Sep 18
2009

From Mythmakers and Lawbreakers:

William Godwin (1756–1836), considered by some “the first anarchist,” did indeed lay down an impressive amount of anti-state theory, in part in his remarkably titled Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness. He also, however, wrote what is considered the first mystery novel: Things as They Are or The Adventures of Caleb Williams. He was married to Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the first feminists, and fathered Mary Shelley, one of the first science-fiction authors. He was libeled and persecuted heavily for his political be-liefs and spent much of his life living as anonymously as possible.

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Sep 16
2009

From Mythmakers and Lawbreakers:

Félix Fénéon (1861–1944) was an art and literary critic in turn-of-the-century Paris, the coiner of the term “neo-impressionism,” and openly identified as an anarchist. In 1894, he and 29 others were acquitted of conspiracy to bomb and assassinate political leaders. He wrote Novels in Three Lines, a piece that redefined the idea of story-telling. The book is formed from a series of newspaper headlines that he wrote in 1906 for a paper, but taken together they paint a dark vignette of Parisian life.

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Sep 10
2009

From Mythmakers and Lawbreakers:

Rafael Barrett (1876–1910), a Spanish immigrant to Paraguay, was the sort of writer whose works were influential on other people who themselves became more influential. He wrote all types of things, including short stories, but his primary vessel was journalism. He wrote and published a lot, running an anarchist newspaper. One of his more famous pieces was Lo que son los yerbales, an account of the conditions on Yerba Mate farms. He was also an outspoken anarchist (very much the sort that preferred the pen to dynamite), and for this he earned contempt and was at one point exiled to Uruguay. In his essay My Anarchism (as translated by Paul Sharkey), he begins simply: “The etymology is good enough for me ‘Absence of government.’ The spirit of authority and the standing of the laws must be destroyed. That says it all.”

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