Shalimar at London Radical Bookfair, 2014
London Radical Bookfair & Alternative Press Takeover 2014
Radical booksellers, publishers, artists and activists of all stripes are set to takeover the Bishopsgate Institute on May 10th. All three floors of this venerable establishment will host the London Radical Bookfair & Alternative Press Takeover 2014. With over 130 exhibitors, and 20 guest speakers, this will be a unique gathering of progressive readers, thinkers and doers, in a celebration of radical publishing and politics.
This free event is organised by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB), which formed in 2011 to raise awareness of the radical booktrade. The bookfair provides an annual opportunity to bring the UK’s radical booksellers together to meet in person with publishers and the reading public.
Award ceremony for two ARB book prizes
The bookfair also allows the ARB to award its two annual book prizes: the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing and the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award. Shortlisted authors from the two awards will be giving talks and participating in panel discussions throughout the day as part of a programme which will culminate in the announcement of the winning titles by the guest judges in the Great Hall.
Talks and panel discussions
There will be talks on all of the titles shortlisted for the Bread and Roses Award, with speakers including Rob Evans, Ben Griffin, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Barry Kushner, Katharine Quarmby, Andrew Simms and Imogen Tyler. The bookfair will also hear from the guest judges of the prize: editor of The F-Word blog Jess McCabe, associate editor at The Guardian Seumas Milne, and writer, philosopher and activist Nina Power.
There will be a panel discussion on the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award, which will be hosted by Wendy Cooling, guest judge and founder of the Bookstart programme, and will include shortlisted authors Deborah Chancellor, Gill Lewis and Geraldine McCaughrean. Another discussion will take place on the subject of radical children’s literature, with children’s authors Alan Gibbons and Catherine Johnson, Ann Lazim from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, and Kim Reynolds from the Institute of Education.
A discussion on ‘Radical Black and Asian Publishing: Legacies and Continuing Challenges’ will be chaired by Sukant Chandan and include Eric Huntley, co-founder of Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, amongst other speakers.
In addition to these talks, there will be a virtual tour of the invaluable collection of radical materials at the Bishopsgate Institute, presented by resident librarian and archivist Stefan Dickers.
The London Radical Bookfair
The London Radical Bookfair will be showcasing the depth and breadth of radical publishing in the UK by filling Bishopsgate Institute’s Great Hall with some fifty stalls from booksellers and publishers. There are currently other bookfairs dedicated to progressive titles, but they tend to focus on tightly defined political traditions. The aim of the London Radical Bookfair is to be a broad church that brings together these traditions and makes them accessible to a wider audience.
The Alternative Press connection
This year, for the first time, the London Radical Bookfair has teamed up with Alternative Press (AP), whose extended family of writers and artists will be exhibiting and selling their self published comix, zines, art books, and prints in the Upper Hall. They will also share their expertise by leading workshops in print-making and book-binding. To celebrate the collaboration between the two fairs, AP artists have created a series of artworks inspired by the Bread and Roses shortlist, which will be on display throughout the day.
Event Details
10-5pm
Free entry
Taking place at:
Bishopsgate Institute
230 Bishopsgate,
London EC2M 4QH
Links
Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing
www.bread-and-roses.co.uk/
London Radical Bookfair
http://londonradicalbookfair.
Alternative Press
www.alternativepress.org.uk/
Alliance of Radical Booksellers
http://www.radicalbooksellers.
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award
http://littlerebelsaward.
Bishopsgate Institute
www.bishopsgate.org.uk/
