Victoria’s 2nd Annual Anarchist Bookfair
September 7, 8, 9, at the Victoria Coolaid Society, 749 Pandora St., Victoria, BC
The only Anarchist Bookfair on the Canadian west coast will be part of a week-long Festival of Anarchy. Events include book and information, tables, workshops, readings, films, and presentations.
Inquiries about participating can be addressed to vicanarbookfair@riseup.net.
A Montreal Festival of Anarchy Set For May
The 8th annual Montreal Anarchist Bookfair and Festival 1 of Anarchy will present a series of diverse events with the Festival beginning May 1, culminating in the Bookfair weekend, May 19-20, and continuing with the second Anarchist Theatre Festival, May 28-29.
The Festival will include Montreal’s Art & Anarchy / L’Art et L’Anarchie 2007, an exhibit of politically engaged visual art, May 3-13. It will display the work of over 200 artists from around the world including dozens of photos, installations, paintings, sculptures, sketches, etchings, art videos, and cartoons. It will compliment an existing exhibit, “Paper Politics,” of 174 international prints, curated by New York anarchist artist Josh MacPhee. The exhibit will also host a series of events, including a panel discussion with anarchist artists, a book launch, films about art and anarchy, a Situationist presentation, and workshops. Info: artandanarchiemtl @hotmail.com
Another highlight of the Festival is the presence of Abel Paz in Montreal. Paz, who was fifteen when the Spanish Revolution began in 1936, was active in the Young Anarchists Group. Following the revolution’s defeat in 1939 and spending several years in exile, he returned to Spain in 1942 as a guerilla fighter against Franco’s regime; after being caught, he spent eleven years in prison.
An excellent historian of the Spanish social revolution and war, he has written many books, including a new release about Buenaventura Durruti, the anarchist militia leader. Paz will speak on May 15 and 20, when a new and unabridged translation of his biography of this Spanish revolutionary and military strategist, published by AK Press, will be launched.
The Bookfair is May 19-20 at 2515 rue Delisle (near Lionel-Groulx metro). One of the largest in North America featuring numerous publishers and distributors, May 19 is the actual fair, with introductory workshops, films, and a children’s program. May 20 will be devoted to in-depth workshops. For a second year, there will be a lively opening cabaret on May 18.
The response to the callout for participants in the second annual Montreal Anarchist Theatre Festival has been overwhelming, with participants from Montreal, Belgium, England and the US reading or performing-their plays.
In addition, people can immerse themselves in anarchy throughout the month of May, with a poetry reading, a conference given by Perspectives in Anarchist Theory, book launches and other events. Festival and Bookfair events are listed on the website: anarchistbookfair.ca.
9th Annual Wild Earth Rendezvous
June 1 through 7
Since 1999, over 800 Wild Earth participants have learned skills, strategies, and contacts for forest activism. This year it will be held in British Columbia. There will be discussions of First Nations campaigns, threats to old-growth rainforests, media strategies, non-violence, civil disobedience, tree-sits and blockades, legal rights, and activist first aid. Location and registration details at http://wildearth.resist.ca.