book tour shenanigans

21/11/24 GDLP

in all honesty, i can’t believe we managed to keep up the regular sunday review schedule over October and most of November given we have been running round publicising Poor Artists. We have barely touched the blog side of this website so I’m just popping in here with some film photos as a sign of life. Months ago, I thought I would vlog this once-in-a-lifetime-time but every time I pack a bag to do this travelling, the bag is full and there’s nowhere for a film camera/mic/batteries etc to go. So I’ve just had a very light film camera in my bag and tbh I prefer this style of recording things anyway. I love my film camera so much. So, here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to, starting with a book event in Margate!

half-burnt film photo at the beginning of the roll showing a dark reddish beach in market

looking down at an empty makeshift stage at the bottom of the old ford hotel in margate

before the event with Ryan Smith of Margate Bookshop ^

a carefully arranged stack of poor artists books

zarina posing with the book, eyes closed, arm in the air

this event was kind of ludicrous and slippery and it was the most I’ve ever just admitted I might be mad to a room full of people, but everyone was very nice about it. and then while I was down, I wrote about that loopiness and also Margate’s Crab Museum on the long train back home.

and then it was time for LONDON

abi palmer and zarina doing their makeup in the green room at the ICA

abi palmer, gab and zarina on stage at the ica with microphones and a collage of book topics behind them like a big mad moodboard

we did a talk at the ICA with Abi Palmer, and halfway through it we stopped to do a gameshow with the audience. i liked Abi’s line of questioning, because she took us on different ‘quests’ in keeping with the book :)

and then Zarina took the best picture of me ever taken, modelling Maria Lassnig’s best painting which is just about visible on a projection behind me:

gab has two hands in the shape of guns, one is pointing at the camera and one is pointing at her own head

and then we took a picture with our editor Josephine Greywoode:

gab and zarina either side of penguin press head josephine greywoode

and then we took this very sweet picture together after we had signed people’s books:

gab and zarina smiling together behind a small signing table

and then we saw Luisa De La Concha Montes had turned up with both the book and a TWP bag from a while back:

luisa smiles holding the book and a white pube tote bag with the pubemoji logo on it

and overall, i’m just feeling happy. i’m exhausted tbh but it’s nice having the book as an excuse to talk to people? connect, mourn, celebrate, come together, conspire. I think the events. I’m typing this in bed in a hotel in Edinburgh because I’m speaking at the radical book fair tomorrow – i’m glad there’s more of this to come.