The People’s Library, a groundswell of public tellings

The People’s Library (2017–18) is a participatory artwork by Tasmanian artists Justy Phillips and Margaret Woodward (A Published Event), presented in partnership with Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania.

Tethered in everyday acts of writing, reading and telling, The People’s Library will publish, digest and perform a unique living library of new and original book-length works by Tasmanian writers. Part performance library, part contemporary artwork, The People’s Library will publish up to one hundred books in any genre, culminating in a month-long event at the Long Gallery in September 2018, in which library’s holdings of one hundred books will be digested and performed from memory for a public audience. This relational artwork seeks to question how we might come to make and live our memories, communities and belief systems.

We are looking for unpublished works of fiction, memoir, science fiction, biography, non-fiction, history, crime, thriller, poetry, plays and experimental other. This is a fully supported publishing opportunity from inception to publication. Amateur or professional, we are actively seeking contributions from those who write for leisure, pleasure or necessity.

Influenced by the great Ancient Library of Alexandria, (founded in the third Century BC) whose rulers attempted to assemble in one place, every book in existence, The People’s Library is an opportunity to leave a trace, locate a life or sweep a narrative arc within a unique Tasmanian library. In 2018, The People’s Library will open at Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, creating a movement of public spillings – book groups, live readings and salon events. We ask, is it possible through The People’s Library to shift from a holding of contemporary knowledge to a future memory of a people yet to come?

As closing event to The People’s Library/ Digest/ Memory, A Published Event are presenting Publishing-process – a two-day symposium event curated by Sarah Jones, comprising lectures, panel discussions, performance events and workshops, exploring the complex intersection of the creative practices of publishing, writing and art making. Bringing together for the first time in Tasmania, international and local artists, writers, theorists and educators, the Publishing-process symposium creates a shared space for contemporary discourse in this (re)emergent creative field.

Expressions of Interest are now open for interested writers to share their book proposals and 3 pages of sample writing: www.thepeopleslibrary.net

Important Dates:

EOI open: 01 November 2017
EOI close: 01 January 2018
Final deadline manuscripts received: 01 April 2018

The People’s Library is presented in partnership with Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania. Supported by; the Australia Council, the Federal Government’s arts funding and advisory body, Tasmanian Regional Arts and the City of Hobart, with generous support from the Allport Bequest.
Natasha Newman, communications@salarts.org.au