check it out people! also, keep an eye on this blog for regular updates and news on other events and projects…
see ya
jimi
x
NEW WEBSITE UP NOW!!!
June 5, 2009 by jimigherkinAlternative Press Festival 2009
May 14, 2009 by jimigherkinAlternative Press Festival 2009
Wednesday 29th July – Sunday 2nd August 2009
A festival of events over five days celebrating the small press, self publishing and being creative in the print media.
Anthology Book launch
Wednesday 29th July
7pm – 9pm
Free
We will be launching an Anthology book to showcase some of what’s going on in the small press scene at the moment; it will include work by Mark Pawson as well as a foreword by Roger Sabin and a variety of work from different areas of the scene. The evening will include the declaration of our aims and agendas in the form of a manifesto, as well as talks and discussion on the subject of the contemporary small press scene.
Housmans radical booksellers
5 Caledonian road
London
N1 9DX
Are you zine friendly?
Thursday 30th July
7pm – late
Free
At the foundry we will be having an evening to launch our idea of zine friendly events! In the two weeks around this event we will be hosting a zine wall at the Foundry and asking artists and small press creators to come down and contribute to this ongoing exhibition. There will be music and good times, the twist is that Zinesters, comix and small press creators are invited by the foundry’s owner to come along and sell their material. There will be a communal table for individual zines and the selling of zines out of bags, or diy carriers is encouraged! After all, it is a zine friendly event, the question is: are you zine friendly?
The Foundry
86 Great Eastern Street
London
EC2A 3JL
Contact – garethbrookes69@hotmail.com
Spoken Word night out!
Friday 31st July
7pm – Late
Free
In order to promote poetry in the small press, we will be holding an evening of poetry, zine readings, story telling and other performances from artists creating work in the print media themselves.
The Griffin
93 Leonard Street
London
EC2A 4RD
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/clubs_bars/venue-102.php
Collaborama!
Saturday 1st August
11am – Late
Free
We hope you’ll join us at the Collaborama (as we’ve affectionately come to know it!) an all day event which will comprise many elements of the small press coming together. Tables will be set out in the main space downstairs at the miller for zinesters, comix and small press creators to exhibit their work. There will also be space where any combination of visitors and exhibitors can get together to create pages which will be used to create a zine of the day. The garden will have a barbeque and the upstairs space will be used for workshops, film screenings and talks. In the evening Resonance FM’s Radio Orchestra will be performing a piece written by Ed Baxter which will be interpreted and illustrated live by two teams of small press artists on overhead projectors!
The Miller
96 Snowsfields road
London Bridge
SE1 3SS
Contact – jimigherkin@yahoo.co.uk
Alternative Press Fair
Sunday 2nd August
11am- 7pm
Free
We will be returning once more to St Aloysius Social centre, where in February we held the first Alternative Press Fair. We hope you’ll join us once more for chilled out Sunday to celebrate comix, zines, poetry, book arts and radical literature. We will have space for around 80 exhibitors and many more visitors so see you there!
St Aloysius Social Club
20 Phoenix road
London
NW1 1TA
Nearest tube Euston
Map here
Contact – peterlally@gmail.com
the Alternative Press Festival is coming!
May 1, 2009 by jimigherkin
Video Interview from the Alternative Press Fair
March 1, 2009 by jimigherkincheck this out people! it’s me trying to explain what we’re all about and why we’re doing it…
love all round
jimi
x
big thanks to edd from Last Hours
Alternative Press Anthology 2009
February 15, 2009 by jimigherkin| Dear all,
The Alternative Press Fair was great! We’ve had reports from all over that those who came had a good time, met some interesting people and sold, bought or swapped work. Some saw exciting things, and generally enjoyed the day. It gave a chance for creators to get their work out to a wide audience, and we think it inspired some people to do something creative. Following on from that, we are now putting together a full colour book. The main aim is to get small press creators and the alternative press scene noticed by a wider audience. We think it’s a brilliant scene; the work, the people, the creative freedom – and we strongly believe that people are empowered by realising their creativity and expressing themselves through the small press. We will set out to reflect as much of the alternative press scene as possible, covering zines, comics, poetry, short stories and political writing as well as anything else that you believe represents the scene. So, the themes are very broad. Introduce yourself! What we mean is, look at yourself and what you do in the small press, why you do it and how you got into it, or how you got started and think about how you can put that across. We want this book to be a collection of the great work going on in the small press scene, as well as having a handbook element exploring how people can be involved or get started themselves. We’d like to include artwork, illustration, poetry, articles, opinion, biographies and ‘how to’ sections. To make it a really special book we are asking people to do something new – it’s your book, promoting the scene and what you do, so do your best work and we’ll do our best to get decent distribution and spread the word as far as possible on its release. We would like submissions by Thursday 30th April 2009, so please get in touch letting us know how you’d like to contribute. Good luck jimi gherkin and peter lally Pagination: 80 pages Size: 240mm x 170mm (with bleed – don’t need to leave any border round the edge) Printing: Full colour CMYK
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What a fantastic day!
February 2, 2009 by jimigherkinThanks to all of you who came and lent your support to the small press scene. Thanks to those who helped out with encouragement all the way through, those who blogged us, offered publicity through interviews and listings, those that made flyers; Rich Cowdry, Al Maceachern, Scott Jason Smith, Gareth Brookes, Chloe McCormack and Zarina Liew look up these guys they’re wicked. Thanks to Peter Lally for being a great working partner and taking care of business, that guy does not mess about!
Anyway, that is how I see this scene; a massive community, everyone helping out where they can, and it’s great to be a part of it!
Keep your eyes peeled, we’ll be holding another event in around six months time, and in the meantime we are planning to put a book together (see below) dealines, themes and specifications will be issued shortly.
Take care of yourselves, love all round,
jimi gherkin
comicsandzines.wordpress.com
Alternative Press Anthology
Firstly, we hope that you had fun at the fair. Maybe you’ve seen something that inspires you to create your own alternative media; to draw a comic, produce a zine, or to write a book or some poetry – anything’s possible. Perhaps you’ve simply enjoyed what people are doing and are interested in seeing more.
The mainstream media isn’t our forum; it’s not owned by us and serves the interests and agendas of other groups. This is why the world of small press publishing is so important; there is the freedom to express, without having to serve others.
We organised this event in order to show what is going on in the world of small press publishing and for people to meet and exchange ideas. To present people’s work in another way, we are putting together an Alternative Press Anthology book. This will showcase the talents of small press creators and introduce people to what the scene has to offer.
Please get in touch with us if you would be interested in being a part of this. We would like as wide a variety of work as possible, and to cover areas such as perzines, comics, art books, poetry pamphlets and radical literature – anything that’s out there really. Articles, illustrations and anything else which you feel represents what you do will be considered, though due to the constraints of reality we cannot put everything in and so will have to select and arrange the material. We will strive to create a book that will do justice to what we believe is a great scene and you too will need to do the same……
The point is that we really show the best of the small press so get your pens and pencils out, your glue and glitter and let’s show people what we’re made of!
jimi gherkin & peter lally
ALTERNATIVE PRESS FAIR, LONDON, 2009
November 21, 2008 by jimigherkin
Pens, Pencils and Photocopiers
Alternative Press Fair
St Aloysius Social Centre,
Phoenix Road,
Euston, NW1 1TA
Bringing together the worlds of alternative comics, zines, self-produced art-books, poetry and diy/punk culture for one amazing day, like a great colourful blacmange that you can’t eat. Meet the artists, see their work, buy some if you like it. THEN relax and enjoy an exciting evening of music, song and melody, starring the Singing Sensation of the Nation, Mr. Trent Miller (& The Skeleton Jive).
This event is FREE to all good men and women everywhere.
A day to live long in the memory – come along.
When? Sunday 1st February 2009, 12pm to 6pm (music to late)Where? St. Aloysius Social Centre, 20 Phoenix Road, NW1 1TA
How do I get there? Alight Euston Station, venture up Eversholt Street on your right is Phoenix Road and a modern church – we’re in the basement.
For more info Contact: jimigherkin(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk or peterlally(at)gmail(dot)com or check http://comicsandzines.wordpress.com/ for the latest news
ALTERNATIVE PRESS FAIR! Sunday 1st February 2009
November 20, 2008 by jimigherkinSunday 1st February 2009
St Aloysius Social Club
Phoenix Rd
London
NW1 1TA
(nearest tube Euston)
Ho ho ho! It’s a christmas comic!
November 9, 2008 by jimigherkinHandmade and bound was a massive success yesterday. With the comics stall, exhibiting 15 artists’ excellent creations we had a great time and made a few quid to help with those darned christmas presents! Which brings me onto the subject of a christmas comix zine that i’m putting together just in time for christmas it’ll be called “wake up to christmas” and will cover all aspects of the festive period from gripes and grumbles to joyeux noel in the form of comic strips, articles, stories or whatever you fancy. the deadline is the weekend of 15th november, so email me at jimigherkin(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk if you’re interested.
Also, keep an eye out here as we are planning another event for february! Yay! See ya,
jimi
HANDMADE & BOUND BOOK ART, ZINES AND COMIX EVENT
October 25, 2008 by jimigherkinHere’s the write up from their website:
Handmade & Bound is an independent fair with affordable,
handmade artists’ books, comics and zines. It was conceived partly in
response to the fact that there will be no London Artists book fair at
the ICA in 2008, and further in response to the changes to the nature
of that event when it returns in 2009 at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
So we decided to make our own.
The spaces are extremely limited, and the response has been
incredible already. So we are trying to find ways to maximise the usage
of the space.
The event we want to have will be based on handmade but affordable books and zines. We want to achieve a good balance between artists books and zines (in the DIY punk tradition).
Also, we’re gonna have a comics table and a zine table, so mosey on down and check it out!
see ya!
