Toronto Anarchist Bookfair: Next Weekend!

It is that time of year again – time for the Toronto Anarchist Bookfair!

It’s happening next weekend, at the Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil Street, and you know i’ll be there, tabling with all my own stuff as well as friends’.

While the final workshop schedule has not been announced yet, i am slated to be giving a talk about political prisoners and prisoners of war, probably on the Sunday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30. All workshops are being held at Bahen, just two and a half blocks from the bookfair at 50 St. George. St. No finalized workshop schedule is available yet, but you can see the list right here.

Here is a guide to the different sections of the bookfair website:

* General Information
* Tabling Groups

Programming
* Anti-authoritarian People of Colour and Indigenous Peoples Caucus
* Friday Community Dinner and Assembly
* Really Really Free Market
* Workshops

Principles and Policies
Safer Spaces Policy
Sexual Assault and Consent Policy
Statement on Accessibility

& here is the latest callout from the organizers:

The countdown has begun! The 2011 Toronto Anarchist Bookfair is less than two weeks away, and is set to be an amazing weekend of workshops, radical discussions, books, zines, great food and friends. The bookfair is set to be the largest Toronto has seen in years, and will bring to the city vendors, exhibitors and workshop facilitators from across North America and beyond.
The Bookfair will run from Friday, April 15th- Sunday, April 17th, and be held in two central locations. The Friday evening community dinner and assembly, as well as bookfair tabling will be held at the Toronto Steelworker’s Hall (25 Cecil st.), while bookfair workshops will be held at the nearby Bahen Centre (40 st.George st.).
Below you will find all the information you’ll need to know about participating in the Bookfair, and getting the most out of the weekend.

a) Community Dinner and Assembly
To kick off the weekend of events the Bookfair Collective will be hosting a free community dinner, followed by a general assembly. Join us for a sit down vegan dinner, and an evening of community building dialogue. The dinner and assembly will be held from 7-11pm at the Steelworker’s Hall.
We’re inviting anti-authoritarians, anarchists and anyone interested to discuss the current organizing climate in the city, and brainstorm strategies as to how to build a stronger, more inclusive anarchist movement in the city and surrounding region. The assembly will begin with a handful of introductory remarks presented by long-term anarchist organizers, after which the floor will be opened for a general conversation on the potential directions Torontonian anarchism could take in 2011 and further. The assembly will then conclude with the opportunity for break-out sessions based on interest in specific ideas, plans, or projects that participants would like to discuss in more detail.

b) Tabling and Exhibits at the Bookfair
This year’s bookfair will host over 40 independent publishers, booksellers, distributors, community organizations and political groups from throughout North America. Bookfair fair tabling will be taking place in the main area of the Steelworker’s Hall, and be held both Saturday, April 16th and Sunday, April 17th from 10am-6pm.
For a complete list of tabling groups, publishers and organizations, visit:
https://torontoanarchistbookfair.wordpress.com/tabling-groups/

c) Workshops at the Bookfair
The bookfair weekend is jam-packed with over 30 workshops, from DIY Bike Repair, discussions on the Spanish Civil War and Anarchism and Indigenous Resistance, to Building Consent, Alternative Media, and everything in between, workshops will be covering an incredibly broad spectrum, oriented towards the development of both practical skills and theoretical knowledge, and will include a series of international workshops skyped in from across the globe. Workshops will be taking place Saturday, April 16th and Sunday, April 17th from 10am-5:30pm each day.
For a complete workshop list and schedule, visit:
https://torontoanarchistbookfair.wordpress.com/workshops-2/

d) Anti-authoritarian People of Colour and Indigenous Caucus
From 3:30-7:30pm on Saturday, April 16th the Bookfair will host a People of Colour Caucus. This space, open only to self-identified people of colour and indigenous people, will focus on 1) identifying gaps in anti-authoritarian organizing in Toronto that serve to exclude people of colour and indigenous peoples; 2) facilitating a discussion on how anti-authoritarian people of colour and indigenous peoples can link various struggles and organizing experiences, and 3) building an intersectional space where people of colour and indigenous peoples that adhere to an anti-authoritarian politic in Toronto can share resources and organize.

e) Volunteers!
In order to make the bookfair a smashing success (and we know how much anarchists like smashing 😉 we need volunteers! Specifically we need volunteers to fill the following roles:
Food Preparation: If you like to cook or are interested in learning, this is the perfect opportunity! In addition to the Friday night community dinner, the bookfair will be serving lunch both Saturday and Sunday, and needs volunteers to help with food preparation.
Registration/Welcome Table: For the duration of the bookfair weekend there will be welcome/registration tables set up at both the Bahen Centre and the Steelworker’s Hall. We need volunteers to hang out with Bookfair Collective members and help us staff these tables.
Set-up & Take-down: Let’s be honest, grunt work sucks. That said, grunt work is crucial to most events and the Bookfair is no exception. We need volunteers to help us with set-up Saturday morning, and then again with take-down Sunday night.

f) Childcare
Childcare will be offered all day Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm on site at the Steelworker’s Hall. Children’s activities are planned for throughout the weekend, and snacks will be provided. If you intend to drop your child off, and have any special requests or concerns, please email us beforehand at toanarchistbookfair@gmail.com.

g) Accessibility
Both the Steelworker’s Hall and the Bahen Centre are barrier-free venues with accessible washrooms. Attendant care will be provided, and ASL interpretation will be offered for select workshops.
To view the Bookfair’s Safer Spaces Policy:
https://torontoanarchistbookfair.wordpress.com/safer-spaces-policy/
To view the Bookfair’s Sexual Assault and Consent Policy:
https://torontoanarchistbookfair.wordpress.com/sexual-assault-and-consen…
If you have any comments, concerns, suggestions or request please email the Bookfair Collective at toanarchistbookfair@gmail.com
See you at the bookfair!