About this Event
Title of talk: The Nation on No Map at Five
In collaboration with Another Story Bookshop; sponsored by Black Movement Lab
When William C. Anderson published The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition in 2021, it was an attempt to diagnose and avoid many problems plaguing sectarian leftism in the U.S. By working to bring Black anarchist history into its proper recognition within the Black radical tradition, Anderson tasked himself with both excavation and practical application. Now, five years later, this event serves as a reflection on what’s happened since this critical intervention. Anderson will give short remarks on his relationship to this work on its five-year anniversary and assess what it means going forward. He’ll be joined by scholars Robyn Maynard, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Tiana Reid for a conversation about how the book meets this current moment and its relevance for times ahead. The Nation on No Mapat 5 is not just a celebration of a book; it’s an opportunity to consider praxis.
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William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, Alabama. His work has appeared in The Guardian, MTV, British Journal of Photography, Logic(s) Magazine, and , where he’s a monthly columnist and board member. He is the author of (AK Press 2021) and co-author of (AK Press 2018). He’s also the co-founder of and provides creative direction as a producer of the . His writings have been included in the anthologies (Haymarket 2016) and (Mariame Kaba 2014).
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Robyn Maynard is an author and scholar based in Toronto, where she holds the position of Assistant Professor of Black Feminisms in Canada at the University of Toronto-Scarborough in the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies. Her writing on borders, policing, abolition and Black feminism is taught widely in universities across Canada, the United States and Europe.
Maynard is the author of two books. Policing Black Lives: State violence in Canada from slavery to the present(Fernwood 2017) is a national bestseller, designated as one of the “best 100 books of 2017” by the Hill Times, listed in The Walrus‘s “best books of 2018,” shortlisted for an Atlantic Book Award, the Concordia University First Book Prize and the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction, and the winner of the 2017 Errol Sharpe Book Prize. In 2018 the book was published in French with Mémoire d’encrier, titled NoirEs sous surveillance. Esclavage, répression et violence d’État au Canada and won the 2019 Prix de libraires in the category of “essais.” Rehearsals for Living (Knopt/Haymarket, 2022) co-authored with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, is a Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and CBC National Bestseller, was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award for literary non-fiction, a finalist for the Heritage Toronto Book Award and designated one of CBC’s “best Canadian non-fiction books of 2022” and the “best 100 books of 2022” by the Hill Times.
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Leanne B. Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician, writer and academic, who has been widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. Her work breaks open the boundaries between story and song, bringing audiences into a rich and layered world of sound, light, and sovereign creativity.
Working for more than two decades as an independent scholar using Nishnaabeg intellectual practices, Leanne has lectured and taught extensively at universities across Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe and has over twenty years experience with Indigenous land based education. She holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba and is a member of Alderville First Nation.
Leanne is the author of eight books, including A Short History of the Blockade and the novel Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies which was short listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize. Her collaboration with Robyn Maynard, Rehearsals for Living is a National Best Seller and was short listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction. Leanne is also a musician. Her latest release Theory of Ice was named to the Polaris Prize short list, and she is the 2021 winner of the Prism Prize’s Willie Dunn Award. Leanne’s new work, Theory of Water is a national best seller and won the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust prize for nonfiction.
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Tiana Reid is an assistant professor in the Department of English at York University and the author of the poetry collection Nightnursing (2026). Her essays, reviews, and academic articles have been published in many places, including American Quarterly, Bookforum, Dissent, The Nation, The New York Review of Books, Theory & Event, and The Yale Review.
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For accessibility requests and dietary restrictions, please contact us at [email protected]
Event venue & nearby stays
William Doo Auditorium, 45 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.