In 2016 an off-the-cuff idea born on twitter led to a series of nationwide events in a matter of weeks. The inaugural Small Press Day – a celebratory event designed to spotlight the possibilities of small press publishing and to introduce its practitioners to the far wider audience they deserve – proved to be a phenomenal success. No less than 25 events championing the small press were held across the UK and Ireland on the same day in July – including shop signings, fairs, panels and workshops – resulting in #SmallPressDay to trend throughout.
We continued to build on this trend in 2017 and 2018, and in 2019, we celebrated the biggest in-person Small Press Day to date.
2020 and 2021 = the online years. Like everything, the pandemic meant SPD had to be different. We went virtual and with that we widened our borders and became more international with creators from mainland Europe and North America joining in our social media events.
SPD2021 saw Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver put in a mammoth 13 hours of writing one-tweet reviews all in the name of championing small press comics. It was also the year we became more inclusive and accessible and reached a far wider audience. It was buzzing – a day of coming together and of fun and with folk making new discoveries and creators reaching new readers.
We successfully returned to shops while adopting a hybrid approach for SPD2022 – bringing together people, irl and virtually. This was a Small Press Day dedicated to the memory of Steve Walsh, in appreciation of his huge contribution to championing the U.K small press scene, and it was a beautiful day all round. It saw us strengthen our resolve to support the scene in all its diverse glory, and by the day’s end (marked by a special edition of now the world famous Gosh! Comics and Broken Frontier’s Drink and Draw), we were stronger as a community. A theme we carried over to SPD2023 and it was marvellous.
This year, our ninth year, we’re back in our hybrid form to continue to create opportunity for everyone to take part in Small Press Day in the mode that feels the most comfortable for them – whether that is through an in-person event or digitally. In both cases, our aim is the same = to foster connection. To bring some joy with small press comics and zines. To have a good time. We hope you can join us.
