Street paper vendors are often defined by their living situation, but as INSP and street papers are at constant pains to point out, they are much more than just homeless. Hinz&Kunzt’s Golem and Jörg connect with the catharsis of punk rock.

#VendorWeek is a time to celebrate vendors but, such is the nature of their lives, sometimes tragedy strikes, and it is good to remember that, and the people that tragedy touches, too. Earlier this year, Montréal-based paper L’Itinéraire lost one of their vendors. Stéphane Avard was a bright and loving person worn thin by years of homelessness, and his story speaks to the relationship between sleeping rough and mental illness. The magazine’s editor wrote a touching tribute.

2020 will be a momentous year in US politics. Will Trump evade impeachment to be re-elected? Will the Democrats find a big enough character to run against him? To measure the pulse in the US capital, two Street Sense vendors from Washington DC, with very different opinions, give their take on the state of the nation.

Real Change celebrate #VendorWeek with their third annual Day of Heroes, a chance for local celebrities to partner with Real Change vendors to try for themselves to sell the Seattle papers.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Draussenseiter vendor Lothar talking about Cologne in Germany.

There is surely no more apt a time to announce your Vendor of the Year than to coincide with #VendorWeek. That’s what Ohio-based paper Toledo Streets have done. Its vendor Shaun “Rooster” Tinch exhibits all the qualities that the street paper hopes to inspire, says its vendor manager Claire McKenna.

Each year, one of the most trusted and oft replicated #VendorWeek events is a ‘Big Sell’, which brings together notable names and vendors to share in the experience of selling a street paper. In Australia, The Big Issue asks business leaders and entrepreneurs to become vendors for the week, and this year is no different.

Swiss street paper Surprise teamed up with a lucrative local ad agency for #VendorWeek transforming pitch locations into bold, eye-catching billboards to draw more attention to vendors out selling street papers.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Surprise vendor Danica talking about Basel in Switzerland.

Some residents of Downtown Oakland might recognise Derrick Hayes from the mural of him that adorns the building at 14th and Franklin; others might know him as the familiar face that sells Street Spirit from his various pitches in the area. He is a man who radiates friendliness, treasures the community around him and who talks candidly and emotionally about the journey that has brought him to the present moment.

Portland’s Street Roots has a periodic column about the parts of homelessness most people don’t talk about. That homeless people are dangerous is a clear misconception, vendors say. And for some on the streets, it’s housed people who are feared.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Nový Prostor vendors Jarda and Jozef talking about Brno in the Czech Republic.

For The Big Issue Australia’s #VendorWeek edition, vendors from all over Australia offered words of advice, hard-won wisdom and love to their teenaged selves.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features married Apropos vendors Georg and Evelyne talking about Salzburg in Austria.

As always, the first week of February sees the street paper network mark #VendorWeek, an annual celebration of those people central to the street paper mission – our vendors!

Each month we bring you a round-up of front pages that have been sold on the streets by our vendors in 35 countries around the world.

Dwd sells Street Roots from a pitch shared with other vendors near the Starbucks at Northwest Couch Street and 11th Avenue in Portland with the help of his trusty canine friend Kephirah. Dwd is enjoying his work as a Street Roots vendor and is learning about photojournalism with the organisation’s help. He hopes to engage with the public about the great work that the paper is doing to support vendors as they work together with the community.

Radomir, 28, sells Surprise at Basel train station in Switzerland. He’s always grappled with life and has stood out since childhood as a result of being different to others. This spirit continues in his adult life and even extends into his work as a Surprise vendor, where he delights customers with his unconventional sales methods that include juggling and dancing.

Benoit Chartier sells L’itinéraire from his pitch at the corner of Bercy Street and Ontario Street East in Montreal. He has been a vendor for 20 years and credits his work with providing him with respite from feelings of isolation by enabling him to meet people and to be part of the wider community. He has a message for both L’itinéraire and his customers: “Bravo!”

As fires continue to burn a path through the Australian bush, claiming lives and homes and displacing communities, those who are homeless have few, if any, options to escape the smoke. Two Big Issue Australia vendors give first-hand accounts of the impact of the devastation.

At the tail end of 2019, to celebrate INSP’s 25th anniversary, we asked vendors across the street paper network to write letters to their 25-year-old selves. We also asked one of the street paper network’s long-time supporters to do the same: Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. Now 61, the following is the typically foul-mouthed and idiosyncratic words Welsh had for his 25-year-old self.

Days before Christmas, communities across the US joined together to memorialise those who had died while homeless that year. INSP North America director Israel Bayer summed up the tragedies that have beset countless homeless Americans, while a group of the country’s street papers collaborated on making sure these remembrances, and the people they were about, were noticed.

Mr. Shiu is a Big Issue Taiwan vendor from Kaohsiung who sells copies of the magazine from his pitch in front of the KFC at the crossroads beside the entrance gate to Kaohsiung Medical University and Shihcyuan Road. He started working with Big Issue Taiwan in May, and Shiu is embracing the prospect of becoming self-reliant through his work.

Elena Onice and Fagaras Banu are originally from Romania and are building a life for their family in Salzburg, Austria. But one family member is missing: their six-month-old daughter, Sara-Elena, is in hospital in Romania as she is disabled and needs additional support. Here, the couple talk about their hopes for the future, what happiness means to them and their hope that they will soon be able to visit their young daughter in Romania.

Karin Pacozzi, 52, is a Surprise vendor who sells copies of the street paper on local trains. After suffering a breakdown in her early twenties, memories of her traumatic childhood re-emerged. This, combined with poor treatment from her psychiatrist and family during her recovery, made her turn to drugs. Now in control of her addiction, living independently and working as a Surprise vendor, Karin is proud of the financial freedom she attains through her work and of her daughter’s achievements.

Julie B. has made a name for herself in the Contributor office for being determined and resilient. Here, she reflects on her Native American heritage, talks about the hard work being done by street paper vendors and discusses what life is like with a brain cancer diagnosis.

Samuel Osaigbovo, 34, is originally from Edo State, Nigeria, and now calls Bolzano home. He tells zebra about what moved him to leave his native Nigeria, his journey to Europe and life in his adopted hometown of Bolzano, the capital city of Italy’s South Tyrol province. He is hopeful that his work as a vendor will help him to negotiate the path to secure employment.

Portland’s Street Roots has a periodic column about the parts of homelessness most people don’t talk about. When you’re on your feet all day, wearing tatty, worn out and often sodden shoes, and then sharing space with groups of people in shelters that aren’t exactly kept in the best state, it’s no wonder people on the street struggle with maintaining healthy feet. Street Roots spoke to vendors about this often overlooked problem.