“Across the world in cities big and small, groups of likeminded organizers join forces to throw radical book fairs. But to our knowledge, the new Black Cat Book Fair, taking place in Belfast on Aug. 23, is the smallest, most rural in North America — and the first in Maine.
For decades, this model of book fair has gathered writers and activists, artists, zine makers (and their corollary, zine ‘distros’), book publishers and newspapers, all with a leftist bent, to create a community space where radical values can be explored and ideas exchanged. We handful of organizers include writers, poets, farmers, booksellers, two kinds of mill workers (woolen and saw), artists, arborists, editors, boatbuilders, activists, musicians and one arts administrator — all avid readers — living in Waldo County. The idea of a book fair came to us in the dark of a February as a place we might gather with others who share both our anti-authoritarian ideals and love of books. We wanted this book fair to highlight what is unique to life in Midcoast Maine; what the struggles for equality look like here, a rural region with stark wealth disparities, food and housing insecurity; and the racial marginalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) folks in what journalist Samuel James calls ‘the deliberate creation of the whitest state in the nation,’ where there has been a sharp 50% increase in ICE arrests.
We are an anti-racist, anti-imperialist, anti-fascist, and anti-capitalist autonomous group of individuals. The space that we have created here centers a lot of “anti’s.” We present these anti’s as a signal of our divestment from the oppressive existing systems, which shape so many of our lives. We gather without coercion and as a team who cares deeply for each other and for our broader community. We are coming to you from the bottom and from the left, seeking to leave “top-down” democracy in the past. We reject domination and hierarchy, valuing mutual aid and direct action that subverts a violent colonial empire. We embrace political pluralism and give a lot of fucks about you, no matter your ‘-isms’. We love love. When we collaborate to ensure our survival, joy, and wellbeing, the world is rosier and the fascists less powerful.
We’d like to welcome people interested in joining the organizing collective to be in touch with us, including and especially our BIPOC neighbors. The formation of the collective this year emerged from the Belfast Anarchist Book Club, and we failed to seek out collective members who weren’t white—this is something we wish to change. We are committed to investigating our whiteness and the implications of this on our behavior as community members.
Reach out to us via blackcatbookfair@riseup.net for more. Our organizing model will feature a period of open meetings, when we welcome anyone considering participating in book fair planning, as well as a closed period, for collective member accountability and effective coordination.
OUR FUNDRAISING & MUTUAL AID
Operating on the principle of mutual aid, Black Cat Book Fair funds raised will go to supporting traveling speakers and event costs for this and future fairs, with excess going to support local groups:
Maine Solidarity Fund
A rapid response fund aiming to raise $1 million for legal aid to trans and immigrant communities under increased threat. Community Relief Fund
A community-led, mutual aid, rapid response effort for families who’ve had their family members taken by immigration.
If you would like to contribute, we welcome donations of any amount via PayPal to @blackcatbookfair or Venmo to @boxcarbooks (note BCBF in the memo).
