Nilly is is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Lonely Hearts Club
And will be talking about Connecting strangers with strangers through the power of print
About Nilly’s talk
Functioning as both content and infrastructure, The Lonely Hearts Club is a monthly print newspaper centred on anonymity, personal ads, and stranger-to-stranger connection. It moves across print, post, and digital circulation as a single system of encounter rather than a fixed object.
From its earliest issues, the project began producing unexpected forms of communication between strangers through print itself: patterns of attention, response, and return that emerge without a central narrative or identity at the centre.
The talk follows the development of the project from concept to launch, and the design of its distribution, editorial structure, and circulation model. It considers how older formats of anonymous communication resurface within contemporary media, and what happens when publishing is treated not only as a way of producing culture, but as a space where it continues to form in real time.
About Nilly and The Lonely Hearts Club
Nilly von Baibus is an Editor-in-Chief and cultural publisher working across independent publishing and experimental print media. Her work explores language, narrative, and interpretation, with a particular focus on anonymity and how it shapes perception, authorship, and reader experience.
She’s led editorial strategy for independent publishing projects, reaching over 350,000 readers in two years. Her practice is driven by building publications that function as living systems, combining editorial rigour with curiosity about how meaning is formed when identity is removed. She is currently developing Pierre Menard, a niche publishing house focused on anonymous literature and collective print culture.
The Lonely Hearts Club is a monthly print newspaper dedicated to personal ads, culture, and contemporary forms of connection, launched in January 2026. It is designed as a living publishing system that moves between print, post, and digital space. Reading copies are distributed through 51+ independent venues across the UK (and expanding), print editions are mailed to subscribers worldwide, and digital issues are released instantly online. In its first three months, the paper featured over 200 anonymous personal ads from contributors around the world. Each issue brings strangers together through print, mail, and anonymity, building a global community shaped by participation rather than profile.
Connect with Nilly
Instagram: The Lonely Hearts Club