Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair 2006

I just got back from the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair, which was a huge success I think. Many thanks to Sean, Jeff and all the other organizers. Also, special thanks to all the cooking staff who did an amazing job. The food was great and I managed to avoid wanting to die from blood sugar issues. Eight hours tabling with little to no wholesome food is not a good idea, but with good food it was mostly fun. I got to meet Ramsay from AK Press, who I interviewed for the first issue of No Quarter. That was cool. I even got to sit in for half his workshop, which was about the struggles running AK Press and the economics of anarchist propaganda.

Despite the fact that none of these books are available at my library (Calgary Public) they may be available at yours. And if not, they are available in my personal library and I want to mention what I got:

The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin. This is the new edition published by Black Cat books in Edmonton. A very welcome, beautiful and reasonably priced edition of this perennial classic.

The Angry Brigade 1967-1984: Documents and Chronology. Elephant Editions.

A nice collection of communiqués and a chronology of the Urban Guerilla group who’s politics and actions you can support. Plus their communiqués rule! “We have started to fight back and the war will be won by the organized working class, with bombs” Communiqué 5.

The Man Who Killed Durruti by Pedro de Paz, translated by Paul Sharkey, postscript by Stuart Christie. A mystery novel about the killing of Buenaventura Durruti, one of the most prominent Spanish anarchists during the revolution. Plus a long post-script by Stuart Christie.

What’s the Use of Walking if There’s a Freight Train Going Your Way? Black Hoboes & Their Songs by Paul Garon & Gene Tomko. I guess the title of this book is pretty explanatory. Paul Garon is one of the founders of Living Blues magazine, and an active participant in the American Surrealist movement, not to mention a leading radical writer about the blues.

I also got a bunch of used books, not from the book fair though:

Freedom Challenge: African American homeschoolers – ed. Grace Llewellyn. A bunch of black homeschoolers in their own words edited by the author of Teenage Liberation Handbook.

Sounding Off! Music as Subversion/Resistance/Revolution – eds. Ron Sakolsky & Fred Wei-Han Ho. This book looks awesome. Radical music from all over the world. I’m sure I will review this on this site eventually.

The Forecast is Hot! Tracts & Other Collective Declarations of the Surrealist Movement in the United States 1966-1976 ed. Franklin Rosemont, Penelope Rosemont & Paul Garon. The radical fragments of the art avant garde, collided with anarchism and the I.W.W. in Chicago in the mid sixties and has been going strong ever since. A very interesting looking book.

The Oblivion Seekers – Isabelle Eberhardt, Paul Bowles translates. Writings by one of the most interesting figures in the history of history. Anarchist, journalist, sufi, possibly an agent for French imperial ambitions in North Africa. Eberhardt was born in Switzerland in 1877. She was educated by her stepfather who was a Russian nihilist and knew Baukunin. She learned many languages including Arabic, horse riding and grew up dressing in men’s clothing. She later traveled the Middle East and North Africa dressed as a man. She died in Algeria in 1904.

Arise Ye Mighty People! Gender Class and Race in Popular Struggles. Edited by Terisa E. Turner. Lots of interesting stuff in this book about Rasta, struggles in Africa, even a Seth Tobacman comic. Published by Africa World Press.

Crypto Anarchy, Cyber States, and Pirate Utopias edited by Peter Ludlow. Lots of stuff from Cypherpunks, cyber intellectuals etc discussing the liberatory possibilities of the internerd. A bit dated, as books about computers tend to get very quickly, since it was from 2001.