We are likely to have to move the times of two of the workshops in the resource room to avoid clashes, but otherwise all the info you should need for the day is now available on the Bookfair 2018 Information and Guide menu above.
Including the program of workshops, and of kids & parents or carers events and info on the lunch AND evening meals.
At the Black Swan please come in via the ‘side’ entrance (the one used for club nights, not the front area used as a pub during the day), which is in the yard next to the Black Swan.
If you require step free / wide access to the garden, which will be hosting the BBQ, please talk to us and we can open the gate for you.
At BASE (fka Kebele) the cafe door will be kept closed/locked, as this front area will be used as the kids space, and direct entrance on to the street is a bit of a risk!
Please enter via the door on foster street. If you require step free access to the main events room and to the accessible toilet, this is via the gate on robertson road. If you require step-free access to the kid’s space (cafe area), please knock or otherwise get the attention of a bookfair collective or kid’s space volunter, and we will unlock the door to let you in.
This should be clearly sign posted on the day!
We don’t just want to feed your minds, but your bellies as well!
From 12pm there will be a Vegan BBQ in the garden of the Black Swan. Serving up Jerk Tofu, BBQ Jackfruit and more.
Then at 6.30pm Bristol Food Not Bombs will be serving up an evening meal in BASE. All the fuel you’ll need to see you through the after-party or wherever else your evening takes you.
THERE WILL BE CAKE. Along with tea and coffee, again available in the garden of the Black Swan. Have no fear, the garden contains a large covered area, so rain will not prevent you from enjoying your delicious cake.
For the younger rebels and trouble makers we have a range of anarchist inspired activities. They will be taking place at the Kid’s BASE (the front room on the ground floor of BASE/Kebele), from open ’till close.
12-1 – Placard making, Decorating balloons with your dreams for the future, co-op games
1-2 – “Decisions, Decisions” workshop
2-3 – Zine making
3-4 – Pie a Politician
4-5 – Mask Making, Flag Burning For Beginners, co-op games
5-6 – Antifascist Skittles
On going activities throughout the day include:
Badge making , Anarchists in Hiding, Coloured pens & paper, Anti-colouring book, Balloons, Cards for Prisoners, Kids’ story books
NB We ask parents and carers to stay and play with kids as this is not a creche.
You may also be interested in the event ‘Where are the children of the revolution?’ 12.30pm – 2pm in the Library at BASE/Kebele.
Here’s a list of the groups that have stalls at the Bookfair this year, for you to talk to, find out about, pick up merch from, get leaflets from, or plot schemes with!
Active Distribution
Advisory Service for Squatters
Bad Table Manners Media
BASE (Kebele) Infoshop
Berkshire Antifa
Black Badger Printworks
Bristol Anarchist Black Cross
Bristol Anarchist Federation
Bristol Animal Rights Collective
Bristol Cable
Bristol Defendant Solidarity
Bristol Housing Action Movement
Bristol Hunt Saboteurs
Bristol Kurdish Solidarity
Bristol Radical History Group
Bristol Solidarity Federation
Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch
Conspriacy of Queers Distro
Dog Section Press
Empty Cages Collective
Gloucester Badger Office
Hempen Co-op
Hydra Bookshop
Kat’N’Klown Books
London Squatters Distro
Mind the Art
PM Press
Princess Pirata Distro
Smash IPP
Three Counties Hunt Sabs
Wessex Solidarity
It’s not a Bristol Bookfair without an after party, and this years will not disappoint!
We have nineteen different acts, across two rooms, for you to party to for eight hours!
Carnival Punks will be hosting bands in the main room playing punk, hardcore, dub and folk
Meanwhile, Pyratrix Circus will be getting lively in the second room with an eclectic mix of rave and party beats.
Facebook event is here for those of you that facebook!
All of this for only £8 with all the money being split between the Bookfair and anti-arms trade actions! Invite your mates and lets party the night away.
Note, we will have a zero tolerance policy towards any abuse, harassment, assault or otherwise hostile and oppressive behaviour. If you have any concerns on the night we’ll be hanging by the door with the bouncers, come speak to us.
The Bristol Anarchist Bookfair 2018 has had to cancel the booking with our venue. As a result the full-scale bookfair has been postponed, and a smaller event will run on the same day at the Black Swan.
The primary reason for this is that it has been brought to our attention that the Academy Trust who manage City Academy have a sponsorship deal with arms-selling dickheads Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce do very big business with the Turkish military, who are currently blasting the Kurdish region of Afrin, in northern Syria, to pieces. They also blew up the convoy that resulted in the recent tragic death of the Kurdish womens army (YPJ) British volunteer Anna Campbell, along with many Kurdish revolutionaries. We had a chat, and decided there was no way we were comfortable going ahead with the Bookfair in that venue. We’re a small collective running at reduced capacity, at this difficult time for Bristol’s anarchist community, and the loss of our venue means our only realistic option has been to radically downsize the event. We did have a last minute search for alternative venues available on the day, but there were none free that would allow us to run the full bookfair extravaganza we had planned.
But don’t be too downhearted, as the committed and the anarcho-curious amongst you will be able to get a flavour of Bookfair on the 12th. Our afterparty venue the Black Swan (at 438 Stapleton Road in Easton) has stepped into the breach and during the day we’ll be cramming the venue with as many book, zine and campaign stalls as we can and hosting a tasty vegan bbq in the garden! Plus 30 seconds up the road at BASE (formerly Kebele social centre – network23.org/kebele2/) we’ll be choosing some of our favourite workshops for you to get involved with and along with all this there’ll be a kids space. We have our party all set to be a banger long into the night in the same space and we hope to see you there.
In the evening the Black Swan will play host to a bookfair after party of epic proportions taking us all the way through till 6am, and raising money for anti-arms trade campaigning.
Outside the bookfair, of course, the weekend before, the Bristol Radical History Festival takes place on Sunday 6th May – see https://www.brh.org.uk/site/event-series/bristol-radical-history-festival-2018/. You may also be interested in attending radical/anarchist bookfairs around the UK throughout 2018 – see here: https://freedomnews.org.uk/anarchist-bookfairs-in-2018/
Massive apologies to stallholders, workshop hosts and anyone else that has been inconvenienced by this – we could have spotted this earlier, but it passed us by. If you have contacted us regarding a stall or a workshop, we will be in touch separately.
The Bristol Anarchist Bookfair will return in all its glory – and if you want to get involved in making sure that that happens, please contact bristolanarchistbookfair[at]riseup.net!
Useful links:
1. City Academy is managed by an Academy Trust known as Cabot Learning Federation, sponsored by Rolls Royce – see https://www.cabotlearningfederation.net/
2. Rolls Royce and the Arms Trade, as mapped by the Campaign Against The Arms Trade – see caat.org.uk/resources/mapping/organ...
3. Rolls Royce interview in Defence Turkey magazine – see defenceturkey.com/en/content/rolls-...
4. Anna Campbell killed by the British armed Turkish military – see https://amityunderground.com/british-ypj-fighter-anna-campbell-executed-by-fighter-jets-and-missiles-manufactured-and-serviced-from-her-hometown-of-bristol-rojava-afrin-turkish-invasion-erdogan-uk-arms-tai-tfx-bae-systems/
5. https://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org/anarchist-bookfair-2018/
Freedom News have put together a list of bookfairs coming up this year, featuring some familiar artwork !
The Bristol Bookfair is back on Saturday May 12th 2018
We’ll be hitting East Bristol in our Biggest Ever Venue (tba, stay tuned folks). So make sure you don’t miss us.
Book a stall, propose a workshop, help us oragnise, and most importantly, come down on the day!
Read on for a fuller introduction, or start sharing the news on Facebook.
We are constantly told what is possible by our rulers.
Reducing tax for the richest corporations? Having a public service run better under privatisation, despite all the evidence to the contrary? Finding the money to bail our corporations or fund nuclear weapons? All not just possible, but unavoidable!
Stopping the cuts to essential health and social care? Ending the use of British made weapons to kill civilians? Giving people the freedom to live their lives how they see fit? Supporting the most vulnerable in society, rather than callously exploiting them for profit? All, they are very sorry to say, utterly impossible.
If that is the limit of the imaginations of the media pundits, business executives and political parties so be it. The rest of us don’t have to listen to them. We can demand the impossible, become the mythological, and change the world.
Welcome to the 2018 Bristol Anarchist Bookfair
This year, in search of themes we are digging up beasts from the fathomless depths of mythological history. These creatures are there to ground ourselves in the impossible as anarchists always have, they are an army to call on when fighting oppressive structures, and most importantly they are there to provide ammunition for catchy slogans such as “the pixies, united, will never be defeated”. In order to house this menagerie, the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair collective decided we needed to find a bigger arena to play in, so we have moved to a fantastic new habitat in East Bristol.
You will find all the usual exciting features of the Bookfair, such as the amazing range of radical literature, the networking opportunities, and stimulating workshops, films and discussions. Of course, tasty food will be available, and a parents&kids space provided. There will also be ample opportunity to let loose your inner beast at a banging after party. We hope all this goes without saying as the bread and butter of a Bookfair.
We aim to be as accessible as possible, which has driven the choice of venue, as well as maintaining good quality spaces for workshops and discussions, more details on accessibility will be available shortly. The venue also allows this to be potentially the biggest Bristol Anarchist Bookfair to date, and we intend to make that happen!
You can download the full directory and programme here and below is the workshop timetable followed by the full list of facilitators and stallholders. See you on Saturday!
WORKSHOPS:
Anarchists with badges
You may find a hole in our programme where the traditional “This is Anarchism” workshop would be. Instead you will find noble volunteers wearing pin badges that declare ‘We need to talk about anarchism’. We invite you to engage these individuals in conversation about the politics and practise of anarchism; as we know there are as many anarchisms as there are anarchists. Once you have practiced on our crew, you can expand your horizons and talk to anyone and everyone about anarchism!
Know your rights
Green and Black Cross Legal
The ‘Know Your Rights’ workshop aims to give you the knowledge to combat repressive police tactics commonly used against protesters. Officers often rely on the lack of legal understanding of those participating in protest. From the 5 key things to remember to what to expect from the arrest process this interactive session will give you the tools to take action more confidently.
Tree Climbing
A rolling workshop, join at any point between 1 and 3.30. Introducing the basics of getting up and about trees in a safe and fun way with rope and harness. You will learn at least two knots, and two ascending techniques and have a go at trying them out, with two experienced professional tree climbers. Find us in Mina Rd Park.
Blockading
Dr Dye – Innovator in arm tube theory, introduces a range of techniques used to stop, block and obstruct the forces of darkness, with discussion, skillshare and hands on practical. Be prepared to get down and dirty.
The Bristol Bike Project – Dr Bike workshop!
Is your trusty steed in need of a bit of love? Come and get a free bike safety check from our mechanics and find out more about what we do at The Bristol Bike Project while you’re at it! If your bike needs more work than we can do at this workshop, we’ll give you a diagnosis and recommend you bring it to our shop for a full service where all profits are redirected to our community work getting bikes to more people who can’t afford them.
Adblock The City: a Lesson in Détournement With Brandalism Collective
Subvertising, the practice of subverting advertising, has been a regular component of Bristol anti-capitalist culture for decades. Now residents and artists are organising to reduce the number of corporate outdoor advertising panels. In this session, we’re look at some of the critiques of corporate advertising centred around cultural values, gender stereotypes, consumerism and the right to the city concept. We’ll also take a look at some of the latest creative methods from around the world in taking back public space.
Political Poster Printing with Cato Press
Cato Press – East Bristol’s print making studio – a centre for art, community and rebellion, printing woodcut posters to fan the flames of discontent. Come and print something on the press to take away and paste up!
Introduction to privilege and anti-racist practise with the Collective Liberation Project
In this workshop participants will explore their relationship to privilege and learn about how racism functions in the UK. You will leave equipped with strategies to support people of colour experiencing racism and ways to work with white people to dismantle racism in your community. The workshop is experiential, comprised of a variety of group exercices, discussion circles and active listening to explore this material with a compassionate and sensitive approach. We acknowledge that racism and other forms of oppression are often internalised in the body and link to strong emotions such as anger, guilt and shame. We provide a safe space to explore these emotions if they arise.
Key questions we will explore:
What privileged positions do we hold and how can we utilise our power to address injustice?
How can we support people that face oppression we have not experienced?
The session is open to people of all ethnic backgrounds. Please note that this session is open to a maximum of 30 participants.
Prison Abolition
Dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex
The UK now has the highest prisoner suicide rate in the world and the largest prison system in Western Europe. Resistance to the prison system is escalating. Learn about struggles against 6 new mega-prisons across the UK, as well as prisoner-family campaigns against IPP sentences. The workshop will also introduce broader concepts of prison abolition in the context of anti-state and anarchist struggle.
Bristol Housing Action – Squatting in the face of Gentrification
Bristol housing and action movement are a self organised community of squatters and homeless people, supporting and providing solidarity for each other, which is is increasingly vital for a city undergoing violent gentrification. Come to the workshop to find out the history and current situation for those with no fixed abode, and get involved with our projects.
Landworkers Alliance Film- In Our Hands
This newly released film explores a quiet revolution that is transforming the way our food is produced and distributed. Our current industrial food system is a upheld by a stilted subsidy regime. But stories from the Global South have been inspiring farmers in the UK with the idea of food sovereignty.
Throughout the tumultuous summer of the Brexit referendum the Landworkers’ Alliance joined forces with two film-makers, to unearth the farms and faces are using rural traditions and modern innovations to take back control.
End Deportations: Stopping Charter Flights
Back in March Plane Stupid and End Deportation successfully stopped a charter flight to Nigeria and Ghana, but how do we #StopCharterFlights for good? In this participatory workshop we’ll explore the current context of the Home Office’s racist border policy, the brutal practice of charter flights and the ongoing resistance from those most affected. We’ll also explore options for getting involved in the campaign to #EndDeportations.
Anarchism and Animal liberation
Human supremacy and domination over other species has become the accepted ideology in our society. As anarchist’s how can we challenge this hierarchy without relying on consumer boycotts and single issue campaigns?
Antifracking: Julys month long blockade – lessons from Preston New Road
This July grassroots activists from around the country worked with locals to shut down the Fracking site in Lancashire every single working day. For a month. Using everything from mellow mass demo days to increasingly surreal and innovative blockades. We’ll be including some choice film footage and first hand analysis of some of the unexpected outcomes. This session is for anyone interested in interrogating how that model of organising worked (and how it could be transferred), as well as those hoping to get a concise overview of what to expect from the Fracking industry in the UK this autumn.
Consent
This session will explore what radical consent means, how to implement it in our lives, and how to work with others to collectively unlearn the fucked up practices and beliefs that we are taught in this culture of rape. Based on an outline from Breaking the Silence Collective.
Revolutionary Women
Emma Goldman, Voltairine de Cleyre, Louise Michel, and Lucy Parsons are often the names that come to mind when someone thinks of pioneering anarchist women, but there were many others just as determined, devoted and courageous. This talk will highlight a selection of revolutionary women who were forgotten by a history dominated by sexism and capitalism. We’ll also look at how sexism continues to be a major issue within left-wing and anarchist movements. Based on the pamphlet of the same name, which is available on the AFed stall.
Anarchism, capitalism and mental health
Feelings of alienation, anxiety and depression are at epidemic proportions. How does our current capitalist society create and worsen many of these problems? How and why does it attempt to treat them, and in what ways does it fail? Anarchism relies on a philosophy of freedom, solidarity and mutual aid. Can its ideas influence how we respond to poor mental health in the present, and can a radically different society be healthier for us all? Why do such a high percentage of activists struggle with their mental health, and what steps can we put in place to support each other?
The End of Policing?
During the 2017 general election, the Police Federation ran an largely successful campaign, eventually taken up for different reasons by both the Labour Party’s left-wing leadership and the right-wing press, arguing a direct link between falling police numbers and rising levels of crime. Successfully challenging this conventional narrative seems like an almost overwhelming task. How, then, so we start to make a popular case for significantly fewer police officers and more attention on alternatives that are less coercive? How do we explain that the police are wholly unsuited to solving many of the problems the state wants them to deal with?
This workshop, by the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol), will look at how we oppose the constantly expanding role of the police in maintaining social stability, even when that stability is inherently unjust and exploitative – not only by criticising it, but by offering alternatives.
Where are the children of the revolution?
Including parents and children – how to build radical community
Why are there so few parents involved in radical activism and does it matter? This workshop will ask what the obstacles are to staying involved in activism once you become a parent, and how we might need to revise our attitudes to children and parenting before looking at what steps we can take to make truly inclusive communities. There is lots of information on parenting, but not about creating radical community that includes and celebrates children and childhood while supporting parents and caregivers. This workshop will give space to discuss the communities we want, reflect on our limitations in creating them, and work to identify possible solutions big and small. We will discuss and share experiences that honour the messy, the painful, the playful, the beautiful, the myriad ways we can create intergenerational anarchist communities.
Picturehouse – MacDonalds Strikes: The new unionism
There have been more strikes recently, and more strikes in workplaces that we’re always told are unorganisable. There is a history of the unorganised organising – in the 1880s the period of ‘new unionism’ saw precarious, ‘unskilled’, and unorganised workers organise for the first time and change the face of trade unions. Come and hear Picturehouse cinema and McDonald’s strikers talk about how they organised to fight back.
STALLS
Active Distribution
activedistribution.org
Objectives – Spread propaganda as cheaply as possible.
AK Press & Distribution
auk.com
AK Press is a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes radical books, visual and audio media, and other mind-altering material. Our goal is supplying radical words and images to as many people as possible. The books and other media we distribute are published by independent presses, not the corporate giants. We make them widely available to help you make positive (or, hell, revolutionary) changes in the world. As you probably know, the stuff we carry is less and less available from the corporate publishers and chain shops.
Dreadnought Books
dreadnought books.co.uk 125 St Georges Rd, BS1 5UW
I run an independent second hand bookshop with a focus on radical political material and have enjoyed participating in the previous three anarchist bookfairs. I am also a member of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers.
Freedom Press
freedompress.org.uk 84b Angel Alley, London
Freedom is a bookshop, news and publishing group aiming to spread anarchist ideas.
Housman’s Bookshop
houseman.com Kings Cross, London
Long standing anarchist/socialist/pacifist/feminist bookshop.
Hydra Bookstore
hydrabooks.org 34 Old Market, Bristol
Hydra is a bristol based volunteers co-operative. We stock a wide array of ‘radical’ literature including books, zines and pamphlets. We also serve ethically sourced coffee’s and snacks and regularly host events.
Kebele Info Shop
kebelecoop.org Kebele Social Centre 14 Robertson Rd, Easton, Bristol
We are a non-hierachical, not for profit infoshop, based out of Kebele social centre.
MEDIA
Bristol Cable
thebristolcable.org
The Bristol Cable is a media co-operative – so far owned by over 1,830 members who can all have an equal say in how we are run.
We produce a free quarterly magazine, regularly publishing website, and run media training and local events which are free or cheap for members. Our aim is to redefine media ownership, bringing it back from corporate control into the hands of ordinary people.
Consented
consented.co.uk consenteduk@gmail.com
We are a radical publication aimed at centring voices that are not usually heard in the mainstream, as well as platforming ideas that are not usually heard.
Strike Magazine
strikemag.org
STRIKE! Magazine is an independent print magazine and online multimedia platform interested in the intersection of art and radical left-wing politics. We are first and foremost concerned with communicating anti-sexist, anti-capitalist and anti-racist ideals in an accessible, challenging and exciting way. The collective is led by women, working voluntarily, and is fundamentally committed to intersectional feminist principles.
Wessex Solidarity
wessexsolidarity.wordpress.com
We maintain a radical news and comment website, support local anti-austerity initiatives and promote anarchist ideas through our literature stall. We’re affiliated to the anti fascist network.
OTHER?
Alliance for Workers Liberty
workersliberty.org
We have local branches and industrial fractions which meet regularly. We aim to build a movement which can replace capitalism, the current economic and social system based on class division and exploitation, with a new society based on consistent democracy, collective ownership and solidarity.
Anarchist Action Network
anarchistaction.net anarchistactionnetwork@riseup.net
We have quarterly meetings (4 times a year) that make decisions for the network through consensus.
Bristol Branch IWW
bristoliww.org.uk bristol@iww.org.uk
Bristol General Membership branch of the Industrial Workers of the World grassroots union.
Bristol Solidarity Federation
solfed.org.uk/local/bristol
Solidarity Federation (SolFed) was formed in March 1994. It is a federation of groups across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Everyone involved is helping to build a non-hierarchical, anti-authoritarian solidarity movement.
Footprint Workers Co op
footprinters.co.uk
We are a workers co-operative, which means our business is owned by the workers. As we have no bosses we run it as we want, doing interesting jobs for interesting people.
We want to be straightforward, friendly, responsible and responsive, rather than ‘aiming to deliver comprehensive multi-platform printing solutions to clients in the voluntary and vocationally challenged sectors’.
We do it as ethically as we can, printing on proper recycled papers, powered by a genuine green electricity tariff and using the least environmentally damaging processes we can find.
We also give a percentage of the money we make to worthy projects.
Shoutout records
Bridgend Facebook: shoutoutrecords
We’re a diy record label for ethnic / anarchist punk bands based in South Wales. We try to help bands get their stuff out there by record , cd and tape. It’s for non profit just to break even.
CAMPAIGNS
Advisory Service for Squatters
advice@squatter.org.uk
We are a collective, or try to be, and we advise squatters and other homeless people.
Bristol Anarchist Black Cross
bristolabc.wordpress.com bristol_abc@riseup.net
Bristol ABC focuses on direct prisoner support and solidarity work, supporting anarchist and other prisoners worldwide. We also support anti-prison struggles in the UK by organising various info nights and events.
Bristol Anarchist Federation
bristol.afed.org.uk
Long term objective: Anarchist revolution against misogyny, white supremacy and capitalism.
Short term objectives: Support and encourage acts of resistance against oppressive aspects of our current society.
Spread anarchist ideas and views via events/publications.
Maintain a visible anarchist presence on the streets of Bristol (at larger marches, events etc).
Organising Method: In person meetings aiming to reach consensus.
Bristol Antifacists
Facebook: bristolantifacists bristolantifacists@riseup.net
We feel that as an organisation, Bristol Antifacists have been putting
into material practice the values that we all hold very dear. We are a
flat structure, consensus based group with strong anti-capitalist,
anti-statist and anti-authoritarian beliefs practising direct ant-state and anti-racist activism.
Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Facebook: bristol.psc
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) aims to build a mass solidarity movement on Palestine. It is founded on principles of justice, human rights, and opposition to all forms of racism. Bristol-PSC aim to publicise Palestine Solidarity Campaign news and local events (eg. sponsored walks, films, public talks) and to actively campaign for justice for Palestine at a local level. Our group meets on the last Tuesday of every month at Hydra Bookshop @ 7:30pm (34 Old Market, Bristol BS2 OEZ). We also offer a weekly Palestine e-bulletin; to subscribe send a mail to BristolPSC@gmail.com
Coal Action Network
coalaction.org.uk
Empty Cages Collective
prisonabolition.org info@prisonabolition.org
We are working to dismantle the prison industrial complex. We do this by catalysing and supporting various anti-prison projects and groups including a national network resisting 6 new mega-prisons, as well as a prisoner-family led campaign against IPP sentences. As an anarchist collective we aim to use the prison system as a way to highlight state violence and agitate for an anarchist society.
Frack Free Bristol
frack-off.org.uk/local-group/frack-free-bristol
Kent Refugee Help
kentrefugeehelp.org.uk
We support refugees and migrants in prison in Kent and London by visiting, finding legal advice and representation, finding sureties for bail. Raising awareness through meetings and art exhibitions
NFA Residents Association
nfaresidents@outlook.com
We are a residents association campaigning against Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). A discriminatory law that Brighton Council has passed. We want to increase awareness of their existence and prevent that happening in other places of UK.
Reclaim the Power
reclaimthepower.org.uk
Rising Tide
rising tide.org.uk/bristol
South West Against Nuclear (SWAN)
southwestagainstnuclear.wordpress.com swanactive@gmail.com
Direct action and outreach campaigning on nuclear power, waste and weapons.