Printed Matters #1 at Jää-äär - Saturday 28th November 2015

At the end of the summer we were in Hamburg for the indiemagday Free Trade Zone in an old harbour warehouse. It was a great day, meeting lots of fellow magazine-makers and readers, and as we packed away our things ready for the journey back across the northern plains to Berlin, we wondered to ourselves whether or not we could do something similar in Berlin.

We batted some ideas back and forth and decided that we would like to create a relaxed and friendly event in a nice place, where people could come and get their hands on copies of independent magazines and books and listen to some readings and conversations from those writers and editors behind the publications. And as we already knew a number of people involved in such projects in Berlin, our idea for Printed Matters (as we decided to call it) developed fairly quickly from there.

So on the 28th November 2015 we will be gathering for an afternoon at the wonderful Jää-äär cafe and creative space in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, where you can enjoy Estonian treats a handful of steps from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city. We will have a book stall in operation all afternoon so you can buy copies for yourself or perhaps Christmas presents, and Elsewhere editor in chief Paul Scraton will also take those interested on a cultural-historical exploration of the neighbourhood, on both sides of the former dividing line, inspired by the walks he does for Slow Travel Berlin. Jää-äär will also be hosting an exhibition from the London-based Estonian artist Anu Samarüütelfirst.

The final schedule for the reading has not been confirmed yet, but we will be announcing who will be talking and reading in the coming days on the Facebook event page. And most importantly, we will be presenting our fellow magazine and book publishers that will be joining us at Jää-äär here on the Elsewhere blog in the run-up to the event… at the time of writing, the roll of honour includes archiv/e, hidden europe, No Dice,  Readux, SAND and Slow Travel Berlin… and if any other Berlin-based independent publishers or magazines would like to join the fun, then they can get in touch with paul@elsewhere-journal.com.

We are really looking forward to the event and if you happen to be in or around Berlin on the last weekend of November, we would love to see you there.