by Gudrun Bowers | 13, Jun 2016
SATURDAY 18th JUNE 2.30-4pm.
Prior to his talk at The Steyning Centre on the evening of Sat 18th June, we are offering this exciting opportunity for a few lucky fans to join Scotland’s finest crime writer, Ian Rankin, on a tour of The Riverside Brewery, Upper Beeding’s finest micro-brewery, which was established in 2015. Ian, like his most well-known character Inspector Rebus, is fond of a brew, so come along and see what he makes of our fine Sussex ales! Ticket price includes bottle of beer.
Riverside Breweries finest ales
by Gudrun Bowers | 31, May 2016
To kick off our celebrations for Independent Bookseller’s Week in very fine style, we are thrilled to announce that Ian Rankin will be paying Steyning a visit on Saturday 18th June. This is an absolutely unmissable chance to hear the Scottish Master of Noir talk about his life and work, upon the paperback publication of ‘Even Dogs in the Wild’ his latest John Rebus thriller. He will be appearing at the Steyning Centre at 7.30 pm on Saturday 18th June. Tickets for this event are £12, to include a paperback book.
Also, during the afternoon, he will be touring Upper Beeding’s own Riverside Brewery, and a VERY limited number of tickets will be on sale to join him on this tour.
Please contact the bookshop on 01903 812062 for tickets or for further information on either of these two events.
by Gudrun Bowers | 19, May 2016
“To see a meadow in bloom is a great delight – it’s alive and teeming with life, mysterious, dynamic . . .” To celebrate the publication of a new edition of Meadows At Great Dixter and Beyond by Christopher Lloyd, one of the greatest gardeners of the twentieth century, Fergus Garrett, head gardener at Great Dixter, near Northiam, and author of a new introduction to the book, will give an illustrated talk both about the gardens and the meadows there.
A Steyning Festival event.
Copies of this beautiful and informative book will be available for purchase (at a special festival price) and signing at the event.
Friday 27th May 11 am Festival Big Top, opposite the church.
by Gudrun Bowers | 19, May 2016
On Monday 23rd May at 7.30 pm, Steyning’s newest arts venue, the atmospheric Gluck Studio, will host a very special literary event, as part of the Steyning Festival.
Enjoy a glass of wine as you hear a trio of fine novelists all published by Bloomsbury Publishing; Suzanne Joinson, Polly Samson and Helen Simonson.
Suzanne Joinson’s first novel A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar was Guardian/Observer Book of the Year 2012. Her latest, The Photographer’s Wife is a beautiful and gripping story set in 1930’s Jerusalem and Sussex.
Author Suzanne Joinson
Polly Samson is an acclaimed writer and Costa Award judge whose brilliant novel The Kindness, was chosen as a 2015 Book of the Year by the Times and Observer.
Bloomsbury author Polly Samson
Helen Simonson is the author of international bestselling Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. Her stunning new novel The Summer Before the War is set in Rye in the summer of 1914.
Bloomsbury author Helen Simonson
All the author’s books will be on sale at the event, and they will be happy to personally sign and dedicate copies at the conclusion of the evening.
by Gudrun Bowers | 9, May 2016
An amazing chance to join best-selling children’s author Cressida Cowell to hear about her wonderful Hiccup the Horrendous series and the twelfth and final novel (sob) How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, just out in paperback. Cressida spent her childhood summers on an uninhabited Hebridean island with no electricity. In the evenings her father would tell tales of the Vikings who invaded the islands a millennium ago. This inspired her to use these stories, and her beloved island, as the basis for her wildly popular and very funny Viking series, starting with How to Train your Dragon, which has enchanted a generation of 6-11 year olds with its wit, inventiveness and hilarious illustrations, and inspired two (soon to be three!) DreamWorks films. Just like her books, Cressida is great fun!
Ticket includes £2 voucher towards a book.
Tickets available from the bookshop, and from http://www.steyningfestival.co.uk/whats-on/meet-cressida-cowell-94
by Gudrun Bowers | 9, May 2016
A very special opportunity to meet Sir Vince Cable who joins Guardian columnist and economist David Boyle to discuss a new revised and updated paperback edition of After the Storm. This provides fascinating insights into the global economy – and Britain’s place in it – from his unique vantage point as a former senior member of the coalition and offers a carefully considered perspective on how the British economy should be managed in the future. “Lucid, intelligent – and damning” — The Guardian. “Vince Cable is the parliamentarian who has been consistently the most prescient and thoughtful in his analysis of the credit crunch.” John Kay, Financial Times.
7.30 – 10 pm Tuesday 24th May, Festival Big Top.
Copies of ‘After the Storm’ will be on sale for Vince to sign after his talk.
Tickets from http://www.steyningfestival.co.uk/
or direct from The Steyning Bookshop.
by Gudrun Bowers | 9, May 2016
We are delighted to announce that Peter James is back in Steyning to introduce the 12th novel in his addictive Roy Grace series – ‘Love You Dead’.
Peter James is a one of the nation’s most treasured thriller writers – recently voted ‘The Best Crime Author of All Time’ by WH Smith readers. The Roy Grace series of novels have sold more than 17 million copies and been translated into over 36 languages, bringing the seamy underbelly of Brighton alive to a worldwide audience!
Peter is always a very entertaining speaker, having a wealth of fascinating stories that he has picked up while researching with the Sussex Police, so we can promise an evening of thrills, spills, and the occasional raised eyebrow!
Ticket price includes a hot-off-the-press hardback copy of ‘Love You Dead’, which Peter will, as always, be happy to sign for you after his talk.
7.30 -10 pm Tuesday 24th May.
Tickets available from http://www.steyningfestival.co.uk/
or from The Steyning Bookshop, festival box office.
by Gudrun Bowers | 18, Mar 2016
On Thursday April 7th at 2.30pm, come and join Emily Gravett in the bookshop garden marquee as we celebrate the release of her charming new picture book ‘Tidy’ – a very funny rhyming woodland tale about the perils of being too tidy.
Pete the badger likes everything to be neat and tidy at all times, but what starts as the collection of one fallen leaf escalates quickly and ends with the complete destruction of the forest! Will Pete realise the error of his ways and set things right? ‘Tidy’ delivers a timely environmental message which children will appreciate, with subtlety and humour, and is sumptuously illustrated in Emily’s unique style.
Emily will share stories and badger-y craft activities with children aged 3-8 (suggested age only)
Tickets just £2 entitle the bearer to £2 off one of Emily’s books.
Includes free refreshments.
Emily has visited our bookshop many times before so should need no introduction – but just to remind you – she is an author/illustrator of unique talent and tremendous skill who has a host of critically acclaimed books to her name, including Wolves, Meerkat Mail and Again! She is also twice winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal and the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Bronze Award for Wolves and Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears.
Tidy by Emily Gravett
by Gudrun Bowers | 17, Mar 2016
On Thursday 21st April at 7pm join TV presenter and novelist Janet Ellis for supper at The Sussex Produce Cafe. Janet will be talking about her hotly tipped debut novel The Butcher’s Hook – a dark and bewitching historical novel with a truly unforgettable heroine.
Janet Ellis is a broadcaster, an agony aunt for a national newspaper, and now a novelist. She lives in west London with her husband, and has three children, among them the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
‘The Butcher’s Hook doesn’t read like a first novel – it is a high-finish performance… You need to be braced for violence to rival any Jacobean tragedy: The Butcher’s Hook will hook you’
Observer (New Faces of Fiction 2016)
Tickets priced at £27.50 include a delicious 2 course meal and a copy of The Butcher’s Hook.
Book in advance from The Steyning Bookshop.
The Butcher’s Hook
by Gudrun Bowers | 11, Feb 2016
Local writer and illustrator Sam Watkins, author of the very funny and popular ‘Creature Teacher’ series, published by Oxford University Press, will join us on Friday 19th February at 11 am to help kids create their own comic-strips, and offer general story-writing advice, too.
£2 per ticket, advance booking essential as places for this workshop are limited to 15.
Ideal for ages 7-11, ticket entitles the bearer to £2 off one of Sam Watkins’ books.
Free Refreshments will be served.
creature teacher
creature teacher science shocker
creature teacher goes wild
by Gudrun Bowers | 21, Jan 2016
On Thursday 18th February at 7.30 pm, we are very excited to welcome Catherine Chanter to the bookshop. Catherine will speak about her critically-acclaimed debut novel ‘The Well’, published by Canongate.
‘The Well’ is at once a post-apocalyptic musing on a society with dwindling resources, a thriller, and a hauntingly poetic fable, with elements of myth and magic. It is both gripping and beautifully written, with echoes of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. ‘The Well’ won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2013, was selected for the Richard and Judy Book club, and Catherine was named as one of the Observer ‘New Faces of Fiction 2015’.
Catherine Chanter has written for radio 4 and had many short stories and poems published. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes university, and worked in education and as a political lobbyist before becoming a full-time writer.
Tickets are £5 – or free with a purchase of ‘The Well’.
Advance booking advised. Available in store or by calling us on 01903 812062.
by Gudrun Bowers | 26, Nov 2015
Steyning High Street Late Night Christmas Shopping evening – Wednesday 2nd December 6-9pm 2015
There is no better way to kick-start your festive season than by coming along to the annual Steyning late-night shopping evening!
We are all really looking forward to the children’s procession with Father Christmas, the lively school choirs, the jolly street entertainment, tempting stalls and of course the funfair. As usual a lot of work and planning is involved, so do come and support your local businesses, particularly those who are Chamber members.
Late Night Christmas Shopping at the bookshop with Julia Donaldson
There will be free mince pies and mulled wine at the bookshop as usual and an extra treat will be a visit from Julia Donaldson who is coming towards the end of the event, at 8.15pm, to sign and dedicate books bought at the bookshop that evening or pre-ordered from us from today onwards.
This time in the evening is of course after a lot of younger children will have been taken home to bed but is a golden opportunity for parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles to secretly choose her books and have them dedicated as Christmas gifts. And it’s always lovely to meet and chat with Julia and Malcolm!
by Gudrun Bowers | 22, Sep 2015
An exciting last-minute addition to our autumn schedule, we are thrilled to present an evening with Peter James, who will talk about his suspenseful new ghost story ‘The House on Cold Hill’ at Wickwoods Country Club on Tuesday 6th October at 7.30 pm.
Before he began his best-selling crime-writing career, Peter wrote a few novels in the horror genre, and this chilling haunted house story sees him returning to the genre in fine form, managing to be Gothic yet contemporary, while piling on the tension and creepiness! The book is inspired by a house Peter himself once lived in, and is set in and around Henfield, so Wickwoods Country Club, situated within beautiful woodlands close to Henfield, is the perfect venue!
Tickets are £15 to include a hardback copy of the book, which Peter will be happy to sign after his talk.
The event is open to non-Wickwoods members!
Licensed bar.
by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Sep 2015
We are very excited to welcome back Andrew Gant, writer, composer, choirmaster, church musician, singer and university teacher.
Andrew has sung with many of the UK’s leading choirs and vocal ensembles including The Sixteen and the Monteverdi Choir. As choirmaster of the Queen’s Chapel Royal he led the Chapel Royal choir at the Golden Jubilee service in St Paul’s Cathedral in 2002 and the wedding of H.R.H. Prince William and Kate Middleton. He also set the text of the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion to music, creating ‘A Hymn for the Golden Jubilee’ as part of the 2002 Jubilee celebrations.
His 2014 book ‘Christmas Carols’, published by Profile Books, was a very interesting study of the origins of our best-loved Christmas songs.
Andrew will be speaking about his fascinating new book ‘Sing Unto the Lord, a History of English Church Music’ in which he traces English church music from its Anglo-Saxon origins to the present. It is a history of the music and of the people who made, sang and listened to it, shows the role church music has played in ordinary lives, and considers why it still remains so popular, despite declining church congregations.
Andrew’s talk will be accompanied by the St Andrews Church choir.
Ticket price includes a copy of ‘Sing unto the Lord’.
Wine, soft drinks and nibbles will be provided.
by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Sep 2015
We are sure Steyning will extend a very warm welcome to Sophie Thompson – acclaimed actor and winner of 2014 Celebrity Masterchef, and now also author of the brilliant new cookery book ‘My Family Kitchen’, published by Faber. Sophie will speak about her fascinating theatrical career, and equally theatrical family, and the recipes they’ve handed down and shared over the years.
Ticket price includes delicious, seasonal 2 course meal, a glass of wine, and a copy of ‘My Family Kitchen’.
Part of Steyning and District Food & Drink Festival. 
by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Sep 2015
We feel very privileged to welcome Oz Clarke to Steyning, as part of the Steyning and District Food & Drink Festival.
Renowned wine expert, author, tv presenter, broadcaster and sometime West-End actor Oz Clarke will be sharing his fine palate and irreverent wit with us as he takes us on a tutored tasting of 6 local wines, and gives us the lowdown on what to look out for in the world of wine in the year to come.
Wines, delicious hand-made canapés, and a copy of Oz Clarke’s latest wine guide all included in ticket price!
by Gudrun Bowers | 8, Sep 2015
Attention Ladybird fans! Julia Donaldson’s latest book continues the farmyard adventures of the brave and enterprising little ladybird, as she hatches a cunning plan to prevent Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh from making off with the farmer’s prize hen.
For a chance to buy your copy and get it signed by Julia Donaldson, come down to the bookshop on FRIDAY 18th SEPTEMBER from 4 – 5.30 pm.
Then from 6 pm we invite our customers to celebrate the successful link-up of our bookshop website with Julia’s website – it all seems to be working wonderfully, so do come and join us for wine, nibbles and a chat with Julia and Malcolm.
by my_admin | 3, Jul 2015
Wiston-based author Debbie Howells celebrates the launch of her debut published thriller at The Sussex Produce Café, in association with her publishers Pan Macmillan.
Wine and Canapes will be served. Please contact the bookshop if you wish to reserve a place – just a few left.
by my_admin | 3, Jul 2015
Book launch at The Steyning Bookshop in association with Pan Macmillan.
Popular Worthing-based writer Pam Weaver will be launching her new novel ‘Blue Moon’, a romantic saga set in 1930’s Worthing.
Wine and Canapes will be served. Please contact us to reserve your free invitation.
Thursday 16th July 7.30 pm.
by my_admin | 25, Jun 2015
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.
by my_admin | 25, Jun 2015
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.
by my_admin | 25, Jun 2015
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.
by my_admin | 25, Jun 2015
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!
by my_admin | 1, Jun 2015
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.
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