Celebrating a decade of radicalism: the 10th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair

by anna battista

“The Independent Radical Book Fair is an opportunity for small publishers to display their work and for authors to meet new readers, but, above all, for people to discuss ideas.”

The word “radical” comes from the Latin “radix”, root, meaning pertaining to the roots. Though this word has different connotations that depend from the semantic field it is used in, it is often employed in association with politics. “Radical” is actually a word that often scares people for its connotations, especially the media who seem they have lost the power to be “radical” in the last few years to conform to a more politically correct kind of approach. Fear not, though, as this October there is an event in Edinburgh that will help us understanding what being radical can mean nowadays, but that will also make us think more, the Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair. Organised by the Edinburgh-based independent bookshop Word Power, the Fair, now in its tenth year, is more than just an ordinary book event. “The Independent Radical Book Fair is an alternative to book style events such as the more mainstream Edinburgh Book Festival,“ Elaine Henry from the Word Power Bookshop says, “it is an opportunity for small publishers to display their work and for authors to meet new readers, but, above all, for people to discuss ideas.”

This year the Radical Book Fair promises to be unmissable thanks to the diversity of its programme. Physicist, ecologist, activist and winner of the 1993 Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel Prize) Vandana Shiva will open the event that will also feature lectures by the independent scholar and journalist Achin Vanaik, the founder of Z Magazine Michael Albert, the thinker and activist George Monbiot and by Scottish writer James Kelman, just to mention a few. Throughout the event there will also be a photographic exhibition entitled “When the World Said No to War”, that will be opened by Rose Gentle, mother of 19 year old soldier Gordon Gentle, killed in Iraq in 2004, plus screenings of films and documentaries such as Horace Ove’s “Dream To Change The World”, about activist, trade unionist, writer, publisher and filmmaker John La Rose.

Reading through the event programme, you’d think there is a huge team behind it, connecting writers, thinkers and activists all over the world, but there’s actually just two people who work on it. “It’s a huge labour of love,” Elaine explains, “and we work really hard making sure all the events are accessible. We first started the Radical Book Fair at the McDonald Library with just a few events, but we kept on growing every year and, as time passed, we became more established. Now there are people who travel to come and see our Book Fair while we also invite internationally known speakers. The things that really help us are that we have a lot of experience - the Word Power Bookshop is going to turn twelve in November - and that a lot of writers give us their support.”

Gaining more status as an annual event also meant that throughout the years the attendance grew: one of the main reasons for this increase is not only the quality of the events, but also the fact that the Book Fair is a free festival. “We usually attract a broad section of the community with different reading tastes,” Elaine explains, “we believe in free access to information for everyone and, if you’re not working, it is difficult to afford such events if they are ticketed. Our main aim is to make sure that the people who come are able to participate, exchange ideas with the speakers, make new contacts and, why not, start writing themselves.” This is one of the reasons why this year there will also be a café offering homemade food: this space is indeed designed as a safe haven for people to meet and have a rest while letting the dialogue to continue.

Another reason to come to the Radical Book Fair is that you will be able to meet here independent publishers who usually do not go to mainstream book festivals, such as Pluto Press, Verso or Zed Books, “Most of the publishers who take stalls at our festival are supportive,” Elaine says, “We know how hard their job can be as we do have our own publishing house, Word Book Publishing. Nowadays it can be tough to survive if you are an independent publisher or an independent bookshop, but, at the same time, I think there is a shift, I feel that more and more people are coming to us and that the big chains are struggling a bit.”

The only problem you might have at the Radical Book Fair is that you might have to literally split up to go and see all the events as each of them sounds interesting for different reasons. “It’s really unfair and very difficult to recommend only one event not to miss as all are not to be missed," Elaine claims, “Vandana Shiva’s lecture will be as special as the event on the Middle East crisis featuring Aijaz Ahmad and Ilan Pappe. Both lectures are going to be significant, but the most important thing is that there is something to get from all the events: you might come because you’re interested in listening to a speaker on the war, but then you might end up getting to know more about hunger strikers in Ireland.”

Elaine is also positive about the future of the event: “The Independent Radical Book Fair is going from strength to strength: this year we extended it of one day and I hope in future it will last longer and will attract more writers. I also hope that growing in popularity will mean the event will play an important role in bringing people together. If it will inspire even one more person to write, it will be great.”

Another world is definitely possible and radical books can help making it, but it’s people gathered together listening to each other, talking and developing new ideas who will create it. “A Luta Continua”, the struggle goes on, said the Pan African freedom cry: there might be many challenges along the way, but the struggle of the Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair to create another world by making people think, continues.

The 10th Edinburgh Independent Book Fair, 11-15 October, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, UK. For a full programme or to have further information on the Word Power Bookshop, please check the site www.word-power.co.uk.