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Funding amounts vary. Check the grant details for specifics.

Ignatz Awards

The Expo

Foundation Annual Grants for Arts Grants for Creative Writing

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Funding Amount

Varies

Deadline

May 31, 2026

53 days left

Grant Type

foundation

Overview

Ignatz Awards

Status: Active annual award program

Geographic Scope: International (open to all creators)

Focus Areas: Comics and cartooning excellence across multiple categories

Background: The Ignatz Award, named after the character from George Herriman's classic comic strip Krazy Kat, is the festival prize of the Small Press Expo (SPX). Since 1997, the Ignatz Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The awards recognize exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression.

Award Categories:

Outstanding Anthology: A book or collection of selected writings by various writers in the same literary form, period, or subject

Outstanding Artist: Best execution of graphic skill by an individual within the comic medium

Outstanding Collection: A book of selected short comics from various prior publications by the same cartoonist

Outstanding Comic: Best marriage of art and story in a single professionally published issue in traditional floppy comic format

Outstanding Graphic Novel: Previously unpublished material of substantial length (generally over 48 pages) intended to be read as a single work, usually case or perfect bound

Outstanding Minicomic: One-shots and series not "professionally" published, usually printed at local copy stores or via risograph, hand stapled, self-distributed, not solicited through major distributors

Outstanding Online Comic: Web-based comics (individual comic, continuing storyline, or strips) published on the web prior to appearing in print format

Outstanding Series: A series exhibiting consistent quality as a whole

Outstanding Story: Outstanding storytelling in a comic (individual issue within a series, one shot, or single story within an anthology)

Promising New Talent: Someone new to the industry (up to 4 years of school training plus 1 year after leaving college) whose work deserves more recognition

Eligibility: Only works published between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 are eligible for the 2026 Ignatz Awards. Past nominees cannot be nominated in the Promising New Talent category.

Voting: Voting is conducted via emailed ballot. You do not need to attend SPX in person to vote. Ballots become available mid-late August after jurors complete their nominating process. Nominees are announced in mid-August.

Ceremony: Award recipients are announced at the Ignatz Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening of the festival at 9:30 PM in the White Oak Room. The ceremony is open to SPX attendees and free to attend (seating limited). An after-party follows. Media welcome to attend.

Contact: Small Press Expo, P.O. Box 5704, Bethesda, Maryland 20824 | press@smallpressexpo.com

How to Apply

Submission Period: April 1, 2026 to May 31, 2026

Eligibility Window: Only works published between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 are eligible

Submission Process:
1. Visit the SPX website submission portal
2. Select the appropriate category for your work
3. Submit through the online form

Category-Specific Instructions:

You can submit your work to only one of the following mutually exclusive Main Categories: Minicomic, Online Comic, Comic, Graphic Novel, Anthology, or Collection

You can submit works to other Ignatz categories (Outstanding Artist, Outstanding Series, Outstanding Story, Promising New Talent) in addition to a main category submission

For Promising New Talent nominations, include the title of the individual's latest work

Requirements for Online Comics:

Works must be published on the web prior to appearing in print format

Must adhere to the same publishing timeline as print material categories (June 1, 2025 - May 31, 2026)

Works posted on web pages outside the timeline are not eligible

Animation is permitted but work should still be recognizable as a comic (guideline: "If you read it, it's a comic. If you watch it, it's animation")

Jury Process: After submission deadline, nominees are determined by a panel of comics professionals and announced in mid-August.

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Focus Areas & Funding Uses

Fields of Work

Deadline

October 1, 2026

Annual

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