Atlanta, GA - Prism Comics is proud to announce the recipients for its third annual Queer Press Grant and to reveal the judging resulted in a tie! Two worthy recipients will share the increased grant of $1,500.00: Justin Hall for his project Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super Tranny and Tommy Roddy for his ongoing series Pride High.
"Among the most important projects performed by Prism throughout the year is finding and nurturing emerging talent from the LGBT community," said Patricia Jeres, Prism Board Member and Talent and Industry Relations Chair. "The voting was close, and, most satisfying to the Board and Advisory Board members who voted, was the fact that the projects submitted might not be published without the help of Prism."
Hall said, "I'm delighted to receive this stamp of approval and support from Prism, and equally thrilled that I get to share it with the talented Tommy Roddy, who is the comic world's truest gentleman ... go, queer comics, go!" Hall plans to produce a 64-page collection of Glamazonia adventures that have appeared already in various publications, along with a full new story. A winner of the prestigious Xeric Award for A Sacred Text, Hall also is well regarded for his self-published series True Travel Tales and Hard To Swallow.
"For years, Justin's contributions to the queer comics community have been an inspiration for me," Roddy said. "Sharing this grant with him is a dream come true!" Roddy plans to use the Queer Press Grant to collect Pride High, his cult-favorite series of a diverse group of young super-heroes (currently only available online, at conventions and at San Francisco Bay Area comic shops) into a trade paperback for wider distribution.
"Both recipients' entries," continued Jeres, "show Prism's strong commitment to enlarging the readership for LGBT-created and themed comics material."
The grant was made possible through the generous contributions of Jane's World's Paige Braddock and Prism Board President Roger Klorese.
Klorese said, "Prism's goal for future grants is both to enlarge the pool of entries, as well to expand the pool of donors. There are many LGBT folk within the comics field enjoying a well-deserved degree of success and a wide range of publishers and other businesses that benefit from their work. It's time for them to consider giving back."
The recipient of the first Queer Press Grant, Steve MacIsaac, used the grant to self-publish Shirtlifter, while last year's winner Megan Gedris self-published YU+ME. Both recipients have gone on to further success.
For more information on Justin Hall go to http://allthumbspress.com. For more information on Tommy Roddy, go to http://www.pridecomics.com.
Prism Comics is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that promotes LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) creators, characters, themes and readers in the comic book field.
