I’m one if the organisers of the Oxford Indie Book Fair. Our fairs are in Oxford in the University Examinations Halls and, on July 13, as the last event of the Oxford Festival of the Arts, in Magdalen College School but we are becoming National. Exhibitors come from Brighton and Bristol, Devon and Derbyshire as well as the Greater London Area. Judging by the enthusiastic response, we have tapped into an increasing desire to write books, produce books, illustrate books and read books. The stands for the smaller summer fair sold out in ten minutes.
Why the need?
Let me tell you my story and you’ll understand. I was a freelance writer for The Oxford Times for twenty years and, among other things, I reviewed art exhibitions. In 2005, I went to the first one man show by a living artist at the Ashmolean. That artist was Qu Leilei and he titled his exhibition Everyone’s Life is an Epic. Writing a profile feature on him, I heard the story of the talented and courageous Stars artists who, in Beijing in 1979, risked their freedom for their art. Ai Weiwei was one of them.
I realised that their important story had been ignored–written out of history. No one in China can write it because the Stars were at the heart of the emerging Democracy Movement. That’s why I took on the task- I wanted the world to celebrate them. That entailed three years interviewing Leilei and other Stars artists, a year researching and visiting the places in the book and, while doing that, I studied for the Diploma in Creative Writing at Oxford, to have the confidence to write it as a novel. By creating a few fictional characters, I could tell their story without harm to living people.
To get to a big publisher you need an agent. How at my age could I get one? I sent the manuscript to Myslexia because, if they shortlist you, they introduce you to an agent. They did that for me. The agent said that my novel was interesting, well-written and a publishable page turner but unfortunately she wouldn’t be able to sell it. I tried other agents and the ones who responded did so in a similar way. One was honest and explained the reason, ‘You’re not Chinese.’ They were afraid of the toxicity of the label ‘cultural appropriation.’ I thought the Ms would remain on my computer until a friend told me about Claret Press.
I was lucky in finding a traditional publisher but Claret Press is small, so getting any oxygen of publicity is hard for them. If I hadn’t found Claret Press, my only option would’ve been self-publishing. Would that have made my book a worse book? Without Katie Isbester’s editing skills, ‘yes’ but, if I’d used a good editor?
Brushstrokes in Time (BiT) has over seventy readers on Amazon who gave it five stars. But would publishing giants still deny its authenticity?
John Gittings was the Guardian Chief Foreign Correspondent based in China in the period covered in BiT. He read it, determined to find fault, but says that he failed and endorses its saying, ‘Vetta is always accurate with a grasp of vivid detail:’ Outside of the UK, Shrenik Rao, the editor of the award winning Madras Courier says its ‘A Brilliant Compelling Read.’
But maybe it’s not accessible and another handicap finding an agent to get to the big five?
Dr Jenny Lewis: internationally renowned poet & Oxford University lecturer said, ‘For me, it has to be among my top ten historical novels, certainly of this century. Utterly mesmerising and unforgettable:’
Ray Foulk and his brothers founded the Isle of Wight Festival. He stole Dylan from Woodstock and helped change the culture of Britain in the late sixties early seventies
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/09/dylan-beatles-how-we-made-isle-of-wight-festival-hendrix?
Ray reviewed BiT . He wrote, ‘I could not put this page-turner down. As I reached the end just one thought dominated: everyone should read this book. No one I’ve ever come across has managed to tell the story of modern Chinese politics, arts and society in such accessible, imaginative and compelling a fashion.’
Ray and I are the same age and, despite his amazing achievements, his publisher, like Claret Press is traditional but small, so how can we get some attention for our books? We put our heads together with two Indie publishers, Oxford eBooks and Oxfordfolio who mostly help people self-publish.
There’s a lot of snobbery about self-publishing and some are indeed not well edited or well written and produced. Sometimes they’re intended for family and friends or a shared interest group but others like Reluctant Pilgrim by Ffiona Perigrinor and Mousewolf by Elizabeth Hallett published by Oxfordfolio are well researched, great reads and stand comparison with books by celebrated authors.
In 2022, Ray and I with James Harrison of Oxfordfiolio and Andy Severn of OxfordeBooks started the Oxford Indie Book Fair and we’ve doubled in size every year. It’s not just authors and poets who need the Indie scene. Our fairs include smaller publishers of fiction and nonfiction, specialists like Sino Books who translate Chinese books into English and Chris Andrews who specialises in photography and guide books. Exhibitors include publishing services, audio book producers, printers, artists and illustrators and writers’ groups. They love oxib because of its supportive and friendly atmosphere which makes it good for networking.
Oxib is becoming one of those looked forward to events in the Oxford calendar. The Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, Irene Tracey, opened the November 2023 fair followed by the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes, Paterson Joseph, who loved it and wants to come again and give a talk. That success can only happen if visitors like it too. Pictures tell that story better than words.
The way we achieve that is by being open to readers of every age group and background from penniless asylum seekers to millionaires – all are welcome but, while visiting in our fair, they are all equal. Access to books is access to a world of opportunity and upward mobile, to empathy and knowledge. If you need £15 for entry to a fair or a talk, that excludes half the population. Our fair is and always will be free entry and our talks are free too. We attract good mainstream speakers. Janina Ramirez spoke in November 2024 and the celebrated Ukrainian author, Andrey Kuskov, will speak at our Nov. 23 Fair. But some of our less known exhibitors will get a voice too – a three minute flash book launch opportunity which they cannot get at the Oxford Literary Festival , for example.
So many talented authors struggle to get a foothold on the publishing ladder. We are at the start of a journey, exploring ways we can to help them and to encourage our exhibitors to help each other. None of us could afford to exhibit in the University Examination Halls on our own but together it’s possible. We’ve been helped to expand and to keep our entry free thanks to generous sponsors like the Lucy Group who appreciate our aims.
Fellow organiser, Andy Severn of OxfordeBooks sums it up,
‘One of the best parts of my job is watching the faces of my author clients when they see the book that we’ve worked on together for the first time. It’s that same sense of joy that I find at the Oxford Indie Book Fair. From those crazy few minutes where the exhibitor passes sell out like we’re giving away gold bars, to the outpouring of gratitude in the inbox from those who have taken part in what really is special. It makes me smile on the day when I talk to visitors, clearly hopelessly lost in the wealth of choice over which book to buy… then I see them pass by later clutching an armful off to lose themselves in adventure. It’s tough work organising something like this, but those moments make it worth it every single time.’
G0 to https://www.oxfordindiebookfair.co.uk for more pics and info .
My friend WeiminHe painted this gorgeous picture from Magdalen College School looking to wards Magdalen College and below me at last years summer fair .
