On 1 February this year, Freedom Bookshop, London’s oldest anarchist bookshop, was seriously damaged in a suspected firebomb attack. Freedom Press was founded in 1886 by a group including Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin. Many books were burned or charred in the attack, and due to a lack of funds, the shop had been unable to renew its insurance so could not make a claim to restore the shop and its contents.
“Donate a Poem for Freedom” was one of many fund-raising campaigns set up after the attack to help raise money to clean up and repair the shop, and replace stock. Over 700 submissions were received by the editor, Alex Clarke, who took on the enormous task of reading through them all, and narrowed the list down to the 45 poems now published in the Poems for Freedom anthology, which can be purchased here. http://www.lulu.com/shop/the-freedom-poets/poems-for-freedom/paperback/product-20987334.html#ratingsReview
I am happy to be one of the contributors.
Other contributors are Iain Sinclair, William Rowe, Steph Pike, Steve Evets, Shirani Rajapakse, J. Montgomery, Gabriel Moreno, Sigi Dlabal, Andrea Phillips, Pam Brown, Helen Moore Nick Burbridge, Jill Sandra-Phillips, Charlie Mann, Gavin Hudson, Juan Sinag, Louis Brehony, Katherine H, James Scott, Ushiku Crisafulli, Tim Wells, Jean Taun, Jonathan Humble, Cathy Bryant, Niall McDevitt, Heathcote Williams, Gerardo Insua Teijeiro, Christian Watson, Katherine McMahon, Lesley Hale, Maxime Berclaz, Shanise Redmon, Mark Postgate, Antoine Cassar, Rob Gee, Alan Morrison, Pat Jourdan, Zita Holbourne, Christopher Barnes, Laura Taylor, Simon Howard, Lynn Myint-Maung, Abbie Stroud & Peter Sragher.
