Dear Nani

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPublished in 2022 by Anchorless Press,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDear Nani is a photobook by\n\t\t\t\t\t\tartist Zinnia Naqvi addressing issues of gender performance and colonial mimicry through\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe family archive. In this conversation, Naqvi and publisher Robyn York discuss the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tjourney of the project from exhibition to photobook, the challenges of working through a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tpandemic, and funding opportunities for artists and small publishers.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tROBYN YORK When I saw your book at the CONTACT Book Dummy Reviews in\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2019, I was really impressed by how well-developed it was. It was clearly something you\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcared about and I could see the excitement and interest that you had about the project.\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt seemed like it was fairly far along the path to becoming a book, but you were also\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthinking of it in terms of exhibition. At what point did you start thinking about\n\t\t\t\t\t\tpresenting it into a book?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZINNIA NAQVI I saw the project as a book not from the beginning, but\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom the first time I exhibited it. Almost all of the times that I’ve shown\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDear Nani in an exhibition, I’ve never actually been able to show the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfull breadth of the work. It is a very dense project. I also see it in a linear way,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause it does have this narrative that threads throughout the images. At the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbeginning, I start to ask some personal questions and then by the end I say, “I wish I\n\t\t\t\t\t\thad asked you this, but I wasn’t able to.” I reveal that the text is also\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfictional at the end. So it made sense as a book.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFor the Reviews I had just made this little Blurb copy, and I was trying to translate\n\t\t\t\t\t\twhat I had done in exhibition format to a book, but I was struggling with that. I’d\n\t\t\t\t\t\tnever made a photobook before and there are so many different materials. The Reviews\n\t\t\t\t\t\twere really good for me because I got a lot of honest feedback, which I actually think\n\t\t\t\t\t\tis rare at these kinds of events.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I agree. It often feels sort of *mimics quickly flipping through a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbook* oh, nice, then people keep moving and don’t really give you any feedback, which\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcan be really frustrating.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Yeah, it was very eye-opening. When people see the work in person, I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthink, generally they’re pretty drawn to it, but people were not that drawn to the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbook I made (laughs). It showed me that, oh, the way I had done it in a gallery is\n\t\t\t\t\t\tnot translating to the book. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDear Nani exhibited at Artspace Gallery\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBecause I’m working with archival images, I had included scans and reproductions in the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbook. When I show them in an exhibition, you can see the actual physical photograph. But\n\t\t\t\t\t\tin the book, people just thought they were Photoshopped because they were flat and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdidn’t have the same physicality and presence. It hadn’t occurred to me that I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tneeded to make it clear that these are physical objects. So that feedback actually\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsparked me to shoot new images in 2020 that are included in the book, more of me\n\t\t\t\t\t\tactually holding the photos with my hands and things like that.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I remember you having big prints at the Reviews, but I don’t\n\t\t\t\t\t\teven remember the Blurb book that you had, which is really funny.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Yeah, I still have it here somewhere. It doesn’t do the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tproject justice, but I had no clue how to select paper, and how to think about covers,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand just the physicality of the book. All of those wonderful things that you helped me\n\t\t\t\t\t\twith! I had some pretty specific ideas in terms of design, but at the end of the day,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI’m not a designer and I really needed a professional. That’s why it was so great\n\t\t\t\t\t\tto work with you and also with Adam Simms. There’s a lot of me in the design, but he was\n\t\t\t\t\t\table to take it to that level where it all made sense cohesively and did what I wanted\n\t\t\t\t\t\tit to do. I really needed that help!\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe artist’s first book dummy as presented at the CONTACT Book Dummy Reviews\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin 2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY This was the first one of the first books where I haven’t\n\t\t\t\t\t\thelped with the design too much, I was much more in the publisher role of helping put\n\t\t\t\t\t\tall the pieces together. I think you and Adam worked well together; you can see it in\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe way you were able to reproduce the look of that encyclopedia in your text and your\n\t\t\t\t\t\town chapter titling.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Even though Adam and I were both in [Montreal], we were working\n\t\t\t\t\t\tremotely almost the whole time, so that was difficult. But he said, okay, this essay\n\t\t\t\t\t\tneeds to feel like the dictionary, because it is such a specific early 20th-century\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdesign style, and so I sent him reference photos, and he used those as the design\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinspiration for other parts of the book too. Those kinds of impulses were really strong\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand I think brought the book together.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY It was tricky working virtually, because we thought\n\t\t\t\t\t\twe’d have more time to work together and look at samples. We did a lot of that\n\t\t\t\t\t\tjust over Zoom, holding a book up, or through Google chat where you’d send me pictures\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthat you saw at Anteism. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN I wish I could have done more physical research, COVID really was a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thindrance to all that. I really have no idea how we made such a beautiful thing. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY Was there anything else in the process of making this book that you\n\t\t\t\t\t\twere really surprised by?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN I guess I would be curious as to how you do this normally, if there\n\t\t\t\t\t\teven is a “normal” way. Maybe it’s different every time to make a book? Making a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbook that is such a personal project and uses really personal artifacts, even though I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthink it did come out that way, it felt very distant from me until it was made. I think\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause you and Adam were so professional and knew what you were doing, it came together\n\t\t\t\t\t\tso well. I’m still surprised at how beautiful it is. It’s actually kind of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmind-blowing!

RY There is this big leap of faith every time\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI make a book. I find there’s this moment where you’re looking at all the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdifferent printers and options and you’re trying to decide on certain things, and\n\t\t\t\t\t\teventually you have to settle on them. And then you send off your deposit and all the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfinal files and it’s out of your hands. Then you get this box of books delivered\n\t\t\t\t\t\tto you, and hopefully they’re what you imagined them to be. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis one, I was surprised in the best way when I got to see it finally. I mean, I was\n\t\t\t\t\t\texpecting it to be really beautiful, but the color reproductions are so good, and being\n\t\t\t\t\t\table to work with printers that do the Smyth sewn binding was amazing because I hadn’t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbeen able to do that affordably before.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Maybe that would be a good thing to talk about since a lot of people\n\t\t\t\t\t\thave been asking me, “How did you afford to work with Flash [Reproductions]?” \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY We did a run of 100 English and 75 French, which is a really small\n\t\t\t\t\t\trun, especially because it’s really two books. I was surprised that they would do\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthat small of a run with Smyth sewing because usually it’s 350 to 500 copies, minimum. I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthink [Flash] just got new equipment in the last year or two and they’re trying to\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdo more artist books in small runs, which is cool. But there’s a lot of fundraising or\n\t\t\t\t\t\tgrant writing that needs to go into getting enough funds for the production, that’s also\n\t\t\t\t\t\ta big part of it.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN What made you want to publish Dear Nani under Anchorless\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPress?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY Personal and biographical projects really interest me, and I think\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthey’re really well-suited for books, because you’re looking at them in your lap,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthey’re small, they’re contained. It’s a one-person experience when\n\t\t\t\t\t\tyou’re looking at an artist book. That story felt very much like it needed to be a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tone-on-one story since it’s a one-on-one conversation that you’re having through\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe book.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI really liked that you are tackling gender play in photos from 1948. I thought it was\n\t\t\t\t\t\treally exciting that you found these family documents that have such playful exploration\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand performance. I think it resonates across a lot of different ages and demographics\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause of that. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN You know, a couple of people have come up since I made the project\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand said, “Oh, I have photos of my grandmother in India where she’s doing the same\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthing.” And even looking at The Image Centre, they recently had the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMauvais Genre exhibition, and it’s all from the early 20th century. It’s interesting because there\n\t\t\t\t\t\tare different people cross-dressing for different reasons. I brought my class to see it,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand it’s interesting to think about our memories of the past. They’re often a lot\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmore conservative than things actually were. When it comes to cultural trends or gender\n\t\t\t\t\t\tnorms there’s an ebb and flow, and it’s sometimes the more recent past that pushed\n\t\t\t\t\t\tconservative values. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI wanted to keep that in mind with this book, and that was why it was really important\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfor me to write my own essay at the end. It’s a very specific history that’s\n\t\t\t\t\t\trelated to gender play and also to colonialism and independence. I wanted all of those\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthings to intersect and I felt like it was really important for that to come from me. I\n\t\t\t\t\t\thad those ideas in my head for a long time, and I wanted to get them out and I was\n\t\t\t\t\t\treally happy with the opportunity to have them included in the book.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY Yeah, I think it really gives a lot to the story and to the book. My\n\t\t\t\t\t\treading and why I wanted to publish this book is very much a personal thing, and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tit’s only a tiny slice of the whole story of your book. That’s what I love\n\t\t\t\t\t\tabout photobooks as an art form: we all get to have our own reading and our own reason\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfor appreciating them. It’s very similar to standing in front of an artwork, you\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdon’t get the same experience from it that someone next to you does.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Just to add to that, too, is the archival nature of books. I mean,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tobviously it’s kind of implicit in the form but exhibitions come down, right? But\n\t\t\t\t\t\twhoever has this book, they’re able to hold on to it, return to it, and then also to\n\t\t\t\t\t\thave the project preserved. A lot of my family members have the book now, especially my\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmom’s family, so now all of their kids will have it. A couple of my cousins bought\n\t\t\t\t\t\ttwo copies and they’re like, “I’m going to save it for my kid too!”\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt’s become this heirloom where history can live on.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI was actually having a conversation with my cousin who lived with my Nani, because I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdidn’t know her super well and she and my other cousins lived with her until they\n\t\t\t\t\t\twere teenagers. We have really different recollections of her, so we were comparing\n\t\t\t\t\t\tnotes and she said it was really interesting to read my essay because they had a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcompletely different impression of [Nani]. Sometimes you can live with someone like your\n\t\t\t\t\t\twhole childhood and you don’t really know them. It’s sparking a lot of nice\n\t\t\t\t\t\tconversations.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY Has this process changed how you look at visual books or photobooks?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Oh, for sure. I did value books before, but I can now better see the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tpotential for them as artworks and also as a way to preserve artworks, too. Sometimes\n\t\t\t\t\t\tyou can’t always go see an exhibition in person, but a book can go anywhere in the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tworld, and that’s really exciting. I’ve also been appreciating the little details,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe handmade elements. That was something that you wrote into the grant and really made\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsure that we factored in, and I think that just brings the whole book to a whole new\n\t\t\t\t\t\tlevel. I probably wouldn’t have thought to prioritize that otherwise, and out of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthat idea came the book jacket cover and I think that makes it such a more rich and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tunique object. It’s intricate in a way that’s quite striking to people as soon as they\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsee the book. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSome other very precise feedback I got at the Reviews, actually, was, “Don’t put a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tphoto on the cover. Don’t give it away.” Because there’s this idea of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsecrecy. You want to be able to open the book and find out more. That’s when I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthought of the design and then, you know, opening the trunk and we wanted some more\n\t\t\t\t\t\tgraphic elements too. All of these things were already around me, it was just a matter\n\t\t\t\t\t\tof looking more closely. So that was really great.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY It feels very organic that the band has to be opened to get into the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tbook, because the trunk that you’re photographing has to be opened to get into the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstuff you found.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN In terms of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnchorless Press, maybe it would be nice to give a bit of a trajectory of how it started and where\n\t\t\t\t\t\tit’s going.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY When I started in 2011, I really was just helping people\n\t\t\t\t\t\tself-publish their work. I wasn’t thinking of actually having my own publishing\n\t\t\t\t\t\timprint or mandate as being important. I did that for maybe two or three years, and I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdid a lot of different projects that were too varied when I look back at them. \n\t\t\t\t\t

ZN So you were kind of a consultant?

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY Kind of, yeah. Or Anchorless was just an umbrella for people that\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdidn’t want to self-publish. But it didn’t have its own identity. Then I\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstarted working at Gallery 44 and getting more involved with the photo scene in Toronto,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand working with a lot of different photo artists who are making these really great\n\t\t\t\t\t\tphotobooks. They were doing really small runs of things, you know, 25 or 50 or something\n\t\t\t\t\t\tlike that. So that started to form what I was more excited about Anchorless Press. \n\t\t\t\t\t

Robyn York and Zinnia Naqvi

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI started off studying photography and then I started making my own books in school and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthen I went and studied photobooks, specifically in Rochester at the Visual Studies\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWorkshop, so that was always the area that I was most excited about. It organically grew\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinto that identity. And then I took a bit of time off raising my kids, but I sort of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tkept projects going in the background. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDear Nani is actually the first of two books that we’re doing with a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCanada Council grant. Writing that grant gave me renewed excitement about publishing and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsupporting more artists that need help with resources. Having some money to help with\n\t\t\t\t\t\tproduction costs can help change a book a lot. It helps make the book you want rather\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthan the book that you cut corners on to try and make it fit the budget.\n\t\t\t\t\t

ZN Totally. I feel like we didn’t cut any corners.

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen we wrote this grant you had an emphasis on wanting to support photo projects by\n\t\t\t\t\t\twomen. When did you start thinking about that?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTakeaway material collected by Robyn York at the 2019 CONTACT Book Dummy Reviews\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I was really thinking about that after the Book Dummy Reviews that\n\t\t\t\t\t\twe both attended, where we renewed our friendship. I looked around the room, and all of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe tables with male artists had people talking to them, and all of the tables with\n\t\t\t\t\t\twomen artists didn’t. There was just this really weird divide and I said, well,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI’ll go visit the women here. And I looked at 30 or so amazing projects. All of them at\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdifferent stages, all of them that could benefit from funding and mentorship. Some of\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthem were almost a fully realized project that needed some kind of institutional\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsupport. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe other thing that came up that weekend in 2019 was the Women in Photobooks symposium\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthat CONTACT hosted. Delphine Bedel gave a really amazing artist talk about how women\n\t\t\t\t\t\thave been making photobooks since Anna Atkins. We have a strong, long history of it, but\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthere hasn’t been as much of a focus on it, because it’s on Robert Frank and Lee\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFriedlander and all the old dudes. That may really be behind my urgency in finding money\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand making that part of my mandate, rather than just saying, “I’m going to publish\n\t\t\t\t\t\teverything.”\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN It’s important to figure out—what kind of space you want to\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfill. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I think you and I actually talked about funding that weekend because\n\t\t\t\t\t\tit was like, “This is great, what do we do now?” I left thinking I just need to find\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmoney to help make these books. So that’s when I started doing some research, and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Canada Council for the Arts added Visual Arts Publishers to their project grants\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstream a few years ago. When I started Anchorless, I looked into how the publishing\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstream worked and it’s super rigid. You had to publish a certain number of books\n\t\t\t\t\t\twith a certain number of pages. For a small, self-funded publisher it was impossible to\n\t\t\t\t\t\treach those standards. Sometimes an artist’s book can be 10 pages! It was very\n\t\t\t\t\t\trestrictive. I feel like your project is a really great success because of the support\n\t\t\t\t\t\tof this new grant stream.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN Absolutely. It’s maybe more competitive, but it’s great that there’s\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthis stream that is more accessible for artists now.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSo what about you?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Kate Hutchinson’s book is coming up next. Do you have any ideas for after that?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I’m going to take a little bit of a break, because I’m\n\t\t\t\t\t\tjust processing family stuff and possibly opening a bookstore in Port Dover if we get a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tspace. I’m hoping to have a workshop space there because I have accumulated all of these\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinteresting tools for making books like a guillotine and a perfect binder\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI’m hoping to work with\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Judy Ruzylo\n\t\t\t\t\t\twho has this amazing book about following a sheep herder in his 80s. I met her at the\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBook Dummy Reviews too, and she had the book pretty much done at that point. It’s\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthis really simple, slow story about traveling. She’s just walking with this\n\t\t\t\t\t\tshepherd and having a conversation with him in broken English. Once we find money for\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthat we’ll work on that project. There’s a couple other ones that I’m\n\t\t\t\t\t\treally excited about that aren’t confirmed yet. What are you working on next?\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN I haven’t fully started yet, but for a while I’ve\n\t\t\t\t\t\tactually been wanting to look at the dictionaries that are in the book on their own as\n\t\t\t\t\t\tanother project. They’re such interesting and problematic books, but they’re also\n\t\t\t\t\t\tso beautiful. I actually went to London in 2019 and did some research and there’s\n\t\t\t\t\t\ta parallel set of dictionaries housed at the British Library, but they also have them\n\t\t\t\t\t\there in Toronto. The dictionaries I have in my family home were printed in India, Burma\n\t\t\t\t\t\tand Ceylon, but there was another set I found called the Waverley Children’s\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDictionary that was printed in London. They’re almost identical but I want to\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcompare and contrast and photograph them. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAlso, now that the book is out there and we are almost sold out, I’m starting to think\n\t\t\t\t\t\tabout printing more. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRY I remember we talked about how big to do the first edition, and we\n\t\t\t\t\t\tthought, let’s make it manageable because we were doing the handmade element and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdidn’t really know what that was going to be like.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tZN I want them to go to so many more places! I’d really like to\n\t\t\t\t\t\tget it more into India and Pakistan, because I think it is an important project and\n\t\t\t\t\t\tit’s a good way to have people there be able to access it as well.\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDear Nani/Chere Nani is available to purchase in limited quantities from the\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Anchorless Press online store, the CONTACT Photobook Lab, and at\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Art Metropole\n\t\t\t\t\t\tin Toronto. A special edition with a fine art print is also\n\t\t\t\t\t\tavailable online. \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tVisit Art Metropole on August 20 for a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t drop-in signing\n\t\t\t\t\t\tof Dear Nani from 2-4pm.⁠ The event will take place outdoors, and refreshments\n\t\t\t\t\t\twill be provided.⁠ \n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t