CONTRAST THE SPIRIT OF ZAGREB WITH THE SOURNESS OF MANCHESTER'S BOOKFAIR
AFTER the blackballing of the NAN and Northern Voices by a pair of curmudgeons and churls, who effectively operated as political Godfather and Godmother respectively at the Manchester Bookfair last December, we have just received an invite to the Eighth Annual Anarchist Bookfair in Zagreb this year taking place between March 31st and April 2nd. We have still yet to receive a proper explanation as to why those who reside seemingly under-the-pavement in central Manchester with the other political insects have not found it in themselves to come out into the open and present their criticism: but as we say in Lancashire, there is 'Nowt so queer as Folk'.
A good comrade of ours from the North East, who boycotted the Manchester Bookfair in sympathy because of the way in which we had been treated, said that this kind of thing would not have happened up in Northumbria. Indeed, it is doubtful that such a thing would have happened on such feeble grounds anywhere in the UK.
The organisers of the Zagreb Bookfair (ASK- Anarhisticki sajam knjiga) say they hope to bring in more people every year as participants, publishers, groups, projects - whoever is interested in what the bookfair has to offer. And they say: 'For [the] discussion part everything is open, as every year, so all suggestions, ideas, etc are welcome, as well as texts that you find interesting for further debate.' Furthermore, the organisers in Zagreb say: 'In many different situations, these bookfairs have proven to be important events and meeting places on both local and international levels.' They conclude with a welcoming appeal: 'This is why we need your help - come and support this event with solidarity and participation.'
How very different are these Croatians in Zagreb to the narrow-minded folk who seem to have been behind organising the Manchester Bookfair over the years: the 2010 Bookfair at the Dancehouse on Oxford Road, Manchester, being described by someone as 'one of the most customer unfriendly events' that they had ever attended. The program for the Zagreb Bookfair is not yet completed but for more infornmation: go to http://www.ask-zageb.org/ or email: anarhisticki.sajam.knjiga@gmail.com
Tuesday 10 January 2012
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This sort of thing doesn`t surprise me with the Manchester Anarchist bookfair. In 2009 they held one at the Jabez Clegg club in Manchester. One of the stalls at the bookfair was for the Target Brimar campaign. Shortly after the bookfair, a member of the AF who had booked the stall for the Brimar campaign (but was not involved in the campaign), was visited by the police who questioned him. He refused to say what the police had asked him. But who told the police that he`d booked the stall? I gather that his partner his one of the people who asked for the ban on the NAN and the Northern Voices magazine, at the bookfair. Is the ban because they covered the story?
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