For two days, Red Hook will once again become the center of New York’s experimental publishing scene as Pioneer Works hosts its sixth annual “Press Play” fair, an independent celebration of books, music, art and cultural risk-taking. Running Dec. 13-14, the fair has grown into one of the borough’s most anticipated year-end events, drawing hundreds of visitors who come not just to browse but to immerse themselves in the spirit of creativity that defines Brooklyn’s underground.
Founded in a DIY spirit and still shaped by it, Press Play has grown into a sprawling ecosystem. This year’s edition features more than 130 exhibitors — stretching from staple-bound basement zines to respected literary heavyweights — along with workshops, performances and conversations that extend far beyond the traditional book fair.
The result is a space that champions the strange and wildly ambitious. Or, as Micaela Durand, Pioneer Works’ associate director of publishing, told Brooklyn Paper, the fair showcases the “weird, beautiful, radical work that exists because someone had to make it, not because it would necessarily sell.”
It’s this insistence on necessity over marketability that gives Press Play its energy. Exhibitors this year explore a broad theme of desire — from “banned Pakistani erotica to experimental to gooning to Silvia Federici on collective refusal. We’re talking about things other book fairs are afraid to talk about,” Durand said.
That willingness to tackle the uncomfortable is also what makes Press Play indispensable to the publishing community. Independent presses, Durand emphasized, “are chronically underfunded and struggling to exist in an ecosystem dominated by corporations. Press Play is a crucial space for independent voices who take risks and are committed to publishing as a cultural intervention.”
In just six years, that mission has helped the fair evolve from a scrappy gathering into a full-spectrum snapshot of indie publishing today.
“It’s really grown into spanning the full spectrum of indie publishing, from basement-operation zines to newer, exciting mags like Lux and The Whitney Review, to more established publications like The Baffler and n+1, that prove you can grow up and still have values,” Durand said.
Pioneer Works, she added, provides the community with “the space, an audience and one weekend where this community can gather to sell and share their work.”
While Press Play feels at home in Brooklyn’s creative enclaves, it also carries a deeper resonance at a moment when the city’s affordability crisis is reshaping who can make — and share — experimental work.
“Brooklyn used to be for people who couldn’t afford to be weird in Manhattan. Now, all of NYC is expensive,” Durand said. “Press Play is about remembering why many of us moved here: for the freaks, the artists and people making things nobody asked for. It’s a celebration of what still exists and a reminder of what we could lose.”
The reminder extends beyond literary circles. Durand described Press Play as a rare meeting point that “brings the lit scene, art world and music scene together and reminds people that Red Hook exists beyond IKEA trips.”
For those wondering why the fair stands out among the many book events crowding the city’s calendar, Durand is blunt: “What if a book fair actually understood internet culture and wasn’t afraid to talk sex and politics? That’s Press Play.”
Visitors can expect everything from niche theory to boundary-pushing erotica, along with a conversation on “gooning” between writers Tony Tulathimutte and Daniel Kolitz — “a conversation that could only happen in Brooklyn today,” Durand said.
“You’ll find stuff too weird for bookstores and too disturbing for your book club,” she added. “Come if you hate book fairs — this one’s actually fun.”
Press Play runs Dec. 13-14 at Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer St. in Red Hook. For more information, visit pioneerworks.org/programs/press-play.
