In addition to a growing list of writings on different aspects of the history of anarcho-punk, Rich is working on three separate but related book projects: Let the Tribe Increase and The Hippies Now Wear Black and This Is a Message to Persons Unknown: The Story of Poison Girls.
The last of these three – the book on Poison Girls – will be the first to be published (by PM Press) in November 2025.
This is a Message to Persons Unknown: The Story of Poison Girls
Flesh and blood is what we are, flesh and blood is who we are, our cover is blown.
This Is a Message to Persons Unknown is the first book to explore the history of the legendary band Poison Girls, from their first gigs in Brighton, through their years of touring DIY venues across Britain and Europe, documenting their peerless collection of vinyl releases, the dissident campaigns the band supported, and the uncompromising political statements Poison Girls voiced on record, in print, and through their singular visual aesthetic. A band every bit as formative to anarcho-punk as Crass were, Poison Girls offered a passionate, heartfelt rebuttal to punk rock’s Year Zero protestations. While their musical roots predated punk, their songs blended punk’s ferocity, with a sense of wit, creative ingenuity, and emotional tenderness. Formed in 1977, with a line-up that spanned the generations, Poison Girls were fronted by the redoubtable Vi Subversa, a lyricist, songwriter, and singular vocalist. Armed with a message of anarchist self-reliance, Poison Girls confronted the misogyny and ageism of countercultures and opposition movements just as fiercely as that of the capitalist war state. Through the dark decade of Thatcherism, Poison Girls’ path of most resistance took the band in a very different direction to that pursued by Crass, with some unexpected and revealing results.
Combining original interviews with surviving band members with a participants’ history drawn from the pages of contemporary zines and papers, this comprehensive history of Poison Girls is richly illustrated with photos, posters, record sleeves, and ephemera drawn from the personal archives of band members, including numerous evocative images of the band at work and at play. This Is a Message to Persons Unknown presents the full story of an unparalleled group of radical musicians and artists who saw in punk the opportunity not just to rage against the machine but to create something new and extraordinary.
Contact: info@thehippiesnowwearblack.org.uk
The Story of Poison Girls – Book and Box Set. Kickstarter campaign. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ww3/poisongirls
Rich Cross with Alex Dunn and Erin Yanke. 2025. This is a Message to Persons Unknown: The Story of Poison Girls. PM Press. https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1829
The book is scheduled to be published by PM Press in the US and UK on 25 November 2025.
Let the Tribe Increase
More than ten years ago, Hawaiian-born musician and author Lance Hahn began work on what he intended to be an authoritative history of the first wave of British anarcho-punk – which he had entitled Let the Tribe Increase. Lance was keen to construct that history through the testimony of the band members, artists, organisers and publishers that were engaged with the anarcho-punk movement throughout those turbulent years…
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The Hippies Now Wear Black
The Hippies Now Wear Black, a study of the history, culture, politics and practice of the British anarcho-punk movement between 1977 and 1984, is being written by Rich Cross and will be published by AK Press. Benefitting from many years of cumulative research, The Hippies Now Wear Black will be able to present a detailed account of the most important ‘restorative’ movement to emerge within punk, determined that its implicit world-changing potential should be realised…
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The Hippies Now Wear Black 