 Arcane Publishing had a stall at the Bridport Bookfest in West Bay on Saturday. Unfortunately, whilst West Bay is always packed on a sunny summer day, the weather had decided to turn once again and the very wet harbour was mostly deserted! Nevermind... at least we authors and publishers were all inside, dry and cosy. We had decided to try out a more elaborate display than usual for our books, and had gathered a variety of items that would reflect the contents of the novels.  For I Am a Muse, a contemporary tale of lost love and artistic inspiration mostly set in Cornwall, we used stones and shells found on various beaches, a guide book of Cornwall and a vintage vinyl record with a sleeve showing a surfer in action to evoke the surfer's life of the group of friends featured in the book; as a tribute to the characters of Alda and Alastair, both painters, we brought with us the original painting purchased at Alexandra Palace's Antiques and Collectors Fair a few years ago (it lives in Miss Gish's office at home!), an easel and a real vintage painter's palette with brushes and old paint tubes. We even found a paint-stained sheet which added "authenticity" to the whole thing! Unfortunately, we had forgotten to bring our lovely vintage mannequin head... Next time! For The Book of Thoth, a Gothic novel mostly set in 1925 and full of ghosts, alchemists, Ancient Egyptian gods, time-travellers and other strange and marvellous things, we gathered quite a few items bought at antiques and collectors fairs, including two issues of The Play magazine which features towards the end of the book, and lovely postcards of the actress Pauline Chase to illustrate Lady Sophia Chronos's pre-WW1 stage career. Of course, Thoth and Princess Amunet were not forgotten - we do have in our possession a framed (fake) Ancient Egyptian papyrus showing the passage between Life and Death, perfect to express various themes in the book. And of course, Lord Vangelis Chronos's alchemical experiments were alluded to thanks to an assortment of old brass objects of dubious provenance purchased at the Giant Shepton Mallet flea! (Witchy candle and dusty chandelier, author's own).
I do hope I will have the opportunity to put this display together again at another event... There will be some announcements soon about the next events the ArtPix / Arcane Publishing team will attend, and we also have a few very cool music-related events planned for the autumn... Oil 54 and Arcane Publishing have also started working on the next LONDON: Winter Tales event (#3). We have sent a few emails and if everything goes to plan, you will be in for a real treat early next year! Read about forthcoming events as well as about our previous Winter Tales events, go HERE.  On Saturday 11th August, I will have a stall at the Bridport Bookfest which will take place at the Salt House and Fishermen's Green in West Bay, Bridport, Dorset. For this event, I am going to have fun and experiment with my display. I will put together a stand which reflects the narrative and setting of each book. I have found quite a lot of fab items and will just make it up as I go along. Obviously, I will post pictures once the event is over! Below are some pictures of a few items I will bring along, there will be many more! People will then be able to go and have a look at the Matt ArtPix/Arcane Publishing unit round the corner at The Customs House! Yes, it is true! Oil54 and Arcane Publishing have just started planning for our third London: Winter Tales event, which will take place in London in early 2019. Once again, expect a mixture of spoken words, literature and music! We already have some great names on our list, so fingers crossed it all come together! We are also thinking about expanding the event in both scope and capacity... We hope to be able to announce the details on 24th November in London at another special event - WATCH THIS SPACE! Here is a video which gives a hint about the theme of our next event - and no, it is NOT pornography. |
AuthorArcane Publishing is a small independent imprint with a passion for beautiful books. Archives
March 2023
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