What is deemed publishable shapes our cultural landscape, but only partially reflects it. What becomes visible are publishing projects that have succeeded in passing by the multiple financial, political and legal valves governed by market and state alike. Languages and formats that are deliberately or accidentally marginalised -the snubbed genres, the outlawed subjects, the troubling subjectivities, the excessive, the minimal, the unprofitable, and the unfathomable— are aborted, pushed underground, or stubbornly persist to find a place in the sun.

This book presents a rich variety of writings, research projects and artworks that reflect on contemporary practices and histories of publishing, with a strong focus on the Arab world and resonant international practices. From the hand-drawn, self-promoting banner to the relatively established independent publishing house, alternative publishing practices show both the breadth of possibility, as well as the great strength and vulnerability, of some of our most creative and daring civic propositions.

Contributors: Ahmad Makia, Ali Eyal, Ali Hussein Al-Adawy, Ali Yass, Andrew Murphie, Bady Dalloul, Barakunan, Bernhard Cella, Elaine W. HO., Faisal Al Hassan, Farah Khelil & antoine lefebvre editions, Fehras Publishing Practices, Giulia Crispiani & Federico Antonini, Hala Bizri & Jana Traboulsi, Haytham el-Wardany, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Hussein Nassereddine, Jabbour Douaihy, Jaffat El Aqlam, Khalid Albudoor & Nujoom Alghanem with Rand Abdul Jabbar & Uns Kattan & Hammad Nasar, Moad Musbahi, Noopur Desai, Raafat Majzoub, Yazan Ashqar.