Skip to content

Categories:

2014 Kitchener-Waterloo Anarchist Bookfair Call-Out

March 1, 2014

10am-6pm

Location: Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work

120 Duke St W, Kitchener

Announcing the 2nd annual Kitchener-Waterloo Anarchist Bookfair! Taking place on March 1 2014 on Six Nations of the Grand River territory, we will once again welcome anarchists and non-anarchists alike for a day of workshops, presentations, info tables, book sellers and social events. With introductory discussions about anarchism in addition to deeper conversations around the ongoing relevance of anarchism and its implications for on-the-ground organizing and everyday struggles, the KW Anarchist Bookfair will be a space for radical ideas to thrive for curious folks, seasoned organizers and everyone in between.

Call for Workshops:

From the practical to the theoretical and everything in between, the Bookfair Collective is seeking workshop and presentation proposals. This year’s bookfair theme revolves around contemporary strategies and tactics that anarchists can use to engage and build social movements with a revolutionary aim in mind. We are particularly interested in proposals that focus on how anarchists organize, or how you think anarchist should organize in order to build a revolutionary movement that will cast away the chains of oppression. We are looking for workshops that aim to foster a growing anarchist movement, contribute to critical dialogue, and facilitate strategic discussion. This can include (but is in no way limited to) presentations and discussions on topics such as: intergenerational organizing, anarchism without adjectives, examples and lessons of prefiguration, white supremacy and anti-racist organizing, class-consciousness and intersectionality, queering anarchism, radical parenting and family inclusivity, ecology, gender violence and community accountability, prison resistance and abolition, anarchist decision making-models and political organization.

We want to hear from you! Please send workshop proposals, including title and description (1 page or less) with “Workshop” and your name and/or workshop title in the subject line to kwbookfair@gmail.com.

Proposals should be submitted by Wednesday, January 29th.

Tabling:

A central component of any anarchist bookfair, the event will host a room for infoshops, booksellers, activist groups and independent publishers to showcase, and distribute literature and goods.

There is no fee for tabling, however, we ask that 10% of sales is donated to the Bookfair Collective to help cover event costs.

If you’re interested in tabling, please send a description of your group and a list of the materials you will be distributing to kwbookfair@gmail.com. Please have in the subject line “Tabling” and your group name.

Tabling proposals should be submitted by Saturday February 8.

Volunteering:

In order to make the bookfair a success we need volunteers! If you’re interested in getting involved, there are countless opportunities to help out with the event, both in the lead up to the bookfair and the day of. These include: participating in the organizing process, helping out with postering and general outreach, childcare, food preparation, and set-up and take-down. Email kwbookfair@gmail.com with “Volunteer” in the subject line for more details.

Accessibility:

The Bookfair Collective is committed to making the event as accessible as possible. We realize that society is marked by structural barriers that exclude and marginalize people on a daily basis, and we strive to create an inclusive event that does not replicate such barriers. The bookfair will be held in a wheelchair accessible venue with gender-neutral washrooms, admission is free, lunch, childcare and family oriented programming will be offered, and ASL translation available upon request.

If you have additional accessibility requests, please let us know and email kwbookfair@gmail.com. We have limited resources, but will do our best to accommodate.

POC Space Call-Out

Being the only person of colour at an anarchist event is a systemic problem. We talk about smashing states and not enough about unlearning ingrained racism, classism, patriarchy, cis-sexism and transphobia. It is tiring to continually be marginalized in so-called “radical” communities where we aim to be anti-oppressive yet recreate systemic oppression because we are not engaging in decolonizing ourselves. This is not just a point about visible representation, but our organizing priorities, the conversations that dominate our spaces, and the continual white privilege that goes unchecked and unchallenged by everyone.
1) Invitation to POC Space
This is an open invitation for people of colour only (POC – including racialized, indigenous, immigrant, queer/trans folk of colour) to come to the POC Space at the KW Anarchist Book Fair. The room will be an intentional space of solidarity for those who battle racism as part of our daily lives, and not necessarily as our “activism.” Feel free to come into the space as a retreat, or to engage in consensual conversations with other folks in the room. A possible purpose for the space could be that we build new relationships, relax, eat in peace, debrief, or share some love, care, jokes, and gentleness during a day that can be tiring. The POC Space will have volunteers in the room all day.
2) Callout for Hosting the POC Space
If you would like to host any kind of workshop, discussion, activity in the POC Room during the bookfair, please send a brief description of what you would like to do to janjolee@gmail.com by Feb 1, 2014. It doesn’t have to directly relate to anti-racism, thought it certainly could. Possible activities could include: stretching, poetry/literature sharing, playing Scrabble, intense discussions of political theory, etc.
3) 2:00-3:30pm Discussion in the POC Space
Janice Lee will facilitate a discussion for POC only, on these questions: What are some struggles we encounter as POC in anarchist and radical-identified spaces? How can we promote anti-racism and allyship without doing all the educating ourselves? What are strategies for solidarity between POC?

Posted in General.