellino. In the Auditorium,Sibling Rivalry Press (Little Rock, AR) will be part of a discussion of book design; Tenth Zine will discuss their new issue, black gay culture, as well as their St. Louis-based contributors; and Tim Lane and John Porcellino will discuss making comic art.

Participating publishers represent a wide variety of formats, including comics (Ink & Drink), books (Amphorae Publishing), art & literary magazines (All the Art,december), organizations (STL Black Authors Book Fair,Central Print), zines, and hybrid projects that could only happen in St. Louis (Poetry Scores). Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, SPEx will also host visiting indie publishers including:  The Tenth Zine (NYC), King Cat Comics (Beliot, WI), Vice Versa Press (Stigler, OK), Sibling Rivalry Press (Little Rock, AR), and Vagina Zine (Austin, TX).

The St. Louis Small Press Expo is the work of Lauren Cardenas (Pie Crust Magazine), Christopher Chabl&#é; Press), Nick Somnadrome, (Any Other Time & Underworld Adventure Comic), Nicky Kuntz (poet and co-host of Rainey "Literature for the Halibut"), Jared KDHX's (Queer Young Cowboys), and Rourke J.R. (Architrave Press).

St. Louis Small Press Expo is grateful to our host and sponsor, the St. Louis Public Library.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Tappenden Jen, please call 314-249-3255 or Tappenden the email crew a SPExt@stlouissmallpressexpo.com.

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