The Year of Big Flame continues – Big Flame Book Launch
Big Flame Book Launch
Big Flame Building Movements New Politics was officially launched on Friday the 22nd November above the Marquis Cornwallis, a busy pub in London’s Bloomsbury district.
This fascinating new book, written by two former members of Big Flame is the first in-depth account of the influential libertarian socialist group, who are currently the focus of an ongoing youth project run by the Working Class Movement Library, as well as the topic of an upcoming exhibition due to open at the library in the summer of 2025.
45 former members of Big Flame, joined by their family and friends braved the rain to celebrate this momentous achievement, which has taken the better part of a decade to complete.
The book contains over 30 interviews with former members, whose testimonials are neatly folded into the book’s narrative in order to illustrate Big Flame’s unique blend of politics; exploring the influence that second wave feminism and Italian Marxism held over the group, their bold experiments with collective living, the novel forms of workplace and community solidarity they developed and their critiques of Leninism and Trotskyism.
It is perhaps not surprising for a group who had once made a virtue of total democratic participation, that the authors would in the telling of the organisation’s history attempt to include as many of the voices and opinions of it’s former membership as they could. No wonder this book took so long to write and collate. As is plain to see this project has been a real labour of love.
The night started with a series of short speeches – opened by Max Farrar and Kevin McDonnell (the books authors) and followed by Tony Zurbrugg of Merlin Press, Seth Wheeler (WCML’s Big Flame researcher) and Rosemary Grennan – a representative of a sister radical archive based in London, the MayDay Rooms.
Former members were pleased – and perhaps a little surprised – to hear of the growing interest in their former organisation among younger radicals, with many Ex-Big Flamers expressing an enthusiasm to become involved with WCML’s ongoing Big Flame research.
After the speeches a microphone was passed around the room, and attendees were asked to identify which branch of the organisation they had once belonged to, which generated many unexpected and heartfelt reunions. In the spirit of Big Flame’s former gatherings, much food was eaten, many songs sung, beers drunk, and stories swapped.
In a touching final moment, the names of departed comrades were spoken out at the end of a collective rendition of Phil Ochs’ protest anthem ‘When I’m Gone’.
The book can be bought from all good radical bookshops and can also be ordered directly from Merlin Press
Two further book launches are scheduled for the new year. One at London’s MayDay Rooms, the other at WCML
Details of both will be announced closer the time.
Photo credits: Jamila Squire
Words: Seth Wheeler