Books / Bookshops
Two friends open Bristol’s newest bookshop
Dan Eltringham and Andrés Anwandter came up with the name for their bookshop, East Bristol Books, before they had a location for it.
So all they needed to do was to find a suitable site in the east of the city to go with the name.
Skip forward a few chapters and they did, with the new bookshop in Old Market opening its doors for the first time on Friday.
is needed now More than ever
“It’s a literary shop,” said Eltringham on a recent afternoon while their stock was still being delivered, with his partner, Leire Barrera, helping with the final preparations.
“This isn’t Waterstones. There’s no point doing that.”
East Bristol Books is opening for the first time on Friday – photo: Martin Booth
Eltringham, who lives in Redfield, describes himself and Anwandter as “poets, translators and literary types” and their bookshop will reflect their own interests
In what was previously Frank’s second hand vintage furniture shop and which still has an armchair from its former incarnation, East Bristol Books on West Street will focus on books published by small presses, translated novels, poetry and radical politics.
There will also be events including readings and book launches, as well as letterpress workshops with an Adana 8×5 handset letterpress machine in one of the front windows.
One of East Bristol Books’ focuses will be small presses – photo: Martin Booth
On the outside of the shop is a panoramic seascape mural by Myrna Quiñonez, an artist from Guanajuato in Mexico now based in Spike Island who also designed the East Bristol Books logo.
Eltringham’s first job was a bookseller at the London Review Bookshop before living in Mexico and working in academia for the last decade.
Anwandter, who lives in Fishponds, is a poet originally from Chile who has also worked in academia, with the pair meeting in 2017 at a poetry and translation conference in Wales.
“We definitely want East Bristol Books to be a place where people want to spend time,” Eltringham said.
“That’s why we have seats. And to create that sense of being a meeting place.”
Anwandter added: “We wanted to have books that you won’t find in other bookshops.
“When we came up with the name for the shop, we wanted to make it clear what we were trading. It’s books and we definitely wanted to locate it here in east Bristol.”
East Bristol Books will have books not available in other bookshops – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
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