Spotlight: Emily Watkins and The Independent Publishing Collection

The Independent Publishing Collection is a treasure trove of zines, self published books and other paper-based materials, that's tucked away in the Group Work Room of the Library. To learn more about the initiative, I met up with Academic Librarian, Emily Watkins to chat all things indie publishing!

@befmakesart

BE: The Independent Publishing Collection is such a cool idea! I love having a nosey at all the work when I'm in the library. What made you start the Collection?

EW: Well, I have always loved zines, printed materials and Artist books and we have so many cool people who are constantly producing and distributing cool, physical publications here at AUP and I thought that it was really important to document and keep a record of that. There's so much great student and staff work that should be celebrated and shared!

BE: Before we get started, for anyone who doesn't know, can you just explain a little bit about what a 'Zine' actually is?

EW: Ooh yeah! So, zines are really cool. They're small, usually self-published materials, essentially like little magazines which is where the name 'Zine' comes from. Typically there's one original and then either photocopies or risograph editions made for distribution but there's too many styles and methods to make a zine and distribute them to really be able to efficiently sum up. It's probably best to just come and have a look at the collection and find out!

BE: It's so great to have a space dedicated to Independent publishing especially when so much content is being mass produced now, why do you think it's important to embrace non-mainstream modes of publications?

EW: That's a good question! I guess it's really about making sure everyone gets their voice heard - especially those that are often neglected from mainstream modes of publishing. Another thing is that there is also a lot of creative freedom that can be explored in indie publishing that wouldn't, or can't typically be published otherwise. There's a lot of more bespoke binding methods for example that are quite tricky and expensive to produce in masses. One good example of that which you can experience in our collection is the Turkish map fold.

BE: Yeah it's really nice to see - there are a so many cool formats here. I also like the accordion zines a lot. For anyone who wants to get their work catalogued in the collection, how can they get involved?

EW: Yeah! We're always on the look out for more Indie publishing. There's a couple of different options to get involved but they're all super easy! You can donate work in person by dropping it off in the donation box. This is kept on the bottom shelf of the collection in the Group Work Room or for alumni or students not currently on campus, you can send me an email (ewatkins@aup.ac.uk) and we can work something else out!

Best,

Beth Evans

Student Union President