Wayzgoose: Processional Publishing

The term “Wayzgoose” refers to a long-standing tradition in the printing and publishing world, dating back to the 16th century. Historically, the Wayzgoose was an annual event organized by master printers to mark the end of the summer and the beginning of the longer working hours of winter and working by candlelight. It was a time when printers and their apprentices would come together to celebrate their craft and hard work, with feasts and outings.

Our Wayzgoose takes up the notion of ‘processional publishing’, as a means of featuring and promoting practices of temporal, performative, practice-opening, and transformative (even transubstantiative!) practices of community and public making that publishing is.

Blending historical appreciation and modern practices, we highlight the enduring importance of experimental, independent and creative publishing as process, procedure, operation, exercise, practice, way of being and doing. We take up the spirit of the Wayzgoose by fostering a temporal community of independent and experimental publishers who are dedicated to Open Access, Open Research, and sustainable, social practices of care and transformation. By merging historical custom with contemporary conditions, we celebrate the dynamic and evolving nature of publishing in the 21st century, and ask friends new and old, “what comes next”, “what to do”, and “how?”