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London-based press and book binder Tangerine Press is organising the second iteration of the Uncorrected Independent Book Fair, this weekend (16th and 17th June).
Part of the Camberwell Art Festival and hosted at the Peckham Pelican in South East London, the fair will feature seven independent publishers chosen to reflect the "sheer variety" of the UK independent publishing scene.
Exhibiting at the fair will be Fitzcarraldo Editions, which had a recent success with its title Flights by Olga Tokarczuk winning the Man Booker International Prize; London Books, which reissues "lost classics from the capital’s forgotten authors"; Strange Attractor Press, which publishes "everything from UFO conspiracies to Zombie histories to studies on witchcraft and beyond"; and Test Centre, which publishes poetry, prose, and spoken word on vinyl in unusual formats and designs.
Also featuring will be Walden Press, which produces handbound chapbooks and letterpress newspapers; L-13 Light Industrial Workshop, which publishes limited edition books; and Tangerine Press, which for last twelve years has been publishing various "misfits, mavericks and misanthropes".
Tangerine Press founder and organiser of the fair Michael Curran said that the initial impetus to organise the fair was that he had never attended a book fair as a publisher which, he thought was "a bit of a shortcoming on my part".
He said: "[Tangerine] didn’t seem to fit into any genre that fairs like to adopt: that is, graphic novel, comic, poetry, photography, etc. So I thought why not start a fair for publishers that get involved in all manner of projects and subject areas, often in many different formats. Also some fairs charge quite a substantial sum for a stall, which made it unviable, for me at least.
"In addition to the expense, the size of some these events can mean the chances of selling a decent number of books boils down to factors such as browser fatigue, ‘bad’ stall position, etc. Finally, the idea of sitting around in a hall for two days didn’t really appeal. But sitting in a bar talking about books, meeting readers, writers and other publishers did. So The Peckham Pelican is very much part of what we’re trying to achieve. You can come along, browse a few books, chat with publishers, nurse a beer or sup a coffee, eat a pizza and generally chill out."
Discussing this year's fair, Curran added: "If it’s anything like last year, it should go really well. All the publishers sold a good bundle of books, met other publishers, booksellers, book dealers, authors and of course plenty of readers! As we’re part of the Camberwell Arts Festival, in theory it should do even better. Perhaps the stars of the show this year are Fitzcarraldo Editions, but all the publishers and the writers they support deserve much credit for pursuing their vision against all the odds."