Workers Solidarity Movement

This May sees the return of the annual Anarchist Bookfair to Dublin, the seventh to be held to date. Since the first, back in 2006, the event has grown hugely in scale, against the background of the bursting of the Celtic Tiger bubble, the IMF/EU bailout and the catastrophic effect of austerity on Irish society. The Bookfair consists of a day of meetings, debates and discussions and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups.

The Bookfair started out with numbers in the hundreds at the first event in the St. Nicholas of Myra Hall in the Liberties. After a couple of years in the Teachers Club it was clear that more space was again needed so the event moved to its current venue in Liberty Hall. 

In our first year there we brought you ex-Black Panther turned anarchist, Ashanti Alston, and author of “Free Women of Spain”, Martha Ecklesberg. The following year we heard from the authors of “The Lost Revolution”, Scott Millar and Brian Hanley. In 2011 we hosted speakers from our fellow bailout countries who spoke about struggles against austerity there and Conor McCabe on his book “Sins of the Fathers: Tracing the Decisions That Shaped the Irish Economy”, as well as meetings on the “Arab Spring” amongst others. 

Highlights on the meeting schedule for this year include:

Eyewitness Afghanistan - the current political situation in Afghanistan as told through interviews conducted with Afghan politicians, artists, religious leaders, community organizers, journalists and activists; a Forum on Radical and Underground Publishing; Racism in the Recession with a speaker from the Traveller community; The Sue Richardson panel: My Life in Struggle, Women Speak - a forum on women in activism; Is it kicking off in Ireland? – discussion on the Irish response to austerity; a talk on Dublin’s Other History hosted by the authors of the popular blog Come Here to Me, a GP speaks on the Right to Choose, a debate on the fiscal treaty referendum as well as introductions to anarchism and the WSM.

The Bookfair will also host a showing of “Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey” with a Q&A session with director Leila Doolan and  “The Viking Way”, a documentary about how Iceland responded to the crisis. 

Bookstalls carrying an array of radical literature will be set up for the day. Among the organisations from home and abroad will be: PM Press, AK Press, WSM, RAG (Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group), Manchester Anarchist Federation, Solidarity Books, Look Left magazine, Organise and Just Books, Oxfam, the Irish Labour History Society, Corporate Watch and Freedom Press. 

Several campaign groups will be present with information stalls including: IPSC (Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign), Choice Ireland, Shell to Sea, LASC (Latin America Solidarity Centre), FEE (Free Education for Everyone), AFA (Anti Fascist Action) and the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes. 

The Anarchist Bookfair is a day out of the ordinary; a day away from the mundane, where the best thing to leave with is not the book, or pamphlet, or badge you’ve just spent your hard earned money on, but the experience of the day itself. It’s a great opportunity to mingle, meet, and talk to not only anarchists, but activists from all walks of life, as well as the passers-by and interested onlookers that it always attracts. Come along, drop by the WSM stall and say hello!  

The 7th Anarchist Bookfair will take place in Dublin the weekend of 26th May 2012 at Liberty Hall, Eden Quay and ‘The Dark Horse Inn’ on Georges Quay. See  http://www.wsm.ie/bookfair for updates.

Doors open at 10am and the first meetings start at 11:30 so forgo the weekend lie-in, grab a coffee and come on down! Help with promotion by  RSVPing to our Facebook event for the 2012 Bookfair, inviting any interested friends and then sharing the event to your profile. You can also follow the Bookfair on Twitter - hashtag #dabf”. Admission is free but a donation to costs is appreciated! 

From Issue 127 of Ireland's anarchist paper Workers Solidarity  May / June 2012.