Thursday, 14. November // 7 pm // HfG-Medialounge

Enheduana, a high priestess from 23 BC in what is now Iraq, is considered the world’s first recorded author. Yet, her authorship reflects ancient notions of collective creation, involving the scribe, the deity addressed in the text, the performers, and the listeners, rather than the solitary act of genius we often associate with authorship today. An inspirational figure for CUTT PRESS, the publishing project of Erin Honeycutt, this workshop invites participants to meditate on the shifting meanings of ‘authorship’—from ancient texts to Barthes’ famous declaration of the "death of the author" and beyond.

What if Enheduana’s role was more akin to a modern-day ‘publisher,’ someone who creates community around the birth of a text and shapes its afterlife? This approach is especially relevant to CUTT PRESS’ bootlegging practices, which emphasizes collective authorship and the social life of the book, rethinking the role of the publisher as a community builder and custodian of texts.

Erin Honeycutt is a writer, publisher, and bookseller based in Berlin. She studied Art History at the University of Iceland where she researched media archaeology, and Religion at the University of Amsterdam where she wrote about ekphrastic writing. Erin began CUTT PRESS in 2020, a publishing project for artist's books, zines, and reprints rooted in bootlegging practices with the archives of Hopscotch Reading Room, a bookshop in Berlin with a focus on queer and anti-colonial literature. Erin is also the editor of WOMANWOOD, a smut gazette for experimental publishing.

A workshop for students will take place on Friday, November 15 at 10 a.m.