South London Comic & Zine Fair Coming In July – Packed With Comics And Events
by Richard Bruton
The South London Comic & Zine Fair offers a wealth of advice and opportunities this year for anyone interested in all aspects of comics.
The South London Zine Fair returns to Stanley Arts in Norwood this year on 16th July. Definitely worth making a date for your diary, as it’s an excellent event and features packed programme of talks organised by Avery Hill Publishing.
Now, you know that Avery Hill Publishing is one of those small publishers whose books are always worth looking at – in recent months we’ve covered their Kickstarter, Nicole Goux’s Pet Peeves, both in preview and review, and K. Briggs‘ Macbeth, and there’s also Big Ugly from Ellice Weaver to look forward to. So having them involved in the SLC&ZF is certainly a good thing.
The day will feature cartoonists, self-publishers, small press, zine makers and book artists exhibiting their wares – and experience tells me that this is where the future stars of Brit comics will come from. So if you’re in the area, do head along, show them some love and give them so of your cash. It’s a free event designed for everyone, with an all ages comic and zine library plus an adult comics/zine library with quiet space.
The program of events is geared towards those involved in comics, whether that be those organising events, making comics, debating the merits of publishing versus self-publishing, but there’s also what promises to be a fascinating talk on Czech graphic literature with the award-winning Czech graphic novelist and writer Vojtech Masek.
Just like the Comic and Zine fair itself, the talks are all free to attend but space is limited so the organisers are asking that you book through Eventbrite – I’ve included links below for that.
The events run like this…
Organising your own comics event
Moderated by Nora Goldberg-Fourrel De Frettes, with guests Mereida Fajardo, Gareth Brookes, Joe Stone, and Chloe Green.
Graphic novels in progress
Moderated by Chloe Green, with guests Clio Isadora, Alex Potts, Lucy Sullivan, and Myfanwy Tristam.
Starting your own comics publisher
Moderated by Gareth Brookes, with guests Dave White (Avery Hill Publishing), Rozi Hathaway (Good Comics), Tom Oldham (Breakdown Press), and Tom Murphy (Colossive Press).
Self publishing vs working with a publisher
Moderated by Broken Frontier‘s Andy Oliver, with guests Lord Hurk, Isabel Greenberg, Shazleen Khan, and Zhenyi Zheng.
Czech graphic literature
Award-winning Czech graphic novelist and writer Vojtech Masek will talk about Czech graphic literature, and his latest book, The Sisters Dietl – a surreal horror detective story about identity, fear, and the search for truth.