After a browse and chats at the craft market near me, it was into Bloomsbury for The Radical Book Fair 2013. Conway Hall was a stunning, historical venue for the occasion. Housmans Bookshop were out in force, with a selection of political book wares from their shop in Kings Cross. Active Distribution I got to know over the years through my visits to 'zine events, plus 56a Info Shop, which sells lots of their political pamphlets, badges, and so on. These posters were up behind the Active Distribution stall. The stall was right by the door that led to the vegan food stall. Many tempting food items were being cooked, including Cheezly burgers. And there were vegan cooking and gardening zines for sale close by. There was also a beer bar. This was such a packed event, it was gladdening to see. So, so many amazing, inspiring stalls crammed full of books, pamphlets, flyers, information, and friendly, informative people. I got to wishing such an event could happen every two months or monthly, even though I'd end up broke and drowning in literature at home... I pretty much wanted to buy every zine I saw on the Active stall. Not pictured here, but as well as lots of books on all kinds of topics, Active Distribution had its ever-reliable selection of zines and pamphlets. I had no idea there would be a number of zines on sale at this event, and felt bad for not inviting more people along. One zine I leapt at the chance of buying was about vegan cooking and living, and it is so beautifully handwritten and sketched out. I owe it a post all of its own. Another inspiring zine was Scary Hairy, about societal beliefs/assumptions about female body hair, and about freedom from confines of gendered norms - I seem to remember being told by someone on the stall that its writer is Dutch. I'm not so hot on comics/visual zines, but this zine is a pleasing mix of both. My haul of zines, pictured below... I shied away from buying books as I wasn't that flushed for cash, and I felt very overwhelmed by the sheer number of books that I wouldn't've known where to start / how to narrow down a choice, but got plenty of ideas and food for future thought. My partner got a book that I too had noted as interesting, about radical 1920s culture. It's as much about picking up flyers and getting informed about events, campaigns, and so on, when I go these events. Plus, talking to people and getting recommendations, swapping thoughts/talking about resources. Fantastic to see representatives from The Feminist Library, and I had a long chat with them about zines, and bought a fair few, as well as badges (including a 'NOT MY SISTER' badge of Margaret Thatcher for a friend). An incredible day, and I am still working my way through all the excellent writings.
Not sure how the ever genius-like Clod magazine ended up in this photo, but I think it may be because I picked it up at the ICA afterwards. Really ecstatic to hear that the event is looking to be held on a larger scale next year - brilliant! London Radical Book Fair / Alliance of Radical Book Sellers Well, this book caught my eye on the £1 bargain trolley outside Housmans radical book shop a few months ago. I had been saving this write-up for months, for a future 'zine, but it seems pertinent now.
The front cover, with its array of 80s female goths, and its Orwellian title struck a note with me. I love reading about pop culture and about social history. I wish I had realised this when I was a student (an abandoned sociology A'Level, forever my disgrace). 'A brilliant exposé of poverty and politics in Britain today', says the back cover. The book addresses the 'second depression' era,f ollowing on from 1937 Great Britain when George Orwell pioneered investigative journalism by way of travelogue/interviews/political observations up and down the UK. Whereas Orwell exposed the shocking and dire living conditions of the working classes (the coalminers of this era, who faced job losses that all but completely finished the industry off in this country – and their families), Beatrix Campbell approaches the situation from female point of view. That is, the wives of the jobless workers, and the wives being jobless themselves and the effect of all this on working class families. I did not realise how crassly the government treated women citizens in the 1980s. There are interviews here with women who were effectively forced back into living with abusive male partners, because there was the suspicion that they would claim dole money falsely! Women were instructed to live back with men who had beaten or verbally abused them so that they would not be homeless or without funds to live. There is also the pertinent portrayal of single parent mothers and the stigmatisation of them then (it is probably just as bad nowadays, however), and how people perceived them as grabbing money off the state, when there was no work that would accept them, that is if it was available in the first place. The coalminers' wives are touched on too. How they fought to get pay equal to the men – when at this time, their work was not seen as equal. They worked as dinner ladies, or did other kinds of physical labour, contributing just as much to their families. Something that still rings true today, sadly, is how when men are out of work it is seen as a great loss, and damaging to their person – yet if it is a woman, she is simply referred to as a 'house-wife', and it might be seen as a lesser concern. Campbell rightly points out that it would be more helpful if women in these circumstances were referred to as wageless rather than housewives. This thought has certainly had me re-analysing my thoughts about myself/housework/my status as a woman when I have been unemployed. I still remember how Orwell recounted in his book that a certain kind of working class northern man who finds himself unemployed will still get the best seat in the house, not perform any housework alongside his wife, and have perfect leisure, tea on the table, etc! A brilliant, brilliant book. One that I am sorely surprised has not been reprinted and re-marketed, given its poignancy in the last few years. But I hear that Beatrix Campbell has been working on a book that recounts more recent social/working history, and I relish its arrival in print. Campbell remains an active feminist and campaigning member of the Green Party. Follow her inspiring blog too: http://www.beatrixcampbell.co.uk |
AthemauraEnthusiastic about 'zines, libraries, gardening in the city, independent book shops/record shops/cafes, vegetarian and vegan, London in all its variety, local living/community. Archives
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