writers
Ridge, Lola: anarchist and poet
A brief biography of Lola Ridge, New Zealand anarchist and poet by Mark Derby.
Her published collections of poetry included defending Tom Mooney, Sacco & Vanzetti, and recalling the death of Frank Little.
Marut, Ret: The Early B. Traven - James Goldwasser
A 1990s article surveying the then recently-acquired Ret Marut archive, now residing with the University of California. The documents confirm certain known facts of Marut's life and times, prior to his (now generally accepted) transformation into the reclusive anarchist novelist B. Traven. The collection also provides some further fuel for speculation on the life and identity of the enigma that remains B. Traven.
Marut and his partner Irene Mermet published the anti-war anarchist magazine "Der Zeigelbrenner" (The Brickmaker or Brickburner) throughout the 1st World war - and continued post-war, after Marut became a fugitive wanted for his participation in the Bavarian Council Republic.
Franz Kafka and libertarian socialism
Michael Löwy explores the links between the seminal writer and the anarchist/libertarian socialist movement.
Clearly, the work of Franz Kafka cannot be reduced to a political doctrine of any kind. Kafka did not give speeches but fashioned individuals and situations. In his work, he expressed a Stimmung or sense of feelings and attitudes. The symbolic world of literature cannot be reduced to the discursive world of ideologies.
Art - further reading guide
Libcom's guide to further reading around the subject of art, film, music and literature.
More information
General Problems of Culture
- Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture – Nelson/Grossberg, Eds.
- Recapturing Marxism – Levine/Lembcke, Eds.
Literature and Art
- The Dada Painters and Poets – Motherwell, Ed.
- The Dada Almanac – Huelsenbeck, Ed.
- The Situationist International Anthology – Knabb, Ed.
Finster, Ramon, 1944-1996
A founding member of the French ORA, anarchist militant, artist, writer, animator of cultural and artistic events.
The Butte aux Cailles in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, lies south of the Seine. It is one of the least known old neighbourhoods of the French capital, like its working class cousins north of the river – Batignolles, Belleville and Menilmontant. The Butte rises gently beside the now subterranean course of Paris’s forgotten river the Bievre.
USA: Striking writers threaten disruption at Golden Globes
Striking members of the Writers Guild of America plan to picket the Golden Globes awards ceremony scheduled for January 13, the guild announced Wednesday.
The west coast division of the WGA issued a statement announcing that the organizer of the awards ceremony, Dick Clark Productions, was one of the companies from which writers went on strike and therefore members would picket the awards ceremony.
Camus, Albert and the anarchists
Organise! magazine looks at the life and work of the great existentialist writer Albert Camus.
Born in French Algeria into a poor family in 1913, Camus lost his father in the Battle of the Marne in 1916. He was raised by his mother, who worked as a charlady and was illiterate. Winning a scholarship, Camus eventually began a career as a journalist. As a youth, he was a keen footballer as well as being a member of a theatrical troupe.










