You’d have to be very new to the scene not to be aware that this Saturday July 25th is Small Press Day across the UK and Ireland and there’s a whole host of amazing events going on. SPD is brought to you by Broken Frontier this year with the bulk of the work being done by our own Lydia Turner, alongside BF’s Andy Oliver (me!). So what’s happening on the day this year? Well quite a lot actually. You can read about it all here on the Small Press Day site’s listing page but let’s take a little look here at BF too…
SPD 2026 poster by Kamila Krol, aka Pigeon
For a start there are a number of small press comics making their debuts. At Waiting Room in Winchester the Hants Comics Club will be debuting their first ever anthology. This is a mix of established voices like Tim Bird and Julian Payne alongside newbie creators. You know what? I love stuff like this. Comics community hubs where creators can uplift and support each other and this is a lovely collection of stories too, all centred on the theme of ‘Travel’. You can read my review of it here at BF.
Also debuting on Small Press Day is Giorgio Pandiani’s The Two Pyramids. This powerful piece of social commentary in sci-fi form launches at Close Encounters in Northampton. Get your copy signed by Giorgio on the day there because I described it in my BF review as “undoubtedly one of the self-published comics of the year.” And, finally, in the pre-SPD review stakes we have Blackheath Folk: History and Folklore, an anthology zine from the Blackheath Oxfam team. I reviewed this one as well today at BF and it’s such an inspiring coming-together of creators to produce something very memorable. I thought this was such an inspiring example of artistic community.
Cover by Alice Graham
This year I will be doing the full circuit of London events, including the aforementioned Oxfam Blackheath store, the Cartoon Museum who have small press discounts and zine-making on offer, and Gosh! Comics who will have the Very Tiny Comics Gumball Machine Anthology artists and Camberwell Comics Club as guests. If you want to catch me to talk anything Broken Frontier or how to promote your own small press comics please feel free to come over for a chat. Because of our commitment to our ‘Fantagraphics at 50! Month’ in August I won’t be able to offer the usual Zoom calls for aspiring creators the day after SPD (we’ll reschedule them for later in the year) but I’m happy to discuss things with you on the day.
Poster by Deadly Knitshade
Elsewhere in the country we have the now traditional mega event from the Leeds Comics Collective who have become an incredible supporter of Small Press Day. They’ll have another small press market with 30 stalls from creators in the area including BF ‘Six to Watch’ star Anna Readman, William Potter, Molly Pukes, Kristyna Baczynski, and many more. There are zine-making workshops from Comics Youth at Kraken Comics, Crosby Library Zine Club, and at Travelling Man York. And Zine Freak will be providing a “make your own zine” kit with every purchase..
Poster by Rob Luckett
There are also multiple artist signings at a number of venues including Forbidden Planet Leicester, Asylum Books and Games in Aberdeen, Forbidden Plant Glasgow, Forbidden Planet Dublin and Travelling Man Manchester. More details, of course, available on the SPD site. Elsewhere there’s the Strange Magic Contemporary Print, Zine and Book Arts Fair in Lewes, Annabel Hewitson signing at The Mysterious Bookcase in Bournemouth, and what sounds like a wonderful day of activities at Ground Gallery in Hull.
And in Wales there’s something special at The Workers Gallery as Artist in Residence Gayle Rogers will be sharing her zine work in progress about her ancestor and footballing legend Duncan Edwards. The current exhibition there is art from Noisy Valley: The Art of Protest by Myfanwy Tristram from the SelfMadeHero graphic novel. Myfanwy is herself an important fixture on the UK small press scene.
Whatever you’re doing on Saturday have a very happy Small Press Day! And make sure to keep the SPD team up to date on social media with the hashtag #SmallPressDay.
Blog by Andy Oliver
