Founded in 2010 by photographer Marius W Hansen, Antenne Books works with independent publishers worldwide to place books, magazines and zines in carefully considered retail and gallery spaces. With a new space in King’s Cross on the horizon, Carrie Maclennan caught up with Maxine Beiny from the Antenne team for a closer look behind the scenes.
For anyone who doesn’t know you yet, tell us a bit about Antenne and the Antenne team.
Antenne Books is a London-based distributor founded in 2010 by photographer Marius W Hansen. We work with independent publishers around the world to place their books, magazines and zines in independent retailer and gallery spaces. At the moment we’re a team of 6. I curate the catalogue, Mia handles sales and retail partnerships, Kat runs logistics, Coco updates the website, Benji leads PR and Martin works on the backend.
A small team with a wide field of vision! And now you’re about to open a space in King’s Cross, too. We’ll be neighbours! What drew you to this part of London?
We were based in Farringdon and initially planned to stay nearby but then we found this amazing space on Cromer Street. It was just too good a spot to pass up. We are also excited to be so near Tramps. We’ll have the perfect neighbours.
Right? It seems the area’s becoming a bit of a hub again.
You’ll house the Antenne archive in the new space. And your office, right? Will there be a retail element too? What’ve you got planned for your new home?
Yes! We will house the Antenne archive which accounts for over 2000 publications built over the course of Antenne’s 16 year history. We will also be a bookshop, selling all current editions from our publishers and we have plans to hold various events including exhibitions and book launches.
We’ve currently got ‘Curated by… Antenne’ displayed in the Library Lounge at The Standard, London. Was there a particular thread you were following?
I tried to choose books that really sum up the current vision of Antenne - something we’ve honed over the last three years. The selection reflects the range of categories we carry, from playful titles like The Unbelievably Fantastic Artists Sticker Book to more culturally grounded ones like No Tags, Al Hayya and Vittles.
Absolutely. That high/low, playful/grounded approach sits well within The Standard, London Reference Library context too. There’s a lot of that at play in the space.
As part of ‘Curated by…’ you hosted an event at the hotel with Jonny Banger and Annebella Pollen in conversation about the U.K. Crisp Packets 1970-2000 book. It was brilliant.
This event aside, if you were to program a fantasy Antenne Event - what’s happening?
We all love eating so there would have to be a buffet table piled high with food and cakes very ‘Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola’. I guess we would invite all our amazing publishers but you would most likely find us by the buffet table.
What’s a ‘serious’ book you reckon people have a tendency to over-hype or over-think?
No comment.
(Of course, every single title in our catalogue deserves to be hyped!)
Ha. Diplomatic.
And a so-called ‘lowbrow’ book you think deserves more attention?
Sillyboy by Peter Vack. It’s not lowbrow, actually, but it does deserve some extra attention, for sure.
Music and books tend to sit side by side a lot of the time. They certainly do in the Library Lounge at the hotel. What’s track 1 on the hypothetical ‘Sounds of Antenne’ playlist?
We listen to Flo’s breakfast show on NTS every morning so whatever she is playing we will listen to! We’re also loving Smerz as well.
NTS is a staple here too. I had to look up Smerz. Thank you for the reco.
Is there a particular sensory detail of your work at Antenne that you secretly love? Tell us about it.
I love the smell of a freshly printed book. Especially cheaply printed ones. The smell of the ink reminds me of holiday brochures from my childhood.
Oh, agreed! That’s a very specific kind of nostalgia.
When will your new King’s Cross space open? Any launch plans yet?
We are aiming for September. Launch plans are hatching! Hopefully we will see you on The Rooftop at The Standard in the run up to the big opening.
Absolutely! We’ll be ready.
You can shop the Antenne Books ‘Curated by…’ selection here until the end of May.
