March News

March Book of the Month – Why and Why Not by Mark Titchner

Our book of the month for March 2025 is Why and Why Not by Mark Titchner (2004). Get it now for just £7.

‘… How to be Silent. Speak constantly. Artificial silence, that is, what was once natural silence must be avoided … Always speak with the voice of others. Make their words the equivalent of your silence … One must always consider the contrary point of view. All thought has an antithesis, and this should always amend any statement. Finally, accept the futility of resolution. Any thought you may have is contingent upon your limited experience …’

Why and Why Not is a book that embraces the fine tradition of the street corner prophet, tempered with the equally proud custom of keeping your mouth firmly shut. Constructed in chapters, with titles such as ‘I Against I’ and ‘Policing Love with Neuroses’, this publication represents a chain of declamatory ‘rants’ that critically probe traditional notions of narrative authority. By graphically sequencing points with counterpoints, Titchner creates an assemblage where ideals are overturned and philosophies ruined.

The Wastes reviewed in STAT Magazine

A great, short, astute review of Roy Claire Potter’s The Wastes by Phoebe Thomas in STAT Magazine, an arts and culture zine for the North West of England.

‘Potter resists unravelling the messy, binding knots of place, family, loss, and selfhood. Schisms of unmarked paper encourage us to slow down, to digest the words, to reflect, to ponder. Instead of tidy conclusions, there’s an image of a pair of seats on a fast-moving train, a bed with the imprint of the morning sun through a windowpane.

The Wastes are not a destination. They are a process. Something which takes shape in memory, bigger and more imposing than its material form. There is no ending. Just the start of another journey.’

Read the full review here.

You can order The Wastes here, or get all four books in the series in the discounted bundle below.

Arrhythmia bundle

Order now

All four books in the Arrhythmia series – our latest Book Works open submission series, guest-edited by Katrina Palmer – are now out and available to buy, and we’re marking it with a special bundle. You can now get all four books in the series for a reduced price of £45.

The four titles are:
Through the Tinnitus – Kamwangi Njue
Black Body Index – Andrew E. Colarusso
The Wastes – Roy Claire Potter
The Medium – Alice Walter

For more information on the titles and authors please visit the individual book pages.

Katrina Palmer is an artist and writer, living in London. She is the author of The Dark Object (2010), The Fabricators Tale (2014), End Matter (2015) and Black Slit (2023), all published by Book Works. She has exhibited extensively, including with an Artangel Open commission (2015), at Henry Moore Institute (2015-16), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2018), and with Estuary and Waterfronts (2021). She received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists (2014).

ABOUT US

Book Works is a leading contemporary arts organisation with a unique role as makers and publishers of books.

Established in 1984, we are dedicated to supporting new work by emerging artists. Our projects are initiated by invitation, open submission, and through guest-curated projects. Book Works consists of a publishing and commissioning department; and a studio specialising in binding, box-making and multiples.

STUDIO

The Book Works Studio offers a specialist bespoke service for a range of clients, from artists, designers, galleries, and businesses. We provide binding solutions, develop prototypes and specialise in unique book artworks, boxes, and portfolios. We have an extensive archive, and offer tailored educational events, and bookbinding courses. The Studio generates income from clients and is self-sufficient.

PUBLISHING

Book Works Publishing is dedicated to supporting new work by emerging artists. Our projects are initiated by invitation, open submission, and through guest-curated projects and include publishing, a lecture and seminar programme, exhibitions, the development of an online archive, and artists’ surgeries and workshops.

Our audience is vital to our work. The process of engaging and developing our audience is initiated with our commissioning programme, and driven through all aspects of our activities, particularly our public programme of events, our workshops, artists’ surgeries and education activities, and through our interest in collaborating with other organisations and libraries. Our programme of commissions is diverse, and reflects our commitment not just to work with cultural workers from all backgrounds, but to invest in networks and programmes that engage, and develop and create new artistic voices.

Recent Commissions

Includes new projects with: Amy Ching-Yan Lam, Sofia Niazi, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and Jimmy Robert, Prem Sahib, and Cecilia Vicuña. Our recent Open Submission is Arrhythmia, guest edited by Katrina Palmer, has commissioned new work from Andrew Colarusso, Roy Claire Potter, Kamwangi Njue, and Alice Walter. Katrina Palmer is also the author of The Touch Report, released December 2024.

SUPPORT US

By supporting Book Works you will help support artists and writers at the emerging stage of their careers through our diverse commissioning programme of open submissions, guest editorships, public events, exhibitions and publications.

CHARITY

Book Works is a registered charity, dedicated to advance education for the benefit of the public in the visual arts, particularly books which may be recognised as works of art in their own right.

TRUSTEES

We have a board of trustees who input their range of diverse expertise and interests into our development:

Tess Denman-Cleaver (Chair)
Teresa Drace-Francis
Maria Amidu
Nick Brown
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso
Aliya Gulamani
Gerrie van Noord

Book Works

19 Holywell Row

London EC2A 4JB

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