Welcome to the first of reports we are aiming to bring you each month, so that you can see what we’ve been up to and what we have been buying for the library.
Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 11th May:
This was well attended. We did a presentation on the Digital Library, discussing the kinds of documents in there by type, and relating key examples to what was going on when they were produced. Smallish turnout but useful discussion around collection policy, international (CIRA) and British (NORLA) networks, and closer links with the Bradford 1 in 12.
Lots of leaflets were given away via the AF stall. People’s Histreh pamphlets were displayed too and a Cheese Riot one sold.
We met several new contacts incl. a woman researching young women and activism for a PhD. She will come and do a talk for us.
Bought & donated:
Iain Boal et al. ed., West of Eden: Communes and Utopia in Northern California (PM Press, 2012). 50% discount.
David Alan Corbin ed., Guns, Thugs, Rednecks, Radicals: A Documentary History of the West Virginia Mine Wars (PM Press, 2011).
‘J. Daniels’, Breaking Free, 2nd edn (Freedom Press/EM Books, 2011). First edn. 1989.
Nestor Makhno, The Ukranian Revolution (Black Cat Press, 2011). Originally 1937 but only just translated into English.
Quiet Rumours: An Anarcha-Feminist Reader, 3rd edn. (AK Press/Dark Start, 2012).
And various pamphlets and papers.
Freedom Bookshop donated from smoke damaged stock (but with nothing worse than a slightly toasted aroma):
Brian Martin, Information Liberation (Freedom, 1998).
Oil and Troubled Waters: Selection from the Anarchist Journal Freedom 6 (1956) (Freedom, 1957).
John Olday, The Blue Cow and her Fantastic Exploits (Freedom Press, 1996). A nice children’s book.
Vernon Richards ed., Protest Without Illusions (Freedom, 1981).
Corporate Watch gave us back issues and Rebecca Fisher ed., Managing Democracy, Managing Dissent: Capitalism, Democracy and the Organisation of Consent (Corporate Watch, 2013).
New visitors
Amongst our new visitors was the editor of A Pinch of Salt. He brought us an entire run of this Christian Anarchist paper to make available to you digitally.
Balkan Anarchist Bookfair. Ljubljana, Slovenia. May 24th-26th (see also AFED report)
This was hosted by the Federation for Anarchist Organising (FAO). This is the sister federation of the Anarchist Federation in the International of Anarchist Federations (IFA). They are based at the anarchist Infoshop in the famous radical art district of Metelkova, Ljubljana. We did the Digital Library presentation, as at Sheffield.
About 10 people came, which is OK as it was right at the start of the bookfair. It felt a bit risky taking some of our precious materials so far from home, but we should have taken more. People were enthralled esp. by materials relating to Ireland and by Anti-Student magazine, and took very good care of the materials as they handled them :-)
The material on anarchist approaches to Northern Ireland Lots of enthusiasm for our project and got rid of leaflets easily. Met Aphrodite from Eutopia Library project (Thessalonki and Greece) and put her in contact with the CIRA. Bought some foreign language materials; swapped copies of Organise! for even more. Got an invite to the Paris Anarchist Bookfair 2014 as AF and Sparrows Nest, incl. to do a talk. It is being organised by the French Anarchist Federation, another sister organisation of the AF. Active Distribution were also there and English-language materials sold well as they always do in the Balkans.
Look out in June for the launch of the new Loaf on a Stick Press title A City of Light: Socialism, Chartism and Co-operation – Nottingham 1844 by Christopher Richardson. The event is at the Nest on Saturday 22nd. Let us know if you’d like to come and we’ll tell you how to find us.