Skip to content or view screen version

News From Nowhere 30th Birthday

Mandy Vere | 27.03.2004 14:54 | Culture | Gender | Liverpool

News From Nowhere Radical Bookshop in Bold St, Liverpool, will be celebrating its 30th Birthday in style with an unusual programme of events. The women’s collective which runs the shop as a workers’ co-operative is proud of their success in surviving everything from fascist attacks to the rise of internet bookselling.

. Nothing has been able to dampen their spirit or shake their belief that books can be revolutionary and that there’s no substitution for browsing real books on real shelves! The bookshop is now thriving as the major independent in Liverpool, with its own building which is a treasure trove of weird and wonderful books on subjects from anarchism to zen, & CDs of magical music from all corners of the globe.
Never afraid of controversy, News From Nowhere has always stood outside the mainstream, but this year sees a recognition of the positive role the bookshop has played in the life of Liverpool & beyond with:
· A Lord Mayor’s civic reception at the Town Hall
· A finalist in the Big Difference Awards…..and last but not least…..
· A Corporate Honorary Fellowship of Liverpool John Moores University
In case people get the idea that this radical bookshop has gone soft, the collective are organizing their celebrations around the theme “We are All Immigrants”. On the day that 10 new countries join the EU, Saturday 1st of May itself, News From Nowhere will attempt to counter the mass hysteria of racism which accompanies any talk of immigration, by inviting customers to celebrate their varied origins. Badges and balloons will be handed out proclaiming “We Are All Immigrants” and customers will be invited to mark their origins, or their ancestors’ origins, on a Map of Diversity, making visible the true roots of Liverpool as a Capital of Culture (and not a culture of capital).

EVENTS - all held at News From Nowhere 96 Bold St Liverpool L1 4HY – wheelchair access
Saturday 1st May – 12pm onwards - BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS “We Are All Immigrants”
Mana Bozho Youth Ensemble - drumming
Soul Purpose – women’s funky a capella singing
Joan Owusu – storytelling for children & adults
Tayo Aluko – baritone River Niger – African folk
Tuesday 11th May – 12.30pm – Ghada Karmi, reading from & signing copies of her book “In
Search of Fatima: a Palestinian Story” (Verso)
Thursday 20th May – 7pm – Michael Foot, member of the Labour Government which
established the Mayday Bank Holiday, reading from his book “The
Uncollected Michael Foot” (Politico’s). BSL interpreter available – book
by 5th May if required
Friday 28th May – timeTBC - James Kelman, Booker prizewinner, signing copies of his new
book “You Have to Be Careful in the Land of the Free” (Hamish Hamilton)
Later in the year – events will hopefully include – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (journalist); Rob
Newman (author & comedian); & an evening on “Women’s Activism on
Merseyside”

Organizations who would like to be involved throughout the year, please get in touch.
Further info: Mandy Vere, News From Nowhere Bookshop, 96 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HY
0151-708 7270  nfn@pop3.poptel.org.uk www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk

Mandy Vere
- e-mail: nfn@pop3.poptel.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following comment

History Of News From Nowhere

27.03.2004 15:18

HISTORY OF NEWS FROM NOWHERE BOOKSHOP

News From Nowhere Bookshop opened its doors on Mayday 1974 in tiny premises on Manchester St and in its 30 years of existence has moved three times before occupying its current site on Liverpool's bohemian Bold St. This 5-storey building is now owned by the Workers Co-operative which runs the bookshop as a not-for-profit community business, thus securing its future as an essential resource for the people of Liverpool.
It has also been a Women’s Collective since 1981, providing many women, as members of the collective or as volunteers, with the experience of running a business, and building up their skills in bookselling, retail and accounts. It’s not very often now that a man will take one look at the woman behind the till and ask to see the boss, but it does still happen!
Its descriptions as an alternative, radical, feminist or community bookshop have varied over the years but its aims have remained constant - to provide access to books and information on the reality of the world and how to change it and ourselves for the better. Thus books on the History of Slavery nestle alongside manuals on Environmental Change, and volumes on Tai Chi or Feminism sit opposite Lesbian, Irish and Black fiction.
Subjects range from Labour History, Black Liberation, Irish Politics, and Struggles for Justice and Peace Worldwide, to Children's Rights, Women's Health, Disability Liberation, and Miscarriages of Justice. In addition there are large sections of socially-conscious Fiction and a vast array of Children's Books reflecting our diverse and multi-racial society. Local schools and the Education Authority use the bookshop as a major resource for equal opportunities and dual-language books.
Over the years, as News From Nowhere has become the main independent bookshop in Liverpool, priding itself on its efficient and helpful customer service and ordering facilities, it has built up strong links with the local universities and colleges and is now used as a stockist for students, from ESOL and Second Chance to degree courses in e.g. social sciences, criminology, media, history, literature and politics.
In a world of corporate chains and multinationals, an independent, grassroots co-operative may struggle to compete, and the Women's Collective which runs the shop has had to overcome difficulties such as dilapidated buildings, economic hardships, ruthless landlords, the rise of chain bookselling and not least a determined campaign of arson attacks from fascist groups in the '80s. But News From Nowhere has shown what can be achieved through the dedication of its workers (who now have over 60 years bookselling experience between them!) and the determination of a community to support & retain what it sees as a vital resource and focal point for campaigns for change.
It has always been much more than just a bookshop. In its day-to-day work, the collective tries to put into practice its ideals. For example, staff all receive equal rates of pay; decisions are made collectively - there is no boss; toys and a comfy chair are provided in the children's area for tired or breastfeeding mums; many lesbians and gay men have found it a welcoming port of call when taking their first steps to "coming out". And on a wider level, many campaigns have been supported practically and with information over the years e.g. Troops Out of Ireland, Reclaim The Night, The Miners' Strike, Greenham Common, The Liverpool Dockers, and anti-war campaigns from Vietnam to Iraq. Strong links have also been made with numerous local initiatives e.g. Sahir House, Black History Month, Africa Oye, Liverpool Friends of Palestine, Hillsborough Justice Campaign, refugee & asylum-seeker groups, women's self-harm groups, and countless conferences and events have benefited from a News From Nowhere bookstall. In addition, where else in the city marks Chinese New Year, Martin Luther King Day, International Women's Day, Jewish Book Week, St Patrick's Day, Pride Week, Hiroshima Day, World Aids Day & Kwanzaa?
The collective has never been afraid to confront controversial issues e.g. stocking information on British repression in Ireland long before the Peace Process, pioneering self-determination for survivors of sexual abuse before it was widely recognised or boycotting cheques from Barclays bank during apartheid. At the same time the bookshop's stock and philosophy reflect the hopefulness that 19th century socialist William Morris espoused in his utopian novel "News From Nowhere", that a better world is possible. In our 21st Century that means publicising that there is a large and growing peace movement in Israel, that there is always an alternative to war, that white people can work alongside black for racial justice, that globalisation can be countered by grassroots movements, that realising our personal power can empower us to change the world……and that books are, as ever, crucial in that path to empowerment and justice.

*