The literary events enhancing Bristol’s indie bookshop scene

Bristol’s indie bookshop revival is continuing apace.

Two recent new additions to the scene, Clifton Arcade’s Heron Books and The Small City Bookshop in Redfield, are variously running reading groups, storytelling and spoken word sessions, with fuller programmes to be announced.

And across the city over the coming months, booksellers will be continuing to welcome authors to introduce and answer questions about their work in friendly and intimate settings. Bristol24/7 takes a look at some of the highlights.

Max Minerva’s

Emily Koch: What July Knew
The Eastfield, February 9, 7pm

Bristol-based Emily Koch, who is the award-winning author of two novels – If I Die Before I Wake and Keep Him Close – started out as a journalist, working for the Bristol Post. Her passion for creative writing saw her co-found the workshop WriteClub in 2016, with her friend and fellow writer Alison Powell.

Her third novel is set in the summer of 1995. It centres around 10-year-old July, who lost her mother in a car accident years earlier. Or so she thinks. When she receives an anonymous note, her perspective suddenly shifts dramatically, and she is determined to investigate what really happened.

This event will feature a discussion with Koch, followed by her very own 90s pub quiz.

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Eleanor Shearer: River Sing Me Home
The Eastfield, March 2, 7pm

Shearer’s searing debut is set in the Carribean in the aftermath of slavery. It follows a mother – Rachel – and her quest to find her stolen children: Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. They were the ones who survived, yet were cruelly sold on to other plantations.

Now, in the year 1834, they are legally free, and Rachel searches tirelessly for them: from Barbados to British Guiana, and on to Trinidad, unable to find peace until she has discovered their stories.

Living in London, Shearer is a granddaughter of Windrush immigrants, and has long held an interest in Carribean history. She studied the legacy of slavery during her Master’s degree in Politics at the University of Oxford. She joins Max Minerva’s to discuss what Jeannette Winterson calls “a strange and beautiful novel that stares into the face of brutality and the heart of love”.

Eleanor Shearer, River Sing Me Home – photo: courtesy Max Minerva’s

Tom Crewe: The New Life
The Eastfield, March 16, 7pm

An editor and essayist at the London Review of Books, Crewe was inspired to write his debut novel long before he did so. A tale of emotional strength and daring in Victorian England, The New Life follows John Addington, a married man who has fallen for Frank, a working-class printer, and Henry Ellis, whose wife Edith is in love with a woman.

John and Henry decide to write a book together that challenges societal norms and the legal status quo, and in doing so, to share the possibility of a better and more equitable future for everyone. But how far will they risk their own safety in the pursuit of change?

Crewe will be discussing the work that he says he hopes will open readers up to “an unfamiliar Victorian England that will surprise and provoke”.

Tom Crewe, The New Life (Penguin Books) – photo: courtesy Max Minerva’s

Information on all forthcoming literary events, as well as new releases, pre-orders and reading subscriptions at Max Minerva’s can be found at www.maxminervas.co.uk.

Gloucester Road Books

Dizz Tate: Brutes
In store, February 10, 7pm

London-based writer Tate, who grew up in Florida, has had her short fiction featured in multiple publications. She also won the Bristol Short Story Prize in 2018. Brutes is her hugely anticipated debut novel, which was subject to a five-way auction battle from excited publishers.

Set in Falls Landing, Florida, the narrative charts a gang of young teenage girls and their obsession with Sammy, the local preacher’s daughter. But when Sammy suddenly goes missing, their fascination will bring them closer to unearthing a sinister secret.

Before publication, the book has already made waves within literary circles. Author of The Water Cure, Sophie Mackintosh, pronounces it “a defiant elegy to the myth of girlhood innocence”. Tate will be in conversation on the night with Gloucester Road Books’ Joe Melia.

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All upcoming literary events from Gloucester Road Books will be listed at www.gloucesterroadbooks.com and on @gloucesterroadbooks.

Bookhaus

Bibliomaniac with Robin Ince
In store, February 16, 6pm

When Robin Ince’s stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox in autumn 2021 was postponed due to Covid-19, he found himself with an empty diary, and an alternative plan formed in his head. He would venture up and down the UK on a tour of a hundred bookshops, falling prey to a few public transport failures along the way.

This is a story of lifelong love, adventure, and why he can never have too many (or quite enough) books.

As part of the national tour, Bookhaus hosted Ince introducing his book The Importance of Being Interested in 2021, and as a result, they get a mention in Biblomaniac. Delighted to be welcoming him once more, they have called this particular occasion “a bookshop event Inception”.

Robin Ince, Bibliomaniac (Atlantic Books) – courtesy: Bookhaus

Mary Gordon: Chase of the Wild Goose: Relaunching the queer cult classic
In store, February 21, 6pm

First published in 1936 but out of print since the 1940s, this forgotten queer classic is being republished by Lurid Editions, making it available to many readers for the first time.

It charts the real lives of Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1832), two Irish women who left their families and eloped to north Wales together – becoming known as the Ladies of Llangollen.

Sarah Waters called Gordon’s book “a fascinating piece of queer history”. To discuss it, Bookhaus hosts Elisabeth English, lesbian modernism expert and senior lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, art historian Dr Freya Gowrley, Victorian literary scholar Tara Puri and publisher D-M Withers.

Chase of the Wild Goose (Lurid Press) – photo: courtesy Bookhaus

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For poetry, fiction and non-fiction favourites and news about upcoming events at Bookhaus, visit www.bookhausbristol.com.

Stanfords

In Store, February 22, 6.30pm
Adam Hart: The Deadly Balance: Predators and People in a Crowded World

Broadcaster and Professor of Science Communication at the University of Gloucestershire, Adam Hart describes himself as a lifelong nature obsessive.

His new book chronicles humanity’s complex relationship with predators, and uses a conservation science basis to examine how we might live more harmoniously alongside them.

In store, March 7, 6.30pm
Stephen Moss: Ten Birds that Changed the World

Naturalist and author Stephen Moss explores our enduring fascination with birds through the lens of 10 key species from around the world.

“From Odin’s faithful raven companions to Darwin’s finches, and from the wild turkey of the Americas to the emperor penguin as potent symbol of the climate crisis, this is a fascinating, eye-opening and endlessly engaging work of natural history.”

Stephen Moss, Ten Birds that Changed the World – photo: Guardian Faber Publishing

In store, March 20, 6.30pm
50 Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism

So-called ‘dark tourism’ is on the rise, and it’s a trend that can perpetuate social harm to the communities at the heart of it.

Adam Lynes, Craig Kelly and James Treadwell, who have co-edited 50 Dark Destinations, will be in discussion at Stanfords to talk about the origins of this phenomenon, as well as where it might lead.

50 Dark Destinations, Crime and Contemporary Tourism – photo: Bristol Policy Press

For more details and to keep informed of all upcoming events at Stanfords Bristol, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk.

Storysmith Books

In store, March 5, 10am

Alexa Brown: Mr Leopard’s Bookshop

A Sunday morning storytime session, recommended for ages 3+. These family events at Storysmith Books are free to attend and tend to attract a lot of interest, so advanced booking (only required for children) is advised.

Alexa Brown and book cover for Mr Leopard’s Bookshop (Scholastic press) – photo: courtesy of Storysmith Books

In store, March 14, 6.30pm

Sophie Mackintosh: Cursed Bread

If you eat the bread you’ll die, he said. The statement made no sense, but it filled me with an electric dread.

The Man Booker Prize long-listed author of The Water Cure joins Storysmith Books to discuss her novel, described as: “a fevered confession, an entry into memory’s hall of mirrors, a fable of obsession and transformation”.

Central character Elodie, the baker’s wife, finds herself embroiled in the strange and intoxicating happenings suddenly sweeping over the once tranquil town in which she longs to be noticed.

Sophie Mackintosh and book cover for Cursed Bread (Penguin Books) – photo: courtesy of Storysmith Books

Polly Barton: Porn (An Oral History)
In store, March 16, 6.30pm

In conversation with novelist, Jessica Andrews, the author of the acclaimed memoir Fifty Sounds joins Storysmith for this special book launch event.

Porn (An Oral History) is a revelatory non-fiction work, written in the spirit of playwright Nell Dunn (Talking to Women, 1965). It is comprised of interviews and extracts of conversations between Barton, and 20 friends and acquaintances with whom she spent a year having intimate conversations about a subject which is so often left unspoken.

On the night, sections of the book will be brought to life by actors from Bristol Old Vic Young Company.

Polly Barton and book cover for Porn (An Oral History), Fitzcarraldo Editions – photo: courtesy of Storysmith Books

In store, March 27, 6.30pm

Nicole Flattery: Nothing Special

Nothing Special is the debut novel from Flattery, the lauded short story writer of the collection Show Them a Good Time.

Set in the world of Andy Warhol’s New York, the narrative imagines the inner and external lives of the four women who transcribed the pop artist’s 24 one-hour tape recorder conversations, which were published almost verbatim in his 1968 book, a, A Novel.

On the night, Flattery will be in conversation with poet, Peter Scalpello.

Nicole Flattery and book cover for Nothing Special (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC) – photo: courtesy of Storysmith Books

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For tickets and further information about all upcoming events at Storysmith, go to www.storysmithbooks.com. Tickets to all evening events will include a glass of wine, and copies of the novels can be pre-ordered for a discounted price, to collect on the night.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Bristol’s Independent Bookshop Week 2022

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