Since 2011, the Boston Anarchist Bookfair has provided a physical space for anarchism and wider leftist thought, hosting book retailers, vendors, and organizational groups. This year’s fair was held at the Cambridge Community Center on Oct. 19 and 20.

The Bookfair has always been a volunteer effort. Kathy and Matt, who both joined the Boston Anarchist Bookfair collective two years ago, volunteer out of a desire to create space for discourse around anarchist thought. They declined to disclose their last names due to privacy concerns.

“People still want to engage together around ideas,” Kathy said in an interview with The Beacon. “A lot of anarchist ideas are shared on the internet, but it’s so important for people to share a space and have physical literature to inspire each other.”

The Bookfair’s schedule included a variety of events over two days, from organizational workshops to discussions on anarchist history. Some of these included “intro to block printing,” “why (and how) to include disability justice in abolitionist organizing,” and “Stop Cop City and the strategic choices of protest movements.”

After Saturday’s fair, an open conversation was held at the Circus Cooperative Cafe, a worker-owned coffee shop near Harvard Square, where attendees discussed the current political moment and got to create connections outside of the fair.

“We asked, three weeks before the presidential election, what does it mean to be participating in radical politics?” Matt said. “That question really resonated. There were a lot of students talking about their experiences with the encampments in solidarity with Palestine, who connected with each other afterwards.”

Various publishing companies that specialize in radical literature exist across the country—the Bookfair brought some of them together to bring to locals’ attention. This year, AK Press from California, Common Notions Press from Philadelphia, and PM Press from New York were set up with booths to sell books and magazines. Book publishers help legitimize and distribute ideas that otherwise only exist on the fringe.

“There’s such a rich literary tradition in anarchism,” Kathy said. “Anarchism comes from a history of exchanging information in letters and booklets. You can look to writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, or contemporary novelists who identify with anarchism like Rivers Solomon.”

One of the goals of the Boston Anarchist Bookfair is to platform legitimate discourse about anarchism and general leftist thought without being immediately dismissed. A safe space to discuss ideas in good faith is pivotal—two years ago, the Bookfair had an incident where a group of neo-Nazis showed up to intimidate attendees.

“With anarchism being so misunderstood and misrepresented in popular culture, people putting out their own ideas or writing their own books is very important,” Kathy said.

The Lucy Parsons Center, a radical bookstore and community space in Jamaica Plain, was one of the booksellers present at the fair. Mags, who volunteers at the Center, says publishing plays a pivotal role in the spread of ideas.

“Publishing books is what allows us to do the other work that we do,” Mags said. “Anarchist book fairs have a long history—they help unearth history and popularize the knowledge that is being kept from us in a lot of ways.”

Alongside book vendors were many independent vendors, selling merchandise, stickers, and self-published books and zines. LB Lee, a self-published author who writes queer speculative fiction, comics, and mental health zines, claims besides online retail, events like this are their only opportunity to sell their work—and book fairs uniquely allow them to meet readers and other creatives.

“I love the Anarchist Bookfair,” Lee said. “So many of the books I have on my shelf are zines, small press, and self-published—I love their roughness, their honesty, and that they cover these weird niche fringe topics that other people don’t, because there isn’t really enough money to justify it.”

Also present were various organizational groups from around Boston, representing many different social and political causes: these range from the Abolitionist Mail Project, which connects volunteers with incarcerated people as pen-pals, to the Massachusetts Pirate Party, to the Socialist Rifle Association.

Marty Blatt was present as an organizer for Climate Defiance, a direct action group that raises awareness of parties responsible for climate change through nonviolent disruption. He believes that the diversity of organizations creates a hub where people can exchange ideas and collaborate towards shared goals.

“I’m 73—nuclear war and climate disaster feel more imminent than they’ve ever been,” Blatt said. “It is depressing, but we have to fight it, and here’s a group of people coming together for all different issues, so there’s something good.”

Leftist thought often carries an insider status, but the Boston Anarchist Bookfair strives to not scare away outsiders: from the cat motifs featured on flyers and merchandise to open events for the public, the fair clearly strives to pique newcomers’ curiosity and present an inviting entrance to their political discourse.

“We’re not these scary, militant people—we love cats and like to have fun and spread joy too,” Matt said. “New England doesn’t always have the friendliest reputation, so we try to fight that a little: I definitely like the Anarchist Bookfair being a friendlier space than your average place in the Boston area.”