London Anarchist Bookfair October 2020

News, Jul 28th

We’re excited to announce that an Anarchist bookfair will be returning to London in October 2020.

This event is being organised by a new collective of individuals from across London and the UK.

The composition of the organising collectives behind the various Anarchist bookfairs in London has changed many times over the years and we are proud to take on the task of bringing a prominent bastion of Anarchist and radical thinking back to the city. The regular “London Anarchist Bookfair” has been a vital component of the Anarchist community since it’s inception in 1981 and we intend for the 38th such event carry on in this fine tradition.

Bookfair 2020 will be a diverse event with a organisational focus on our internationalism and our Anarchist heritage here in the UK. We are hoping that our international comrades will join us on the day, as many did in previous years and we intend to play host to workshops and displays that illustrate our shared Anarchist tradition and remember our fallen comrades, in whose name we continue the fight against oppression.

More than just a simple marketplace, bookfairs are cornerstones of Anarchism, linchpins of a diverse and sprawling revolutionary movement. They are where we come together to share our ideas, debate our positions and develop our theory and praxis. They help us to believe in better worlds and start to lay the foundations of world free of oppression, corporatism and the brutal authority of the state. They give faith to the long in the tooth and inspire young minds — they must be defended and maintained at all costs and utilised by and for the working class for genuine results.

We have reached out to the prior collective behind London Anarchist Bookfair 2017, who previously stated that they were disinclined to carry on organising further events. We hope they welcome a new collective taking on the role, we have been in contact with them regarding passing forward the London Anarchist Bookfair’s resources; social media accounts, equipment, finances and the like which have been built up through previous events and for their collective general endorsement of Bookfair 2020 so we can hit the ground running and maintain lineage. We hope that those inclined will continue with their good work with the Bookfair 2020 collective!

In respect to the events in 2017 where transphobic material was shared in the women’s bathrooms and the main hall, we wish to state that Bookfair 2020 will follow our comrades from Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and elsewhere in providing a space diverse in character and secure from xenophobia and bigotry in any vein.

Our solidarity is overt and complete.

Any politic which would seek to oppress, undermine or remove the rights and liberties of others is anathematic to Anarchism and will find no welcome nor tolerance at the bookfair itself or any associated event or space. To compliment our Safer Space Policy, a statement of solidarity, inclusivity and pro-active community defence will be written and upheld during the event with stall holders and attendees encouraged to take ownership of our shared space and protect it from such reckless hate.

We do this to be clear that no aspect of oppression will be allowed within our revolutionary spaces.

Solidarity and unity being key principles to Anarchism, we would like Bookfair 2020 to act as a focus point for re-building cohesion in our community, fostering new networks and developing stronger ties and understanding between us. Sharing knowledge and supporting each others’ personal and political development in good faith is the call of the day. We shall ensure an array of workshops to cater for this and we shall host speakers on a variety of topics from gender to ecology, refugee support to homeless solidarity and beyond.

Further to this we aim to make a dynamic and welcoming space which is accessible to all. We will be providing crèche and youth space alongside provisions for those we hearing difficulties, sensory issues and social difficulties. There will also be vegan food and drink available.

If anyone wishes to get involved, we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and abilities. Whether you are able/inclined to plan the logistics, help fundraise, promote the event or help us run everything on the day, please get in touch. We will shortly begin a series of regular meetings, many of which will be open to attendees and spend the next year working towards a grand event. If you have ideas for talks, workshops, discussions or stalls or simply wish to book a space, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

We hope you will join us on and together we can build a stronger more resilient community and forge a better future, one free of shackles of capitalism and the tyranny of the state and strengthen our bonds of international and intersectional solidarity, mutual aid and unity.

We will be holding a meeting on the 10th of August in London, if you would like to attend please contact us for the specifics.
Love and Rage

I can't decide if this getting absolutely zero response is better or worse than the U75 thread instantly turning into a lengthy heated argument about the PPE requirement to wear hi-viz on different building sites and whether saying "y'all" makes you a class enemy.

Well there is still an

Well there is still an opportunity to make this thread awful now you’ve bumped it ;-)

Quote: We have reached out to

We have reached out to the prior collective behind London Anarchist Bookfair 2017, who previously stated that they were disinclined to carry on organising further events. We hope they welcome a new collective taking on the role, we have been in contact with them regarding passing forward the London Anarchist Bookfair’s resources; social media accounts, equipment, finances and the like which have been built up through previous events and for their collective general endorsement of Bookfair 2020 so we can hit the ground running and maintain lineage. We hope that those inclined will continue with their good work with the Bookfair 2020 collective!

This doesn't sound good. I think it might have been better to speak to them in private before making an announcement. Unless this is trying to pressure the collective into handing over these 'resources".

There was speaking in

There was speaking in private, it was also made clear a bookfair would be happening regardless on its own schedule.

So, at the risk of starting

So, at the risk of starting up an old controversy, is the SPGB planning on applying for a stall for Bookfair2020?

I can't speak for the party

I can't speak for the party or the local branches but as far as I know our current attitude is the bookfair organisers, as the hosts, can rightfully decide which organisation gets a stall even if sometimes we are baffled by who gets the privilege and we no longer even try to apply having been rebuffed in the past.

However, depending on volunteers, the SPGB may well do, as they have done previously, run a street stall outside the venue.

And as individuals some SPGBers will be attending as customers and be part of the meetings audiences.

Who exactly are 'the bookfair

Who exactly are 'the bookfair organisers' here? You (you as an individual ajj, obviously I've realised that SPGBers don't speak for the organisation as a whole) seem to be conflating 'the people from the old organising committee' with 'the people from the new organising committee', even though as far as I can tell none of those are the same people.

In the end neither of us are Anarchists and it is of course up to the bookfair organisers (whoever they are from one year to the next) who gets stalls and talks, but if you're not going to bother asking (in it seems to me a perfect situation where there is a clean slate) I really hope I don't see any SPGBers moaning about how you've been 'banned' this time around.

I was guilty of that. I'm not

I was guilty of that. I'm not inclined to ask, don't know why, feels like point taken even with a totally new committee.

So looks like it is fairly

So looks like it is fairly well set for Oct 2020 as on this site here:
https://bookfair2020.org.uk
but either 17th or maybe 24th depending which link you open and maybe for various reasons not quite as big as previously.

2020 Bookfair postponed now

2020 Bookfair postponed now till 2021 but some tentative proposals for a digital event this year as mentioned here:
https://bookfair2020.org.uk/category/updates/
Not my cup of tea but might fill a gap for some.
edit: I notice that the organisers are still hoping to run the Manchester and Salford Anarchist Bookfair in late November this year, but don't book travel until nearer the time to be sure.
See https://bookfair.org.uk

https://anarchistbookfair.lon

https://anarchistbookfair.london/ has the programme for online events.

A perhaps, in the

A perhaps, in the circumstances, pretty thin offering. More on the usual anarchist internal debates and reform campaigning model and very little communist class based analysis reflecting on a period of extreme highs and lows in terms of international competition and popular struggles. Lets hope next year might bring a return to some of the wider contributions from previous London bookfairs to the fore and an opportunity to meet old comrades and the newly inspired in 'the flesh' as it were. Cant see the advertised Manchester/Salford bookfair coming off this year as things stand. Pity.

Not wanting to be too

Not wanting to be too argumentative, but I would appreciate it if someone could give an explanation of the criteria as for which groups they've chosen to list. Obviously it's always a tricky set of decisions, but some of the choices there seem a little bit eccentric.