“The largest left-wing event in Northern Europe”
In the last week of September, Gothenburg will once again become a meeting place for book lovers. The Gothenburg Book Fair, now in its 40th year, will host a number of events between 26 and 28 September, with publishers setting up stands to showcase their books to visitors and authors signing books for their readers.
However, the city will not only host the Gothenburg Book Fair during these dates, as it has done since 2012. The 13th edition of the Radical Book Fair will continue to take place at Aftonstjärnan from 25 to 28 September, offering alternative book fair events featuring talks by authors and activists, book stalls, and discussions on various topics.
The Radical Book Fair is organised by the Syndicalist Forum Association, which was founded in Gothenburg in 1980. Established as an open book café to bring together the Gothenburg left, the Trade Unionist Forum Association organises activities based on feminism, public education and class struggle.
To learn more about the Radical Book Fair, we interviewed Pelle P., who is involved in the collective organisation of the fair. Pelle had the following to say about the Trade Unionist Forum Association:
– “The book café is like a living room where many people can meet non-parliamentary, left-wing and progressive movements. It is a meeting place where people come together and develop comradely relationships. For this purpose, we have special social events. In addition, we sell books we have selected ourselves at our book café. The content of these books is politically oriented. We also organise book discussions, workshops, and lectures.”
“The Radical Book Fair is the largest independent left-wing or extra-parliamentary left-wing event in Northern Europe.”
Pelle, who has been involved in organising the book fair for five years, described the progress of the Radical Book Fair:
“The book fair has been held for 13 years, but I can say that a lot has changed since it began. There is a big difference between why we started organising this book fair and why we continue to organise it today. I was not involved in the early days of the fair, but I heard that there were only three events over three days. Now we organise around 30 different talks, workshops and classes over four days, as well as various cultural events. We reach out to many writers and activist groups.
We can say that the Radical Book Fair has grown to become the largest autonomous left-wing or extra-parliamentary left-wing event in Northern Europe. This is also true in terms of our public education efforts.”
“The Radical Book Fair should be a place created by people together”
Pelle had this to say about the purpose of the Radical Book Fair:
“If I were to explain why we organise the Radical Book Fair, I would say there are two reasons. The first is to spread the word about our movement. What is happening, what other people are doing, explaining and educating people about the political implications is part of that. The second, and in my opinion the most important, is to inspire people to become activists.
The purpose of the Radical Book Fair should not just be a place where people come and visit, but a place where they create together, and this is very important to us.
I can give the example of a group from London whose name I can’t remember five years ago who participated in the fair. They spoke about destroying Israel’s arms factories and standing in solidarity with Palestine, and this was a concrete example of the mission of this fair.”
“We want to create an alternative to commercial book fairs”
The Gothenburg Book Fair and the Radical Book Fair take place at the same time, in the same city. We asked Pelle what makes the two book fairs different.
“Thirteen years ago, the Gothenburg Book Fair started including fascist and far-right bookshops and speakers in its programme. Over time, their political stance changed increasingly, and this became unacceptable to us. That’s why we initially wanted to create an alternative. Now we are focusing on socialist revolutionary politics. Our goal is to create a different society. We also want to create an alternative to the commercial book fair. The purpose of a commercial book fair is to sell books and hold commercial events. None of this is about educating society. Furthermore, attending a commercial book fair is very expensive, so only certain people can go. This is quite elitist, and we want to be a more open and accessible place.
I can say that we have better books and speakers. We have a smaller space, but we address quite tough issues.”
“We are trying to overcome threats through solidarity and by growing stronger.”
When we asked Pelle about how the number of visitors to the fair has changed over the past 13 years with the rise of right-wing populist politics in Sweden, he replied, “Our book fair has become more popular over the years. At first, we could fit into a meeting room for 10 people, but now we are struggling to find enough space for everyone. We have over 1,000 visitors, and we are now more selective in terms of speakers.”
Pelle listed the threats to the fair as follows:
“Radical right-wingers hate us because of the activities we do. Not only radical right-wingers, but also established right-wingers hate us. They usually threaten us by email. However, there has been no physical attack. In the last year, they have threatened to report families who participate in our events to social services. This is a threat that their children will be taken away if they attend the events. However, we are trying to put an end to these threats through our solidarity and by growing stronger. It is also important to note that radical right-wingers are supported by right-wing parties.”
*You can view the 2025 Radical Book Fair programme at syndikalistisktforum.se
Editorial team, August 2025