September Publishing signs Field's 'brilliant' debut on human interaction

September Publishing has acquired Encounterism: The Neglected Joys of Being In-Person, the "meditative" non-fiction debut from Andy Field.

Hannah MacDonald, publisher and founder, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Emma Bal at Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV and Film Agency. It is scheduled for publication in spring 2023. 

Encounterism combines social, cultural and personal histories with science, psychology, pop culture and economics to explore different types of human encounters. Field looks at interactions from holding hands and getting your hair cut, to going to the cinema in order to pick apart their meaning in a "playful, analytical and poetic" way. 

The publisher wrote: "Andy Field specialises in human interactions, using performance to create unusual and interactive projects that disentangle the histories, the politics, and the physical choreography that underpin how we meet one another. His work has manifested itself across a range of forms and in a variety of places – from theatres and galleries, to warehouses, multi-storey carparks and the streets of towns and cities around the world."

"I have long been fascinated by our everyday encounters with one another and what they have to tell us about the world we have created for ourselves," said Field. "For years I have wondered if it would be possible to use the experiences I have gleaned from my work as an artist to try and write a personal history of these encounters, but it was the pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns that pushed me to actually write it. As the world has opened back up again, I have found myself approaching these ordinary interactions with a renewed enthusiasm, ready to be newly dazzled by the wondrous complexity of our encounters with each other. I hope other people will feel the same way too." 

MacDonald commented: "Andy Field’s Encounterism is a brilliant debut in the personal, meditative and investigative essay genre on all that we lose in a virtual world. Reading this is a joyous, immersive experience. His witty, tender examination of how we physically encounter strangers and friends – in all our human grace and awkwardness – culminates in a manifesto for the importance of real-world interaction."