From cyborg sasquatches to pop-up zines: Vancouver Art Book Fair returns

Vancouver Art Book Fair celebrates the book as objet d'art May 15-17 at the Roundhouse. Photo by VABF

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Vancouver Art Book Fair

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When: May 15-17
Where: Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver
Info:vancouverartbookfair.com

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Cole Pauls may not have copies of his latest comic at this year’s Vancouver Art Book Fair. But he’ll have plenty of other items for people to browse, including a new T-shirt design, sticker design, and risograph prints.

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The VABF is the perfect bazaar for a wide range of work, not just zines, comics and art books. So while the first print run of Pauls’ 2025 comic We See Stars Only at Night is temporarily out of print, he’s not letting that stop him from returning to the annual event.

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The Tahltan comics artist and illustrator credits the fair with jump-starting his career.

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He introduced the first issue of his comic series Dakwäkãda Warriors at the fair in 2016. Written in both English and the ancestral language of Southern Tutchone, the series is about two Earth protectors saving the world from evil pioneers and cyborg sasquatches.

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“I worked my butt off to publish the first issue just in time for the fair,” he said. “It was my first big show after graduating Emily Carr.”

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Besides displaying his work at the fair, he was on a panel about Indigenous comics. “I expressed my love for them and what I find really fascinating about them. My career kind of all snowballed from that one panel.”

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That panel led to other opportunities, including research projects. A recent example is a tour promoting literacy in the Yukon, where he’s from. He visited seven communities. An initiative called the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate organized the tour.

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“I’m planning more collaborations with them, to continue bringing Indigenous comics into the classroom and making Indigenous comics with the youth.”

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Pauls also tables at comic shows and book and zine fairs. The VABF, though, is about the book itself as an art object.

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Vancouver Art Book Fair celebrates the book as objet d’art May 15-17 at the Roundhouse. Photo by VABF

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“I like that, because I’m a book nerd. I love book design. I design all my books. I have a really big interest in how people design their books.”

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Fair co-manager Jonathan Middleton says that the VABF tries to present a broad spectrum of work, from self-published zines to larger publishers.

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“We cover comics and zines, too, but we see it as part of a larger publishing ecosystem.”

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Institutional publishers, like the Burnaby Art Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery, also play a role. They publish books that aren’t sold at traditional booksellers.

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“The Polygon is a good example. They have this amazing history of producing beautiful artist books and photography books. They’ve just launched a book of photographs by Diane Evans, who ran their bookshop for a long time. People didn’t necessarily realize she was such an accomplished photographer. It’s a really beautiful publication that’s now getting wider circulation.”