Fern Press scoops two-book deal from post-punk musician and 'trailblazing disruptor' Albertine

Fern Press has scooped a two-book deal, for a memoir and a novel, from post-punk musician Viv Albertine. The press acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Tracy Bohan at the Wylie Agency. The memoir, I Know Where I’m Going, will be published in hardback in spring 2026. 

Albertine was a member of the female post-punk band The Slits and a "central figure" of British counterculture in the 1970s and 80s. Her memoir, I Know Where I’m Going, will be published in full-colour as a "candid visual account of the ups and downs, [the] failures and success of life a spent in art and a fitting homage to a trailblazing disruptor, innovator and, above all, survivor". 

The memoir will include photographs of Albertine’s collection of original work which includes a series of tampon paintings which resulted in her expulsion from art school, a home-made dress constructed from string vests, ceramics which explore notions of female sexuality and conclude with her latest work: "Brutally raw paintings and writings which describe the effects of cancer and chronic illness on her body." 

Fern Press commented: "Viv Albertine’s work embodies art as a way of life and life as art. She shows an unyielding commitment to personal expression and creation, a refusal to accept the status quo, all with a wicked sense of irreverence and fun. I Know Where I’m Going is a living, breathing cultural and personal history that celebrates failure as a way of growing, learning and making." 

Albertine added: ‘’I’m excited to be part of Fern Press and looking forward to working with the team on I Know Where I’m Going, which explores my last 50 years of art and music-making, including all the mistakes!”