The Brief –

I have never been to a book fair although my friend Sam keeps encouraging me to! I gave Sam a copy of my zine and she instantly asked for more to give out to her friends and then said to me I should think about trying to get some work published!

I have only known Sam for a couple of months, she is a close friend of my Dads girlfriend Jude, Sam writes poetry and has a couple of books she has had published on Amazon. She hired a designer to design her book covers though and she said that the next book she writes she will commission me to design the cover for her! Sam goes to a lot of zine fairs (I wish I had known her when I first started designing for my zine!!) and she goes to a lot of book fairs around Lincoln and up north with her author friends.

Here is a link to Sam’s book in case you was curious!

She very kindly gifted me a copy and I can recommend “Poo bag in a tree” as a good, funny read!

Anyway! back to the book fairs!…

When I think of book fairs I just think of a load of stalls crammed into a Cathedral or some other important building (I went to a print exhibition in Manchester cathedral!)- a chance to buy other peoples work and get inspiration from other work that might be on display. I guess if there are publishers at these events then it would be amazing to showcase your own work in the chances that your work might be liked and recognised and published professionally!

Offprint London

When I first google this event I am taken to Tate Gallery’s page and then redirected to a French (very interesting motion design website!) where it tells me the dates for 2023 book fair. Offprint runs alongside Photo London and began in 2015 as a one-off commission for Yannick Bouillis of Offprint Paris from then director of Tate Modern, Chris Dercon and his curator of photography Simon Baker.

Offprint allows the artist to have full independence and to take full control of their own work and have full creative license by controlling where there work is shared. Offprint trades in books, zines, magazines, CDs, posters, prints and much more!

The next event here in the UK in Tate is in May 2023

Art Book Fair, London

For 4 days Whitechapel Gallery is transformed for the Art Book fair. There are over 70 creative and cutting edge publishers there for the event. The Art book fair has a vibrant mix of art books, independent titles and magazines from all around the world.

Exhibitors range from publishing behemoths to independent presses and represent a diverse international cohort from 16 different countries, from Chile to Israel, Korea to the USA.

Small Publishers Fair

The Small Publishers Fair is the the annual gathering of books by writers, artists, poets, composers, book designers and their publishers. The Small Publishers Fair brings to Conway Hall sixty nine publishers from across the UK and further afield. It is a snapshot of some of best small press publishing around today and includes artists’ books, fine press editions, poetry pamphlets and zines. The organiser Helen Mitchell has organised the event since 2012, she has over 30 years experience of working in the arts.

Helen works from home in Norwich and used to work for Coracle Press and she collects small press publications. I am guessing that zines would class as a small publication and be included in this fair. The fair seems to cater for a lot of poetry and Artist’s books and ephemera relating to print collaborations. 

International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair

The International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair held in Leeds is the longest running artists’ book fair outside of London. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in March 2017. Throughout its history the Fair has attracted national and international participants and welcomed thousands of visitors from across the UK. From looking at the schedule for this book fair it looks quite interesting as there are zine and printmaking workshops, these are classes I would be interested in if I was to visit.

The book fair has over 50 stalls all run by creatives, artists and independent publishers. It is the perfect opportunity to see original artwork and talk directly to artists and makers about their work.

It is a weekend of packed talks and workshops for all ages. From flip books, photo books and graphic novels to one off artworks and documentary publications, the Book Fair is an opportunity to see and buy directly from up and coming artists.

This sounds like a more arty book fair that I would be more inclined to visit than the others so far!

The Sheffield International Artists’ Book Prize

The International Artists’ Book Prize is organised and held at the city’s Bank Street Arms. It is a different approach to book fairs as it is free to enter but there are cash prizes for artists books in any format and from anywhere in the world. At least 4 cash prizes of £2000 are awarded and all of the submitted work will be shown in the exhibition!

The aim of the exhibition is to develop the profile of artists books and increase their audiences. It actually had sponsorship from the OCA!

I actually quite like the sound of this fair! When I think of book fairs I think about going around and buying other peoples work and viewing other peoples work but not necessarily having the chance to promote your own with a chance of a cash prize at the end! It is a good way to get your work noticed.

Dublin Art Book Fair

Dublin Art Book Fair is held at Temple Bar Gallery and studios. It takes place online and on site, the gallery in the heart of Dublins cultural quarter transforms into a centre for Art and artists books. Dublin Art Book Fair welcomes small, independent artists and creatives. There are books on show for art, design, visual culture, philosophy, architecture, select fiction and poetry but particularly there is a strong representation of books made by artists.

This sounds like it is another good book fair for artists who are in full control of designing, writing and creating their own work and wanting full creative license for it.

BABE Bristol Artists Book Event

I visited Bristol in the summer and it struck me as a really arty place so this doesn’t surprise me at all that it has a book fair..

The Bristol Artists Book event takes place on the university campus and consists of over 100 artists, collectives, small presses, independent publishers and talks and workshops.

There was a children’s pop up card workshop at the last book fair that I would have totally been on board with!… I don’t care if I’m older than 12! There were also print making classes there too which really interest me.