Bring your little ones along for some MONSTROUS fun with lively children’s writer / illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson, author of lots of great children’s picture books including her latest, ‘The Big Monster Snorey Book’. Leigh will read stories, do LOTS of doodling, and help children make their very own sleepy/wakey moving monster!
Suitable for ages 3 – 8.
Tickets £2 redeemable against a book. Free Refreshments.
We feel absolutely privileged and thrilled to welcome award-winning novelist Louis de Bernieres back to Steyning. Louis is perhaps best known his best-selling novel ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’, and for his wonderful Turkish historical epic ‘Birds without Wings’. Louis is a fascinating speaker who has held down an astonishing array of jobs, and is also an accomplished musician and a gifted poet, so we should be in for a real treat! We will be celebrating the release of Louis’ eighth novel, ‘The Dust that Falls from Dreams’, published by Vintage, which promises to be a sweeping, moving chronicle of war and romance, as the fading Edwardian values of the late 19th century are transformed by the shifts of the First World War. ‘The Dust that Falls from Dreams’ is to be the first in a trilogy loosely based on Louis’ own family history.
Tickets cost £35, and include a copy of Louis’ latest book, and a delicious, seasonal 2 course meal.
We are very happy to present a fascinating evening with Steyning’s very own Guardian journalist, sometime parliamentary candidate, and author of over 20 books on subjects as diverse as time-banking, the middle-classes, Richard the Lionheart, alternative currencies, and allotments! David Boyle’s new book ‘How to be English’, published by Vintage, is an irreverent look at how bell-ringers, Morris men, meat pies, and cardigans contribute to our notions of what it is to be English. In these times of rising nationalism, with SNP and UKIP grabbing voters’ hearts, and a referendum on our membership of the EU imminent, there has never been a more pertinent time to ask ourselves “What does it mean to be English?”
Thursday 23rd July, 7.30 pm, at the bookshop.
We are very excited to introduce the acclaimed novelist Sarah Moss to Steyning. Sarah has written four novels, all published by Granta, and her latest, ‘Signs for Lost Children’ continues the story of Dr Ally Moberley-Cavendish, whom we met in Moss’s previous novel ‘Bodies of Light’, a bookshop book group favourite. Both novels are beautifully written and offer a fascinating insight into the lives of women in the late 19th century, as Ally juggles the rigours of making her way in the male-dominated medical profession with her roles as daughter and wife. This promises to be a really interesting evening, and with delicious home-made canapés on offer plus complimentary wine, the bookshop will be transformed into a literary salon for the night!
Tuesday 7th July at 7.30 pm. In the bookshop!
Our next event is ‘An Afternoon with Nicola Upson’ on Saturday 27th June at 2pm.
Help us celebrate Independent Booksellers Week in style and join historical crime novelist Nicola Upson for tea and home-made cake in the bookshop garden marquee.
Nicola will speak about her acclaimed series of novels, published by Faber, featuring the real-life ‘Golden Age’ detective novelist Josephine Tey.
Praise for the Josephine Tey books:
‘A distinguished series’ P. D James.
Daily Telegraph ‘Any crime aficianado…should make room for Nicola Upson’s novels.’
Tickets £6 to include tea, cake and a voucher towards a book. Advance booking recommended.
Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. She was the winner of an Escalator/Arts Council England award in 2006 for her debut novel, An Expert in Murder, the first in a series of books to feature Golden Age detective writer, Josephine Tey. In 2008, the novel was published by Faber to wide critical acclaim, and praised by PD James as marking ‘the arrival of a new and assured talent’.
An Expert in Murder was dramatised by BBC Scotland for Woman’s Hour, and has been followed by three more novels: Angel With Two Faces; Two for Sorrow; and most recently Fear in the Sunlight (2012), described by The Financial Times as ‘a smart, playful pleasure in an increasingly adventurous series’. The fifth ‘Josephine Tey’ novel, The Death of Lucy Kyte, will be published by Faber in August 2013.
Nicola is the author of a number of non-fiction books, including Mythologies: the Sculpture of Helaine Blumenfeld (Overlook Press). She has worked in theatre and as a freelance journalist, with five years as crime fiction critic for the New Statesman, and is a regular contributor to BBC radio. She lives with her partner in Cambridge and Cornwall, and is currently writing the sixth book in the Josephine Tey series, and researching a standalone novel.
An Author Supper with nature writer and Guardian journalist Patrick Barkham to celebrate the release of his book ‘Coastlines’.
Tickets £29 to include a complimentary copy of Patrick’s book, a delicious 2 course meal, and of course a fascinating talk by Patrick, sharing the story of his 742 mile journey around the stretches of British coast which are protected by The National Trust. Patrick’s previous two critically acclaimed books were ‘Badgerlands’ and ‘The Butterfly Isles’, so he really is a treasure trove of information on all things natural – get your questions ready!
Celebrating the release of his latest thriller ‘You Are Dead’.
On Thursday 28th May at 7.30 pm, we are delighted to present a very special evening with the always-entertaining master of suspense, Peter James, celebrating the release of the latest instalment in his bestselling series featuring DCI Roy Grace. Tickets £15 to include a copy of ‘You Are Dead’ in hardback. Peter is always happy to sign books after his talk. Tickets are now available from the bookshop, and can be reserved over the phone. Licensed bar. Venue – The Steyning Grammar School Theatre at Shooting Field, Steyning.
A pictorial look back at this event
Click here to see more...