POPP latest: Sharon Kivland, and Andrea Mason

Piece of Paper Press is delighted to publish new titles by two leading artists and writers working at the interface between visual art and literature. THE INCORRUPTIBLE by Sharon Kivland (POPP.041) is published simultaneously with BOOK DRAWINGS #1–12 by Andrea Mason (POPP.042). Each is distributed in a numbered limited-edition of 150 copies.

These mostly left the building yesterday. The photo above is of two bundles of the finished books by the respective artists, which as usual were wrapped in offcuts of the printed sheets. Sharon Kivland’s THE INCORRUPTIBLE emulates the house style of French publishing house Gallimard. And that face! Don’t you just love that drawing of Beckett by Andrea Mason?

Kivland writes:

THE INCORRUPTIBLE was written on a single day, one of mourning, on 10 Thermidor – it is the date, in Year II, on which Robespierre and twenty-one others were guillotined without trial in the Place de la Revolution, Paris. It is a short (and angry) account of unbearable loss, in which I speak for Éléonore Duplay, known as Cornélie, a daughter of the radical household in which Robespierre lodged. After his death, she was known as his widow, though the truth of their relationship is unknown.

Mason writes:

These book drawings – presented here in the order in which I posted them on Instagram – are a near-alphabetical inventory of novels I choose to keep, within the process of which there is a sifting and sorting, as well as an intimate process of revelation. This shelf of books largely contains books bought long ago. More recent piles of books sit elsewhere. As I continue the drawings, I will need to choose whether to disrupt my system further, or whether to divert across to books housed elsewhere, non-alphabetically, which reflect a more up to date self-portrait.

See full info and author bios etc. below.

ICYM, Piece of Paper Press was founded in 1994, designed as a low-tech, sustainable artists’ book project to commission and publish new writings, visual and graphic works by artists and writers. Each miniature copy is made from a single A4 sheet that is printed on both sides and then folded, stapled and trimmed by hand to create the book. There is no schedule; titles are published when they are ready.

It was a very happy accident that these two titles just happened to be ready to publish at the same time.

Piece of Paper Press titles are always distributed free, usually in a limited edition of 150. Fifty copies are distributed by the contributor, and around a hundred to the press’s slowly evolving mailing list, which is gradually displaced by past contributors. Remaining copies are added to the project’s archive. Some titles have been given away at special events, or as larger runs inserted in magazines.

A display of the entire project archive (then to date), ‘Piece of Paper Press: Artworks and Ephemera, 1994-2017’, took place at Site Gallery, Sheffield, in Strong Language curated by Tim Etchells for Off The Shelf Festival of Books, October 2018. See Chris Saunders’ photos of the six-vitrine display here…

Accessible collections holding Piece of Paper Press titles include Arnolfini archive, Bristol; Chelsea School of Art Library; Live Art Development Agency study room; and UCL Small Press Collections, London.

popp_kivland-only-pr_25-feb-finalDownload
popp_mason-only_pr_24-feb-final-1Download

Print nerds might like to know that both titles were printed by Mixam, before being assembled (folded, stapled, trimmed) and numbered by hand. Kivland’s THE INCORRUPTIBLE was printed on 120gsm natural uncoated paper using an HP Indigo 12000. While Mason’s BOOK DRAWINGS #1–12 was printed on 90gsm white uncoated paper on an HP Indigo 7500!

§

More info about Piece of Paper Press, including list of past contributors…

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber…

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter…

LIVE FROM 82 on Resonance Extra

Thanks to Chihiro Ono for sharing this great photo of yesterday’s reading for Resonance Extra, in what must be one of the most spectacular yet apt settings for a reading of The Holborn Cenotaph yet: the former chapel on Borough Road that has been the Resonance studio for the past year. At one point the sun flooded in behind me – and Chihiro seems to have caught that moment on camera. Thank you, Chihiro!

I was in the Resonance studio as part of LIVE FROM 82, a live radio event on the final afternoon before the studio moves to a new location. There were performances by Merlin Nova, Kate Carr of Flaming Pines, Steven J Fowler and Benedict Taylor, Miles Luko, James C Oldham, Milo Thesiger-Meacham, Sister Punch, Tony White, Chihiro Ono, Travis Wu, Miles Lukoszeviese. Plus exclusive works by Neil Luck, Agnes Pe, Angela Wai Nok Hui, Trash Panda QC, Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier, Bobby Jewell.

Thank you as ever to Milo Thesiger-Meacham and the Resonance team on the day for their excellent work.

I was thrilled to be part of such a great line-up, and did a short set ‘The Holborn Cenotaph and other stories’. The other story in this case being ‘Plain Speaking’, which was written to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of Brian O’Nolan, better known as Flann O’Brien, a.k.a. Myles Na gCopaleen.

ICYMI ‘Plain Speaking’ is collected in Salt Publishing’s new Best British Short Stories 2022, edited by Nicholas Royle.

If you know a liberal ecclesiastical setting — or indeed any other venue, festival etc. — where I could take The Holborn Cebotaph next, let me know. So far it’s been to The Mac Belfast, the chapel at Kings College London, Festival Poligon in Mostar B-i-H, The British Library, Blast Theory studio, Turner Contemporary, Housmans Books, London Radical Book Fair, Iklektik Art Space, In Yer Ear, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts Galway, and about forty other spaces and events, from galleries to spoken word nights to supper clubs…

So if you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear from you.

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

LIVE FROM 82 — Resonance Extra

Live From 82. 12-7pm this Sunday 29.1.23 A radio event live from the Resonance studios on Borough Road in South London. Performances by Merlin Nova, Kate Carr of Flaming Pines, Steven J Fowler and Benedict Taylor, Miles Luko, James C Oldham, Milo Thesiger-Meacham, Sister Punch, Tony White, Travis Wu, Miles Lukoszeviese. Plus exclusive works by Neil Luck, Agnes Pe, Angela Wai Nok Hui, Trash Panda QC, Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier, Bobby Jewell.

I’ll be on around 2:25pm. Please join us!

Resonance Extra is the UK’s only 24/7 digital broadcasting platform dedicated to sound art, radio art and experimental musics. Based in London, it broadcasts online via its website, TuneIn and Radioplayer and on DAB+ Digital Radio to a footprint of 4 million people in Brighton & Hove, Cambridge, Greater London and Norwich.

LIVE FROM 82 — a live event from Resonance Extra

12:00-7:00 pm, Sunday 29 January 2023

See the trailer on Twitter…

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

Literature Live on Resonance

This Thursday evening 26 January at 8:00pm, I’m thrilled to be presenting a new programme for the Clearspot on London’s arts radio station Resonance 104.4fm, called Literature Live on Resonance, with guest authors Mona Dash and Courttia Newland.

Please join us! Thursday 26 January 2023, 8:00–9:00pm

Here’s the blurb:

Literature Live on Resonance

NEW: London author Tony White presents an hour of readings and chat with some of the best novelists and short story writers around. Literature Live on Resonance is an occasional programme focusing on live literature, with the emphasis on authors reading from their own prose fiction. White invites authors to join him in the Resonance Studio in London to recreate some of the magic of the live literature scene live on the air, as they read short extracts from their fiction and discuss live literature, live.

Tony White is the author of novels including Foxy-T and The Fountain in the Forest (Faber), and a veteran of the live literature scene. In tonight’s episode for Clearspot on Resonance 104.4fm, he’s joined live in the studio by the authors Mona Dash and Courttia Newland.

Resonance broadcasts on 104.4 FM to central London, DAB to Greater London, nationally on Radioplayer and live streamed to the rest of the world. More info at https://www.resonancefm.com/about

Mona Dash is an award-winning author based in London. Her work includes her memoir A Roll of the Dice, a short story collection Let Us Look Elsewhere, a novel, and two collections of poetry. She has been published in various journals and listed in leading competitions. Her work has been presented on BBC Radio 4, included in Best British Short Stories 2022, and in more than thirty anthologies. She also works in a global tech company. 

Courttia Newland is the author of eight books including his much-lauded debut, The Scholar. His most recent novel A River Called Time was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award, and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. He co-edited The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain, and his short stories have featured in various anthologies and been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. As a screenwriter, he has written episodes of Steve McQueen’s 2020 BBC series Small Axe.

Literature Live on Resonance, Thursday 26 January 2023, 8:00–9:00pm

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

PLR (Public Lending Right)

I would guess that most of my author contemporaries have already registered for PLR – the Public Lending Right – which was campaigned and fought for in the 1970s by authors including (the great) Maureen Duffy and Bridget Brophy. (Duffy interviewed here by Jim Parker.)

PLR means that authors (illustrators, etc.) get a small payment for every library loan.

Here’s the blurb:

If you are a published author, illustrator, editor, translator or audiobook narrator you could receive remuneration as a result of public library book loans. This could be up to £6,600 per year if you register for the UK PLR scheme or up to €1000 per year for the Irish PLR scheme.

If you follow authors on social media, you may have noticed a flurry of PLR-related posts in the past week. That’s because the UK PLR statements are released in January every year. Payments are usually issued in February.

And even if you’re not a celebrity or a bestseller with hundreds of thousands of loans, at a time when writers’ median earnings are £7,000.00 per year, even a small payment can make a difference. The statements also give a detailed breakdown of loans per title, so you get to find out which edition of your books get the most loans. In the case of The Fountain in the Forest, it’s the blue one!

Whether you are a debut author or an old hand who simply didn’t get around to it yet, the registration process couldn’t be simpler. You just need to get yourself a British Library log-in (if you don’t have one already), and have basic info to hand about the works you need to register. Visit the PLR page on the British Library website to find out more about eligibility and registration…

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

More live literature

One of photographer Peter Clark’s many superb photos of live literature gigs in Soho and Fitzrovia.

Peter Clark is an unparalleled chronicler of a still-Bohemian Soho (and you can quote me on that)!

This was upstairs at the French House in 2018. I was reading as part of In Yer Ear, a great series of spoken word nights that were run by Julia Bell and Dave McGowan. I miss those nights!

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

Live literature

I’ve been thinking about a grassroots live readings and spoken word scene which maybe hasn’t bounced back yet for prose fiction in the way it has for poetry. Or is that just me?

I know lots of authors hate doing gigs and readings, but it’s a big part of my work as a writer. In fact that was probably my way in to becoming a writer and getting published in the first place, so may yet be for others…

Anyway, I hope to see you out there sometime soon ;)

Find out more about my events and bookings here…

Tony White reading at Beaconsfield, London. Photo © Marianne Magnin, 2015

§

Buy Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest via publisher Faber and Faber

If you’d like to receive invites to forthcoming events and launches, sign up for my occasional newsletter

Protest and Survive #1

I just wanted to help spread word of this important campaign in the US, including an open letter (link below) and an email text. All of which I picked up via PEN America on Twitter. Thank you.

Copy and paste this email to friends to spread the word:

Subject: Take Action: Tell Missouri School Districts to Reverse Overzealous Book Bans

Body:

Friend,

I took an action on Action Network called Tell Missouri School Districts to Reverse Overzealous Book Bans:

To Missouri School Boards and State Legislators,

We, the undersigned, join authors, illustrators and the literary and free expression organization PEN America, to protest the alarming book bans that have been enacted in Missouri schools this fall. These bans represent a grave threat to the freedom to read, much to the detriment of students across the state.

These bans have been enacted largely in reaction to a provision in Senate Bill 775, which makes the distribution of material deemed “harmful to minors” to students in Missouri by any school official (educators, librarians, student teachers, coaches) or by any visitor to a school, a misdemeanor punishable by fines or jail time.

What is the definition of “harmful”? Who decides? The new law focuses on “visual depictions” and “sexual material,” and some school boards and officials have interpreted it broadly, removing an astonishing range of material: dozens of graphic novels and comics, books with photography, memoirs, and books about art history. In the ten weeks since the provision went into effect, at least 11 school districts have banned over 300 books. Several districts banned books from their libraries permanently. In one district, over 200 books came off library shelves for an indeterminate period of “review.”

Provisions in the law that exempt materials of artistic or anthropological significance are clearly being ignored. Students have been barred from checking out works on Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, graphic novel adaptations of classics by Shakespeare and Mark Twain as well as The Gettysburg Address, the Pulitzer-prize winning Maus, and other books about the Holocaust. Districts have banned comics about Batman, X-Men, and Watchmen; The Complete Guide to Drawing & Painting by Reader’s Digest; Women (a book of photographs by Annie Leibovitz); and The Children’s Bible.

Such overzealous book banning is going to do more harm than good. Book bans limit opportunities for students to see themselves in literature and to build empathy for experiences different from their own. They deprive students of the freedom to read–to think, to imagine, to grow. And photographs and illustrations can be vital to storytelling: a window into the past, a means of reflecting the human condition, a tool for helping reluctant readers engage with literature.

Students in Missouri are having these educational opportunities denied. They are bearing the brunt of a hasty and poorly considered reaction to a broadly worded provision that has spurred censorious acts across the state. They are having their right to access a diversity of ideas, information, art, and literature in school libraries diminished.

We urge school district officials in these 11 districts to reverse these dangerous bans, and to put materials back on shelves where students can regain access to them.

Can you join me and take action? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-missouri-schools-to-reverse-overzealous-book-bans?source=email&

Thanks!