Squat The City! How To Use The Arts For Housing Justice is an inspiring and practical resource for anyone curious about the role of the arts—all the arts—in the current housing crisis. Based on Nawrocki's decades of ongoing work as an activist/artist/organizer/educator, it's a passionate invitation to artists from all disciplines and community groups to work together. To explore the potential to inject more creativity, imagination and innovation into the housing justice movement to help raise public awareness and win.
Nawrocki's 18th book—but first work of non-fiction—it assembles his essays, articles, and extracts from his plays, stories and Creative Resistance workshops. It includes material from his legendary "community cabarets” staged by his former band, Rhythm Activism, seen by thousands across Quebec. It's full of lessons, strategies and examples of how to use theatre, music, comedy, poetry, literature, painting and more for the common good.
Norman Nawrocki is a veteran community organizer who co-founded his non-profit housing coop in Milton-Parc, was arrested during the historic fight to save the Overdale neighbourhood, and has been active in many housing battles. He's also an internationally acclaimed violinist, playwright, actor and producer who teaches part-time in the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University. The Vancouver Sun said his last book, Vancouvered Out (Les Pages Noires, 2024), a novella, was "In the honoured tradition of George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London ... Highly recommended."
