Our April Discussion Meeting

TOPIC :           EDWARD CARPENTER AND THE CO-OPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH
                                      -  Lessons for Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell

SPEAKER :    CHRIS OLEWICZ

TIME :             8pm to 9.15pm

DATE :           SUNDAY, 8th APRIL

VENUE :       CONTACT CLUB, SNAPE HILL LANE, DRONFIELD S18 2GT

The speaker, Chris Olewicz is a Sheffield Labour Party member who currently lives in Walkley but is originally from Stannington. He has recently submitted a PhD thesis to Sheffield University entitled "History, Radicalism, and the New Left: Studies on the Left 1959-1967"

He is an avid Sheffield Wednesday fan and has co-authored two books about the club; "Sheffield Wednesday: 20 Legends" and "Don Megson: A life in football".

For the last 6 years Chris has worked as a Program Manager at Yes2Ventures, helping disabled people get into work. He also helps to run a Coop library in Sheffield.

He will address us about Edward Carpenter (1884-1929) who was a leading socialist, writer, poet, speaker, anthologist, activist and an early advocate of the rights of homosexuals. Carpenter lived at Millthorpe for 40 years in a community which today is covered by the Dronfield and District Labour Party. Given the importance and local links of Carpenter, Chris has proposed that he should be given the Freedom of the City of Sheffield.

Chris will also examine with us what the current Labour leadership can learn from Carpenter's work and activities. This following link -  link - leads to a recent article by Chris about Edward Carpenter.

The photo below shows Edward Carpenter (on the right) at his home in Millthorpe. He played the piano at the nearby Royal Oak and served on the Holmesfield Parish Council. Amongst his wide range of works was this socialist song - click here.