Stationery Fest: This Is Not a Pen Show

Daisy and Neil Ni's twist on the traditional pen show is about community, not commerce.

- BARRY GABAY

A definition first: stationery is not simply quality writing paper. The word embraces all aspects of the hand-held writing culture. During the Middle Ages, educated people worked for the government, the church, or a university, ordinarily in one location. Someone selling pens, ink, paper, and sealing wax knew where to find customers. Such a seller stationed himself outside a government building, a cathedral, or a university. Customers came to him. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the year 1311 as the earliest use of "stationer" for someone who sells books and writing equipment in a fixed location. Like a medieval stationer, the recent Stationery Fest promoted all aspects of writing and recording images by hand.

The orientation of a traditional pen show is to look and buy. For exhibitors, it is to sell, sell, sell. At a trade show, manufacturers welcome customers who browse and later place orders for retail shops or online businesses.

Stationery Fest was held August 7 to 9, 2024, at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

It was an entirely new concept. Fostering community, sharing ideas, and creating communal experiences were key.

The Fest was conceived out of passion. Daisy and Neil Ni, owners of Yoseka Stationery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, have long believed in sharing knowledge and experiences as a vital part of their business model. Their shop on West Street is not simply a place to buy ink, paper, journals, pens, stamps, and other stationery products; it is a destination for experiences. Daisy and Neil have hosted workshops, classes, journal customizing events, and nib grinding opportunities since opening their first tiny Yoseka location in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, in 2018, following a year of pop-ups at various locations.