The Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair & Surrounding Events (Not To Be Missed!)
Those of you from the Bay Area have probably (hopefully? if you read our blog, at least) already heard that this weekend is the 15th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair. We’ll be there all weekend, showing off our latest and greatest published books and distro items. Get three new AK titles hot off the press! Witness the dramatic premiere of four new t-shirt designs from John Yates! Check out our whole table of sale items for $5 or less! Plus of course you can hear a slew of AK authors speaking and check out a whole building full of awesome anarchist publishers, distros, infoshops, artists, and more. Seriously, if you are around, you have to go. You’ll be kicking yourself until next March if you don’t.
Here, again, are the details:
15th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair!
Saturday, March 13 from 10:00AM to 6:00PM
AND Sunday, March 14 from 11:00AM to 5:00 PM
SF County Fair Building @ Golden Gate Park, 9th Avenue & Lincoln Way, San Francisco
FREE
And you can get more complete info here.
But wait, that’s not all that’s going on this week! There are lots of other events being organized around the bookfair too. So whether you’re coming in from out of town and looking to be entertained, or you’re a local just wondering where all the cool kids will be hanging out, let AK Press be your guide! Here are some of the choice events that will be going on this week. Hope we’ll see you all out and about—we’ll be (a few of) the nerds in the AK Press hoodies…
Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30PM
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today
CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street (at 9th), San Francisco
FREE
Join AK author Josh MacPhee (Realizing the Impossible and a dozen other political print and poster makers as they discuss Josh’s new book on PM Press, Paper Politics, as well as the current state of political graphics making: What are we doing? Why? And is it working? Short presentations by a few artists will be followed by a large roundtable discussion with audience participation encouraged.
Thursday, March 11 at 7:00PM
The War Before: The Writings of Safiya Bukhari (Bay Area Release Event)
Women’s Building, 3453 18th Street, San Francisco
FREE
The Bay Area release event for the new book The War Before, just released by The Feminist Press! The book traces Safiya Bukhari’s lifelong commitment as an advocate for the rights of the oppressed—from middle-class student to Black Panther to political prisoner—and shows how past social justice movements have paved the way for the today’s struggles. This book release event features Safiya Bukhari’s daughter, Wonda Jones; the book’s editor, Laura Whitehorn; former Panther Kiilu Nyasha; and other guests.
Thursday, March 11 from 7:00PM–midnight
Defiant Proclamations: Radical Posters from the 1960s to the Present
CELLspace Gallery, 2050 Bryant Street, San Francisco
FREE
For decades, Bay Area walls have been pasted with bold art and pertinent messages about politics, practices, and the abuses of contemporary mainstream culture. Speaking from both inside and outside of the frameworks of organized labor and left movements, individual artists and collectives have broadcast defiant proclamations with ink and paper. This one-night-only exhibit of posters, handbills, and artifacts will feature works old and new, giving a glimpse of the broad range of opinions and styles that have papered walls across the region.
Friday, March 12 from 7:00-10:00PM
Anarchist Café
St. Martin de Porres House, 225 Potrero Avenue (between 15th & 16th), San Francisco
$5–20 suggested donation
Gather with your fellow anarchists for food, coffee, tea and performances indoors and a covered hang-out space outdoors. Dinner will be served until 9pm or until the food runs out, whichever comes first. No drugs or alcohol please! If you are interested in volunteering at the café contact Mike at mikee1051@yahoo.com; if you would like to perform, email marcus@midnightspecial.net.
Saturday, March 13 at 7:00PM
Sparks Fly: An evening in honor of Marilyn Buck
Uptown Body & Fender, 401 26th Street, Oakland
$10–50 suggested donation
After 25 years, political prisoner Marilyn Buck is scheduled to get out of jail later this year. Jailed for actions in solidarity with the Black liberation and anti-war movements, Marilyn has been a voice for justice during her entire incarceration. Come out for an art auction, poetry, music, and speakers—then a dance party starting at 10PM—to help raise funds for her release.
Sunday, March 14 at 7:00PM
Visions of the Urban Future: Discussion & book signing with Matt Hern
Studio for Urban Projects, 3579 17th Street (at Dolores), San Francisco
FREE
If we want to preserve what’s still left of the natural world, we need to stop using so much of it. And cities are the best chance we have left for a sustainable future…but only if they remain vibrant, dynamic spaces that are unfolded by millions of people working together, not by master plans and planners. What will it take to make our cities truly sustainable? Join AK author Matt Hern for a discussion of his new book Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future.
Monday, March 15 at 7:00PM
An Anarchist Look at the Barcelona Squatting Movement, with Peter Gelderloos
Station 40, 3030B 16th Street, San Francisco
$3–5 suggested donation
Most of us have heard stories about (or experienced firsthand) the squatting movement in Spain. But we frequently fail to think about the effect that this network of squatted and autonomous spaces has on the social activist movement in Europe, generally, and Barcelona, specifically. How does the prevalence of squatted spaces impact the anarchist world in ways that are structurally different from the anarchist world in the United States? What do we stand to learn from each other? Author and activist Peter Gelderloos, who made headlines in 2007 when he was arrested in conjunction with a squatters’ protest in Barcelona, will explore these and other aspects of the squatting movement.
Also going on all week (March 9–16)
8 Days of Anarchy
A study group, a film screening, the BASTARD conference, and a handful of other events.
Go here for more information.