Publish And Be Damned

This weekend I took a little research trip to London Town and visited a couple of book fairs....Publish and Be Damned, a self-publishing event, in Bethnal Green and The London Artist Book Fair at the Whitechapel Gallery. Publish and be damned was really buzzing, with about 100 stalls selling hand made zines and books...Some were beautifully printed and were very inspiring...some were hilarious and very rude! I liked the Do It Yourself vibe at the event and the fact that most of the publications were under £5. Good for pocket-sized presents for Miss Sophie Lee! It also got me thinking about reviving the long-lost but not forgotten Dance Picture Zine... The Artists Book Fair at Whitechapel featured faves Coracle press, Wild Pansy Press and good old Manchester School of Art's Righton Press....The books in the show were very impressive...IvoryPress showing some enormous bound beauties and Tracey Emin with her lovely One Thousand Drawings book was drawing in the crowds....I returned home with lots of brilliant bits and bobs and a nice new book bag!