Just Books has a history in Belfast that stretches back to the opening of the original Smithfield shop in June 1978 by the Belfast Anarchist Collective. While the shop closed its doors in June 1994 the Just Books Collective has continued to provide stalls at events such as grassroots gatherings, at Belfasts annual May Day celebrations and Belfast and Dublin Anarchist Bookfairs.

Like the original Just Books we are aiming towards something which is much more than just a bookshop. The original premises included a cafe and print workshop and provided a focal point for the collectives many activities until it closed sixteen years later in June 1994. Set up without any form of state subsidy or grant money was raised through running benefits, from interest free loans and donations from supporters. Just Books has always been run on a self managed basis with collective decision making at its core.

Since May 2016 we’ve been running a bricks-and-mortar shop, housed at the Belfast Solidarity Centre, 22 Berry Street, Belfast, BT1 1FJ.  Our website is www.belfastsolidarity.org (and there’s a facebook page linked from there too).  Our phone number is 028 954 30203, and our new webshop will be up-and-running soon.

Derry Radical Bookfair – 28th January – derryradicalbookfair.wordpress.com

Cardiff Anarchist Bookfair – 18^th February 2017 – www.southwalesanarchists.wordpress.com

Liverpool’s First Anarchist Bookfair – 1^st April 2017 – https://liverpoolanarchistbookfair.wordpress.com

Cambridge Radical Bookfair – 29th April 2017 – https://www.facebook.com/events/671426069692438/ 

Dublin Anarchist Bookfair – April – www.wsm.ie/bookfair

WOWFEST – Radical Literature Festival – Liverpool – 1st-31st May http://www.wowfest.uk 

Nottingham Bread & Roses Bookfair – 13th May 2017 – http://fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/events/bread-and-roses-bookfair/ 

Sheffield Anarchist Bookfair –20^th May 2017– www.sheffieldbookfair.org.uk

Dorset’s 1st Radical Bookfair – 3rd June 2017 – www.dorsetbookfair.wordpress.com

London Radical Bookfair –24^th June 2017 – www.londonradicalbookfair.wordpress.com

Liverpool Writing on the Wall – no dates available – www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival – 14^th – 16^th July 2017 – www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk

Swindon Anarchist Bookfair – 2017 dates tba, but was in September in 2016

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair – 16th September 2017 – www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org

Belfast Anarchist Bookfair – 2017 dates tba, but was in October in 2016 www.facebook.com/belfastanarchistbookfair

Sunderland Working Class Bookfair – 2017 dates tba

London Anarchist Bookfair – 28th October 2017  – www.anarchistbookfair.org.uk

Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair – 2017 dates tba, but in October in 2016

Birmingham – plans afoot for a new fair at the end of the year

Manchester and Salford – 2017 dates tba, but in December in 2016

Britain’s radical booksellers have been discussing Simon & Schuster publishing the work of Milo Yiannopoulos in the USA and the worldwide impact of the firm publishing someone known for views that have led 160 children’s writers in the USA, many published by the same firm, to say that his is “a voice of hate that stirs its followers to emotional, verbal and physical violence directed at anyone who disagrees or speaks to the contrary.” We are pleased that Simon & Schuster UK is not publishing the book.

We value Simon & Schuster’s publishing writers whose work has argued for a less violent society, in particular those children’s books which help their readers understand the situation of, for example, LGBT teenagers. Indeed, looking through our collective shelves, we find books in Simon & Schuster’s past and future programme taking a positive attitude towards women and towards minority groups, in this country and in the USA. Publishing Yiannopoulos risks damaging this work, tarnishes their reputation and raises the possibility of existing and future authors seeking alternative publishers.

Simon & Schuster is the publisher of the New York Times bestseller, Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint. We fear that the views of Yiannopoulos will lead to more such casualties.

Ross Bradshaw
On behalf of the ARB

The 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair will be on Saturday 24th October from 10am to 7pm
at a new venue: Central Saint Martin’s, Kings Cross, N1
All the details here: http://anarchistbookfair.org.uk

We’re very happy to welcome Veggies to the ARB family.

Veggies Catering Campaign provides food at almost any event – from campaign rallies to community festivals, from family celebrations to green gatherings, offering tasty, wholesome snacks, as well as information exploring the links between diet, animal suffering and the environment.

Amongst their many catering gigs, they help feed hungry bookreaders at many a radical bookfair up and down the country.

Many consider Veggies to be one of the most ethical caterers on the circuit, with policies developed from 30 years experience in pure vegetarian catering. They are 3-times winners of the ‘Best Vegan Caterer’ Awards.

But as well as spreading the values of ethical eating, they also sell books wherever they are pitched up, as well as from their base at the Sumac Centre in Nottingham.

For more info please visit: http://www.veggies.org.uk

In recent years some of the larger corporate UK businesses have started to emulate the US spending-spree that is Black Friday. Taking place on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November), the date marks the beginning of the commercialised Christmas shopping season, and has even on occasion lead to violence as shoppers fight over discounted goods.

Amazon has made particularly good mileage out of Black Friday, and the media are more than happy to give Amazon free publicity each year, running articles about Black Friday and Amazon’s role within it.

But the public is waking up to the bad business practices of Amazon, and a new boycott Amazon campaign this year has been gaining real momentum. UK campaigns to boycott Amazon are not new though – Ethical Consumer officially called for a boycott last year, and ARB member bookshop Housmans has been calling for a boycott and documenting the reasons not shop with them for several years: check out the reasons not shop with them by clicking here: housmans.com/boycottamazon.php

This year the Alliance of Radical Booksellers is asking you to help spread the world about the alternatives to Amazon and support the alternative by way of your local radical bookshops. Please help by:

• Sharing the Black & Red Friday Image
• Sharing this post
• Subvert the #BlackFriday hashtag with anti-Amazon and pro-ARB messages
• Show support by using the #BlackAndRedFriday hashtag
• Please buy your books from your local ARB bookshop

Let’s put the red into Black Friday!

The ARB is delighted to welcome into the family Dreadnought Books, an independent second-hand bookshop based in Bristol. Specialising in history, with a particular focus on radical, social and labour history and also carrying a broad general stock catering to most interests.For more info please visit: http://dreadnoughtbooks.co.uk, and blogging here http://dreadnoughtbooks.blogspot.co.uk

DREADNOUGHT BOOKS
125 St. George’s Road
Hotwells
Bristol
BS1 5UW