Counter Social: Abolition Edition

*Please note the new venue for Counter Socials & that this event will not be live streamed*

Like chatting books and ideas, but not into book clubs?

Want to meet folk interested in exploring the same worlds as you but not sure where to find them?

Counter Socials are the not-a-book-club bookshop run social that's just the thing for you!

We're thrilled to be collaborating with the fabulous MF Coffee Project to bring you a slice of Lighthouse at Summerhall - we'll meet once a month in the Gallery Bar to have a chat and make new pals. Each month we'll have a theme and a few words from a selection of local writers, artists, activists or performers whose work intersects with that topic.

You can rock up with friends for a lit-salon style night out, you can come solo and be introduced to others in the room, listen in to the 20-25mins of speakers or tuck yourself away to read with one of the themed texts we've brought along for you to browse.

Readings/Speakers will kick off at 6.45pm, so there is time to grab a drink or settle down before!

April's theme is Abolition! We'll be hearing from some writers & local folk interested in restorative justice and prison abolition. Our speakers for this month include:

Sarah Anderson, an academic based at Edinburgh Napier working on the harms of criminalisation and punishment in various forms. She has been involved as an activist in several organisations pushing for both substantive reform or abolition of the criminal justice system in Scotland.

Phil Crockett Thomas, an academic, writer, and artist based in Glasgow. Her work is about social harm, justice, play, and collaboration. She recently edited the book Abolition Science Fiction (2022): a collection of short stories, discussions, and creative ideas, based on working with prison abolitionists to imagine a world without prisons and punishment. The book is free and can be downloadedhere.

Kirstin Anderson, an academic and musician based at Edinburgh Napier University. She has taught music in most Scottish prisons and her recent work looks at how the arts are used by people in carceral spaces as a form of resistance.

If you or a group you work with is challenging carceral systems or reimaginging community justice we'd love to hear from you too!