Introduction

An idea inspired by the punk rock fiction of Robert Dellar, Ted Curtis, Stewart Home and Martin Millar; by the DiY-trodden path of fanzine culture, immortalised by the likes of Sniffin’ Glue and the incorrigible One Way Ticket to Cubesville; by the revolutionary antics of Guy Debord, Attila the Stockbroker and Chaotic Dischord; and finally, by the punch-ups and shenanigans at numerous punk gigs, gatherings and get-togethers across the globe. This is a volume based upon a punk rock adventure that will delve into the very bowels of punk and the diaspora of subculture: for this is an adventure entitled Tales from the Punkside.

Tales From the Punkside

This is a book written according to an anarcho-narrative structure. Based upon the theme of ‘Tales from the Punkside’, the book will consist of a series of chapters connected by the over arching theme of a personal involvement with punk subculture. Authors of individual chapters have been free to decide the most appropriate structure to tell of their stories, escapades and experiences and their involvement with punk, whether that be traditional formats, more free form text (e.g. transcripts of social media interactions; poetry; illustrative fictional prose), through images, video, mp3, or whatever media seems appropriate to the author. Of course, the text may be biographical, factual, fictional, or indeed, a culmination of all three. The website for the project is already up and running and can be found at

http://talesfromthepunkside.com/

We already have the submissions we need for the book, but urgently need your help in the final publishing stage, of getting the volume together and getting it up on the website itself. 

Submissions we have include autobiographical material, punk poems, diary entries, academic writing and other weird and wonderful insights into an involvement with punk. Although some of these are tragic, raw and realistic, the book will also include various ‘tongue-in-cheek’ punk shenanigans, including a crossword, knitting patterns (especially one to re-create that Dennis the Menace look) and cut-out-and-keep action punk figures. There will also be QR-type codes to send readers to other multimedia material, such as music or videos.

Publisher

The text will be electronic by default, available freely under CC license, although print on demand editions will be made available if deemed appropriate when editing the finished text. The volume will be published by Itchy Monkey Press in association with the Punk Scholars Network; a new publisher who has already published Ted Curtis’ The Darkening Light and am in the process of publishing Mark Greenwood’s Lad Broke. Both the editor and design team work on a voluntary basis.

Although we have the contributors, the design team and website, we still need your help in bringing this project to life. As such, we need funding to complete the following:

• The embedding of the book on the website itself;
• The embedding of links to mp3s and other media;
• The embedding of Mark Greenwood’s Lad Broke on the website;
• Printing of posters, flyers, etc for all three books – Tales From the Punkside, The Darkening Light and Lad Broke to distribute around gigs, book-fairs and co-operatives etc;
• Advertising revenue to market both the volume and Itchy Monkey Press;
• Funds towards a much in demand print run for The Darkening Light;
• Monies to continue to sustain the website for future writers and artists.

This is a non-profit making project, and so any financial gain will be invested back into the website and Itchy Monkey Press.

In particular, we hope to provide a space for new writers, musicians, artists and poets etc., to publish their work. Keeping it real, raw and fun!