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Black Lives Matter – Graphic Anthology Programme

9 June 2020

At SelfMadeHero, we stand in solidarity alongside our black readers, creators, booksellers, librarians, and colleagues, in support of the global fight against racism. Our prime mission has always been to champion projects that break cultural boundaries, and we have always sought to be as diverse as possible in the dozen-odd stories we publish each year. But we recognize we could go further.

There is a lack of cultural and ethnic diversity among published comic-book creators in the UK. As one of the UK’s leading graphic novel publishers, we have a responsibility to promote the comics medium to creative practitioners and readers from marginalized communities. We are therefore pleased to announce that, by working with social enterprises, cultural institutions, and individuals, we will provide a platform to amplify the multifarious voices of UK-based Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic creators (writers and artists) through SelfMadeHero’s Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP).

The GAP has three principal aims: first, to provide a platform from which to showcase the work of UK-based artists from under-represented cultural and ethnic backgrounds; second, to inspire creative practitioners from those marginalized communities to create comics; and third, to promote the medium to a wider audience. The anthology will provide a springboard for creators looking to get published, with a particular focus on bringing to print the work of UK-based BAME artists. In our commitment to diversifying our publishing list, we will be making a call-out for submissions specifically from BAME creators – more details to be announced shortly.