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Bookshop Day 2020 events line-up revealed
25/09/2020
Bookshops across the country are preparing for Bookshop Day (Saturday 3 October) with author signings by bestselling and debut writers; exciting bookshop exclusives; stunning shop windows created by world-renowned illustrators; four new bookshops launching; and virtual events to bring book lovers together.
From author events with
Claudia Winkleman, Stuart Turton
and
Cressida Cowell
, to bookshop exclusives from
Charlie Mackesy, Katherine Rundell
, and much more, Bookshop Day is packed with reasons to visit a local bookshop.
Bookshops have been working hard to adapt for the annual event, with activity now spread out across the week to allow for as many book lovers as possible to enjoy visiting their local bookshop in line with current safety guidelines.
With Christmas fast approaching, the Booksellers Association is also encouraging customers to start their Christmas shopping from Bookshop Day to spread out demand to ensure that social-distancing can be maintained and queuing avoided. Booksellers will be on hand to help customers choose the perfect gifts for their loved ones, both instore and via their websites, phone or email.
Bookshop Day highlights this year include:
- Internationally best-selling author, artist and illustrator
Charlie Mackesy
is this year’s collaborator on the Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag, which will be available exclusively in bookshops across the UK and Ireland from Bookshop Day
- Acclaimed children’s author, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and Blue Peter Book Award winner,
Katherine Rundell
will be signing copies of
The Book of Hopes
, an extraordinary collection of stories, poems, essays and pictures for children from over 100 children’s writers and illustrators, edited by Rundell, and published by Bloomsbury. Contributors include Lauren Child, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson, and Axel Scheffler, and the collection is dedicated to the doctors, nurses, carers, porters and everyone working in hospitals. The signed copies will be available exclusively in bookshops, with a donation from each sale going to the NHS Charities Together in gratitude for the incredible efforts of all those who have worked in hospitals during the pandemic (Saturday 3 October,
Foyles Charing Cross Road
,
The Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill
,
London Review Bookshop
,
Stoke Newington Bookshop
,
Ink @ 84
,
Waterstones Islington
,
Daunts Marylebone
,
Queen’s Park Books
)
-
Claudia Winkleman
will be in conversation with
Emma Freud
in a special live online event with Waterstones, discussing Winkleman’s hotly anticipated, warm, wry and heartfelt debut,
Quite
(Tuesday 29
th
September, 19:30,
Waterstones online
)
- Waterstones Children’s Laureate, and celebrated author of
How To Train Your Dragon
,
Cressida Cowell
, will be taking part in a magical family online event with Blackwell’s Heffers Bookshop (Sunday 4 October, 16:00-17:00,
Heffers online
)
- Books Are my Bag Readers Awards winner and Sunday Times bestseller,
Stuart Turton
, will be in conversation with bestselling crime writer,
Will Dean
, discussing Turton’s addictive new murder-mystery,
The Devil and the Dark Water
(Wednesday 30
th
September, 19:30,
Waterstones online
)
- Beloved children’s author, star of
Horrible Histories
, and
Paddington 2
writer,
Simon Farnaby
, will be signing copies of his new book
The Wizard in My Shed
at
Pickled Pepper Books
and
The
Children’s Bookshop,
Muswell Hill
(Saturday 3
rd
October, 14:00,
The Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill
; and 15:00,
Pickled Pepper Books
, Crouch End)
- Inspired by the stunning new book
Julian at the Wedding
by
Jessica Love
,
Hazel Gardiner Design
will be creating a floral art installation in
Sevenoaks Bookshop
on publication day, Thursday 1 October (Thursday 1 October onwards,
Sevenoaks Bookshop
, Kent)
- Gay’s the Word
bookshop will also feature a floral window display inspired by
Julian at the Wedding
by
Jessica Love,
created by
Floral Evolution
, and on display from Monday 5 October (Monday 5 October onwards,
Gay’s The Word
, London)
- A new collection of
Virginia Woolf’s
essays,
How Should One Read a Book
, with a new introduction and afterward by
Sheila Heti
(
Motherhood
), will be available exclusively in bookshops from Bookshop Day, published by Laurence King, ahead of its general release later in October. A percentage of sales made during the bookshop exclusive period will be donated to the Book Trade Charity (various bookshops)
- Booker shortlisted author,
Graeme Macrae Burnet
, will be visiting various bookshops on Bookshop Day and signing custom book plates, as he celebrates the publication of his new novel,
Case Studies
- Wendy Holden
(
The Governess
) will be taking part in the hugely popular online event series, At Home with 4 Indies, hosted by four independent bookshops who came together to create a new event offering in light of Covid-19 (Monday 28 September, 19:30-20:30,
online
)
- Waterstones Guildford
will host its
LGBTQI+ Book Club
on Zoom, discussing
Queer Intentions
by Amelia Abraham (Tuesday 28 September, 18:30-19:30,
Waterstones Guildford
)
- Legendary artists,
Alan Lee, John Howe
and
Ted Nasmith
will be in conversation to mark the 40
th
anniversary edition of
Unfinished Tales
by J.R.R. Tolkein (Thursday 1 October, 19:30,
Waterstones online
)
- Dr Peter Lovatt
, author of
The Dance Cure
, has choreographed 20 micro dances each based on his book and a
Book club Boogie
, with a special ‘Bookshop Boogie’ that can be used in book clubs. Lovatt has also created a video called ‘Boogie on down to the Bookshop’ featuring
The Book Hive
,
Jarrolds Book Store
and
Waterstones Norwich
, released to mark Bookshop Day
- The Secret Bookshelf
is hosting an online quiz, and a chat event around books to recommend to friends, as well as various special offers including a free Hedgehog Press Stickleback micro-poetry collection with any poetry purchase to celebrate National Poetry Day on 1 October (Thursday 1 October onwards,
The Secret Bookshelf
, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland)
- Chicken and Frog Bookshop
is working with The School of Life Press to launch a poetry competition, with two winners receiving a copy of
An Emotional Menagerie
. (
Chicken and Frog Bookshop
, Brentwood)
- October Books
is giving away a free blind date with a book to every customer; every customer who buys a book will receive a bonus mystery book (Saturday 3 October,
October Books
, Southampton)
- Booka Bookshop
and Scholasitc are hosting a virtual event with Laura Wood to mark the publication of
A Snowfall of Silver
(Saturday 3 October, 18:00,
online
)
- Drake the Bookshop
and Tiny Tree Books publishers will be sharing readings with authors and giveaways online
- Welsh former international footballer,
Neville Southall MBE
(
Mind Games
) will be doing an At Home with 4 Indies event, with the first 100 registrants receiving a signed bookplated copy of his new book (Tuesday 29 September, 19:30-20:30,
online
)
- Children’s Bookshop
, Huddersfield, is planning a bear hunt, a competition to guess the number of books in a bag, and a “booky dip” (Saturday 3 October,
Children’s Bookshop
, Huddersfield)
- Natasha Farrant
will be doing a live event at
The Book Nook
, answering questions and talking about her new book,
Voyage of the Sparrowhawk
(Saturday 3 October, 11:00,
The Book Nook
, Hove)
- Lost in Books
is hosting an author signing event with local author
Anna Chorlton
to mark Bookshop Day. Chorlton will be signing copies of
Cornish Folk Tales of Place
and visiting the shop to talk about her writing process (Monday 5 October,
Lost in Books
, Lostwithiel, Cornwall)
- Picture book author-illustrator,
Emma Lazell
(
Big Cat
) will be taking part in two events with
Chiltern Bookshops
, including storytelling and tiger crafts (Saturday 3 October,
Chorleywood and Gerrards Cross
stores)
- Niche Comics & Bookshop
is celebrating its ninth birthday on the high street, and will be marking the occasion on Bookshop Day with cake, drinks, and special offers (
Niche Comics & Bookshop
, Huntingdon)
- Bridge Bookshop
will be offering goodie bags and special offers on Bookshop Day (
Bridge Bookshop
, Dromore)
- The Book Shop
will be offering activities, discounts, special offers, freebies and more (
The Book Shop
, Lee-On-The-Solent)
- The Rabbit Hole
will be laying on offers and treats (
The Rabbit Hole
, Brigg)
- Charlotte Nichols MP
will be visiting
Forget Me Not Bookshop
on Bookshop Day (
Forget Me Not
, Culcheth) and
Sarah Jones MP
will be visiting
Waterstones in Croydon
on Bookshop Day (
Waterstones Croydon
)
Four new bookshops
are opening in time for Bookshop Day: a new bookshop from
Little Toller Books
will be opening its doors in Beaminster, Dorset, and welcoming new customers on Bookshop Day. Specialising in natural history, the store will also stock books for children, and will be partly curated by writers, booksellers, musicians and poets;
Moonraker Books, Chapter 2
, will open its doors in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire;
Not Just Books
is due to welcome book lovers in Thetford, Norfolk; and
Kemp’s General Store and Kemp’s Books
will be launching in Malton, North Yorkshire.
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association,
said:
“There are countless reasons to visit your local bookshops this Bookshop Day, or join in the fun online. We’ve spoken to hundreds of bookshops over the past six months who’ve been blown away by the support from their customers, and we know they’ll need that support now more than ever, as bookshops continue to face the full force of the immense challenges to the high street. With Christmas fast approaching, we encourage bookshop customers to start their shopping from Bookshop Day, whether in their local bookshop, or online. With more bookshops than ever before now offering orders via websites, over the phone, and email, it couldn’t be easier to shop with your local bookshop.”
Details of Bookshop Day events taking place across the country can be found on the
Books are My Bag Facebook events page
.
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