Come and meet Julia Donaldson at our fun book-signing event, as she celebrates her new book JULIA DONALDSON’S BOOK OF NAMES. For many years, at every book-signing, Julia Donaldson has scribbled down any unusual names she encounters – she has been squirrelling them away for years, working on including them all in a book – and finally, here it is! Set in a magical transforming bookshop, The Book of Names is a love-letter to bookshops and young bookworms, with cute, charming illustrations by Nila Aye, an award-winning new illustrator. Julia has seamlessly woven the names together thematically, from months of the year, colours and flowers to food, history, and gemstones… “I’ve signed for boys called Romeo, and girls called Juliet . I’ve signed for Roman, Saxon, Dane – though not for Norman yet…” Young readers will enjoy trying to find their own name, and even if your name isn’t included, there is a special dedicated space to add it, or even better, for Julia to sign! How it Works It is essential to buy a ticket for the book-signing. Each ‘ticket’ entitles entry for the purchaser AND THEIR FAMILY GROUP (up to 5 persons, please specify how many adults / children) and includes 1 copy of Julia Donaldson’s Book of Names, in hardback, which you’ll be able to get signed & named by Julia. The book-signing will be split into 40-minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 20 family groups in each time slot, starting from 2pm. As each time slot fills up, we will open the next time-slot. If you want to purchase multiple book copies – don’t buy multiple tickets please! You’ll have plenty of chance to buy more books on the day of the signing, and Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! The book-signing will hopefully take place under cover in the beautiful back garden of the Steyning Bookshop, weather permitting! We will provide fun games and craft activities and free biscuits / juice for children while you wait to meet Julia.
You can book your space via Ticketsource by following the link below. Do give us a ring if you have any questions or if the time-slot is full – we can open up the next one!
We are very excited about our first fiction author event of 2023 with novelist Sophie Haydock. Sophie’s debut novel The Flames, about the four muses who posed for the artist Egon Schiele in Vienna in the early 1900’s, won the Impress Prize for New Writers and has received widespread critical acclaim. This will be an ‘open book group’ style event – the ticket price includes a paperback copy of ‘The Flames’ and we encourage members of the public to pop into the shop to claim their free book PRIOR to the event, and come primed with questions / observations for the author! There will be lots to talk about as Sophie opens up about her research into the elusive, provocative figure of Schiele, his real-life muses, how they relate to her fictionalised creations, not to mention all the bohemian glamour of Secessionist Vienna!
About The Flames Vienna, 1912. Behind every painting, there is a story… Vienna is at its zenith, an opulent, extravagant city teeming with art, music and radical ideas. It is a place where anything seems possible… Edith and Adele are sisters, the daughters of a wealthy bourgeois family. They are expected to follow the rules, to marry well, and produce children. Gertrude is in thrall to her flamboyant older brother. Marked by a traumatic childhood, she envies the freedom he so readily commands. Vally was born into poverty but is making her way in the world as a model for the eminent artist Gustav Klimt. Fierce, passionate and determined, none of these women is quite what they seem. But their lives are set on a collision course when they become entangled with the controversial young artist Egon Schiele whose work – and private life – are sending shockwaves through Viennese society. All it will take is a single act of betrayal to set their world on fire…
Event Details
Doors Open at 7:00PM Starts at 7:30PM
Steyning Bookshop Book Group Members £10 (Must be purchased via the shop) (includes your copy of The Flames)
Public tickets £13 includes a copy of The Flames in paperback, please let the bookshop know whether you’d like to collect the book to read before the event or will be picking it up it on the night. Call 01903 812062 or email info:steyningbookshop.co.uk . Ticket price includes a glass of something upon arrival.
An immersive evening of mesmerising melodies, pagan poetry and spoken word in the beautiful ambience of St Andrew’s Church, Steyning. Featuring SWIFT WINGS, a spoken-word and live-music performance by Justin Hopper and Sharron Kraus, based on their album of the same name, and THE CULT OF WATER, a captivating monologue by David Bramwell accompanied by music, animation, the voice of Alan Moore and archive film. ABOUT SWIFT WINGS SWIFT WINGS is a haunting performance piece featuring Justin Hopper reading Victor Neuberg’s Sussex landscape poems, set to Kraus’s original music performed live on recorders, flutes, synths & vocals, with hypnotic visuals by Wendy Pye.
The poet Victor Neuburg is best known for his early, tragic relationship with the infamous Aleister Crowley and, later, for ‘discovering’ Dylan Thomas. But he was also a prolific writer and poet, and ran a small publishing press from his home in Vine Cottage in Steyning during the 1920’s, publishing writers from the Bohemian subculture.
Writer Justin Hopper has long been fascinated by Neuberg, and in 2022 published the book ‘Obsolete Spells‘, which collects Neuberg’s Sussex poems and Vine Press oddities along with essays. Justin is also the author of Old Weird Albion, a psycho-geographical meander along the South Downs Way.
Sharron Kraus is a weaver of musical spells best described as “‘Pagan radiophonica meets medieval balladry”…
ABOUT THE CULT OF WATER David Bramwell will take you on a magical odyssey, in search of the occult secrets of our rivers, and a drowned village which has long haunted his memories. From his roots in Doncaster, Bramwell travels up the river Don and back in time, through the ladybird plague and drought of 1976 to the heavily polluted Don of Sheffield’s steel industry, up into the Pennines and back into a pre-Christian era when rivers and springs were worshipped as living deities. Along the journey Bramwell battles with his own thalassophobia (the fear of ‘what lurks beneath’); learns about hydromancy from magician Alan Moore, and encounters Jarvis Cocker on his own adventures, sailing down the Don on an inflatable inner tube…. His journey finally brings him face to face with the goddess of primordial waters, Danu, who gave her name to the Don.
David Bramwell is a writer, musician, broadcaster and performer who also organises the popular Catalyst Club events in Brighton & elsewhere. Hisother books include The Haunted Moustache, No9 Bus to Utopia, The Odysseum and The Mysterium, and his podcast, Adventures in Nutopia, is well worth a listen! THE EVENING WILL ALSO FEATURE A short talk by Victor Neuberg’s daughter Caroline Neuberg on her father’s life, work & legacy. EVENT INFO: Doors open 7pm. Performance starts 7.30pm. There will be a bar serving local ales, cheap plonk & soft drinks. There is a large car park at Fletcher’s Croft, opposite the church. There is a bus service running hourly buses from Shoreham-by-Seato Steyning.
We are SO EXCITED to have bagged author, broadcaster and zoologist Lucy Cooke for what will be a FASCINATING evening as she discusses her brilliant book BITCH.
BITCH will change how you think about sex, sexual identity and sexuality in animals and also the very forces that shape evolution. What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again. In the last few decades a revolution has been brewing in zoology and evolutionary biology… Lucy Cooke will introduce us to a riotous cast of animals, and the scientists studying them, that are redefining the female of the species…. From the female lemurs of Madagascar, our ancient primate cousins that dominate the males of their species physically and politically, to female albatross couples, hooking up together to raise their chicks in Hawaii. How about the meerkat mothers of the Kalahari Desert – the most murderous mammals on the planet? The bitches in BITCH overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. TICKET PRICE of £12 includes a paperback copy of Bitch, a glass of something upon entry, and all the revolutionary de-bunking of gender stereotypes you need!
ABOUT LUCY COOKE
Lucy studied zoology under Richard Dawkins at New College, Oxford where she specialised in evolution and animal behaviour. She left academia to become an award-winning writer, producer and presenter of documentaries for both TV and radio. Lucy is also the author of four books, which have been translated into over 20 languages, and a columnist for BBC Wildlife magazine. She is, at heart, a story-teller with a reputation for mixing rigorous cutting-edge science, in-depth investigation and a wry sense of humour to reveal surprising truths about the natural world.
Tickets available from the bookshop, by phone on 01903 812062 or online via Ticketsource, click below.
Join author and natural navigator Tristan Gooley for an evening exploring the secret life of trees, as he celebrates the release of his new book How to Read a Tree. Tristan Gooley has been instructing people in the art of natural navigation, including reading trees, for two decades. During this fascinating evening, Tristan will share the simple principles that explain the shapes and patterns you can see in trees and what they mean. We will learn rare skills that can be applied every time we pass a tree, and learn why no 2 trees are EVER identical. You’ll never look at a tree the same way again! ‘A mesmerising book … Gooley drops learning as lightly as blossom falls in spring.’ – John Lewis-Stempel ABOUT TRISTAN GOOLEY Tristan set up his natural navigation school in 2008 and is the author of the award-winning The Natural Navigator, The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs, How to Read Water, and Wild Signs and Star Paths. He has written for the Sunday Times, the New York Times, the BBC, The Financial Times and many other periodicals. Tristan has led expeditions in five continents, climbed mountains in Europe, Africa and Asia, sailed small boats across oceans and piloted small aircraft to Africa and the Arctic. He has walked with and studied the methods of the Tuareg, Bedouin and Dayak in some of the remotest regions on Earth. He is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Geographical Society. ABOUT THE EVENT Doors open 7pm. Talk starts 7.30pm. A talk plus Q and A by Tristan Gooley, followed by book-signing. Copies of all Tristan’s books will be on sale. Tickets: £17 book & ticket, includes a hardback copy of How to Read a Tree / £7 Ticket only (option to buy book on the night, ticket gives £7 off book RRP of £20)
with support from local poets’ open-mic, MC’ed by Simon Zec.
Join us for an evening of verse with acclaimed poet Henry Normal reading from his new collection, The Fire Hills.
The poems in Fire Hills reflect the landscapes Henry explored upon moving to Fairlight, in East Sussex, as he wandered the Downs, armed only with a pen and unwarranted optimism. Henry will perform a 30-40 minute reading plus Q and A. Our MC for the evening will be local poet Simon Zec, who’ll also be the ‘selector’ for 30 minutes of so of readings from local poets – please submit poems to Simon if you wish to be included in the open mic. The venue is the beautiful Steyning parish church of St Andrew & St Cuthman. There will be a pay bar serving local beers, cheap plonk and soft drinks.
DOORS OPEN 7pm. Event starts 7.30pm.
About Henry Normal Henry is originally from Nottingham, where he first started writing, performing and touring – even opening for bands including Pulp. (He also became Pulp’s tour bus driver!) He was spotted by Channel 4 and moved into television, co-writing both the award-winning Mrs Merton show and the first series of The Royle Family. In 1990 he set up a production company, producing and script-editing many well-loved films & TV series, including the Oscar nominated film Philomena, Gavin and Stacey, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf and Alan Partridge. In 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to Television. He retired in April 2016, and since then has written and performed several shows combining comedy, poetry, and stories about family life for BBC Radio 4. Henry now lives near Hastings with his wife, the screenwriter Angela Pell, and their son Johnny.
To celebrate their stunning new picture book The Bowerbird, come and meet its author, Julia Donaldson, AND illustrator Catherine Rayner, at the Steyning Bookshop for a special book-signing on Saturday 1st April from 2pm. How it Works The book-signing will be split into 40 minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 20 family groups in each time slot. Each ‘ticket’ entitles entry for the purchaser AND THEIR FAMILY GROUP (up to 5 persons, please specify how many adults / children) and includes 1 copy of The Bowerbird. If you want to purchase multiple copies – don’t buy multiple tickets please! You’ll have plenty of chance to buy more books on the day of the signing, and Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! We will provide fun activities and free biscuits / juice for children while you wait to meet Julia.
The first 100 pre-orders for The Bowerbird (whether booked via signing tickets or pre-ordered on our website) will receive a free, limited-edition print by Catherine Rayner. We are sorry, but Julia and Catherine will not sign books purchased elsewhere or brought from home. About the Book The Bowerbird sees Julia Donaldson joins forces with illustrator Catherine Rayner for another exotic avian tale, following their beautiful, best-selling book The Go-Away Bird in 2019. Little Bert, the Bowerbird, is looking for love. Bert has painstakingly constructed the MOST perfect Bower, complete with a pretty purple flower… But Nanette, the lady of his dreams, is FAR from impressed. So Bert flies off finding presents from far and wide… Will it EVER be enough to win Nanette’s heart? Julia Donaldson’s evident delight in the natural world shines through and the illustrations are stunning. A real treat of a picture book for under 6’s.
Click below to buy tickets on our Ticketsource page, alternatively you can reserve your space by phone on 01903 812062.
Join writer, vinyl collector and music buff Jonathan Scott as he takes us on a journey to the very beginnings of recorded sound, to celebrate the release of his new book Into the Groove: The Story of Sound from Tinfoil to Vinyl.. We are really excited about this fascinating music/science blend event, which will hopefully answer that eternal question “Just HOW can discs of bumpy plastic capture sound?” Into the Groove follows the grooves from the first capture of airborne sounds, to steampunk synthesisers, from Thomas Edison’s eureka, to first-wave turntablists, from tin-foil to gold, from cylinder to disc, from swinging shellac to victorious vinyl…
Jonathan’s talk will take us on a whistle-stop tour of his fascinating findings, including audio of the earliest sounds – from the first live performance to the first F-bomb! This is vinyl’s origin story, a format repeatedly written off, threatened by radio, tape, compact disc and download, only to endure and come back stronger. A story which starts in 1877 with grooves of tin foil in a workshop in New Jersey, and ends a century later as the format goes interstellar.
An illustrated talk with slides & audio. Complimentary wine / soft drinks will be served. Doors open 7pm, event starts 7.30pm We regret that the venue is not wheel-chair accessible.
Join the fabulous Sophy Henn for an afternoon of DEADLY fun, as we peek inside an alligator’s jaws, investigate why a lion’s tongue is so dangerous, and learn about the world’s ONLY poisonous primate! *With animal draw-along at the end! This fun, interactive event is based on Sophy’s brand new bookLIFESIZE DEADLY ANIMALS,a fact-filled picture book that’s FULL of the world’s DEADLIEST creatures! Ticket gives £4 off one of Sophy Henn’s LIFESIZE books. AGE GUIDE: for children aged 5-9. FAQS: This event will take place in the bookshop back kitchen, so space in limited, therefore we are only issuing 20 tickets. Accompanying adults do not need to purchase a ticket, but as space is very tight, please keep number of adults / baby siblings to a minimum! Parents of children over 7yrs are welcome to drop n go. The event will last 1 hour.
We are delighted to welcome veteran broadcaster Edward Stourton back to Steyning, for an enlightening evening in conversation with guest interviewer Richard Burge, discussing Ed’s new memoir Confessions.
Edward Stourton has worked in broadcasting for over forty years, and regularly presents BBC Radio Four programmes such as The World at One, The World This Weekend, Sunday and Analysis. He has been a foreign correspondent for Channel Four, ITN and the BBC, and for ten years he was one of the main presenters of the Today programme.
Confessions is a fascinating read, describing the “awokening”, as Stourton puts it, of someone born to privilege who has begun to question the assumptions of his class. Ed was born to wealthy, upper-class expat parents, in colonial Nigeria. He was sent back to Britain to be educated first at Ampleforth, and then at Cambridge University. As a young journalist he reported first from party conferences and picket lines and then from war zones, witnessing international headline-making events, from Haiti to Hong Kong, before returning home to present the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
During this time, the Empire has given way to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, men-only clubs have been replaced by Me Too, and instead of a choice selection of voices on a handful of radio and television channels, we have millions of voices on YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok. The world has changed, and so has Ed.
We know that guest interviewer Richard Burge (ex Head of Wilton Park, now CE of London Chamber of Commerce) will do a marvellous job of drawing out the most thrilling anecdotes from Ed’s remarkable life.
Wine & soft drinks will be served. The historic Brotherhood Hall venue is accessed by a staircase, we regret there is no disabled access.
Join us for a convivial, cosy evening at the Bookshop, celebrating the launch of local historian Chris Hare’s new book Hilaire Belloc – The Politics of Living, on Thursday 8th December at 7.30pm. Wine & nibbles will be served, and Chris will give a talk about his insights into the life and work of the controversial figure.
Hilaire Belloc was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century, who grew up in Slindon in West Sussex, and is buried in the Catholic church at West Grinstead. He is famous for his poetry and song celebrating the Sussex countryside, but was also an orator, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. Chris Hare – a lifelong Belloc reader – takes a fresh look at Belloc’s career and his attitudes towards religion, politics, war, nature, and mortality, as well as examining claims made alleging Belloc to be anti-Semitic.
Chris Hare runs his own heritage consultancy, History People, and has written extensively on the history of Sussex, its folk music, and Worthing, his home town, in particular. Chris has an MA in Life History from the University of Sussex.
Join us for an evening with GREG MOSSE as he discusses his debut novel The Coming Darkness – in conversation with his wife, best-selling novelist KATE MOSSE. The Coming Darkness is a gripping eco-thriller, set in an eerily prescient, not-too-distant future, which is already being hailed as a successor to Terry Hayes’ I Am Pilgrim. About the Evening We are thrilled that Kate Mosse, best-selling author of Labyrinth, Citadel, City of Tears and many more, will be interviewing Greg. There will also be an audience Q & A and both Greg and Kate will sign books at the end. Tickets are £16.00 (admits one, includes signed hardback copy of The Coming Darkness) or £7 (admits one, no book – but ticket can be redeemed against a purchase of The Coming Darkness on the night). Copies of Kate Mosse’s recent books will also be on sale. This will be a ‘book-group’ style event where members of the public are warmly invited to join our 3 book groups, who will have read the book, but we promise – no spoilers! About Greg Mosse Greg Mosse is a creative writing tutor, playwright, and the founder and leader of the Criterion New Writing script development programme at the Criterion Theatre, London. Since 2015, he has written and produced 25 plays and musicals, often in collaboration. He created the Southbank Centre Creative Writing School – an open access program of evening classes, delivering MA level workshops, and also wrote and validated the MA Creative Writing that he taught for four years for the University of Sussex at West Dean College. The Coming Darkness is his first published novel. About The Coming Darkness Paris, 2037. Global warming and pandemics have torn through the fabric of society. Alexandre Lamarque of the French external security service has lost faith in his job – hunting eco-terrorists, and is ready to give up. But he is drawn back in by an ominous sequence of events: a theft from a Norwegian genetics lab; a string of gory child murders; his mother’s illness; a chaotic coup in a breakaway North African republic… He rapidly finds himself in a heart-thumping race against chaos and destruction, the one man with the ability to see through to the deranged intelligence that is plunging the world headlong into ..the coming darkness.
Join us on Sunday 20th November, from 2pm, for a very special book-signing with Julia Donaldson as she celebrates TWO lovely new picture books; the stunning Colours, Colours Everywhere, beautifully illustrated by Sharon King-Chai, and the long awaited return of everyone’s favourite little ladybird in What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas, charmingly illustrated by Lydia Monks.
How it Works The book-signing will be split into 40-minute time-slots to reduce queue times. Each single ‘ticket’ admits ONE FAMILY GROUP of up to 5 persons (please specify how many adults / children). A £12.99 ticket includes a copy of What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas, a £14.99 ticket includes a copy of Colours, Colours Everywhere, and a £27.98 ticket includes both books. You can buy additional copies at the bookshop on the day. If you want to purchase multiple copies – don’t buy multiple tickets please! You’ll have plenty of chance to buy more books on the day of the signing, and Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! We will provide fun activities and free biscuits / juice for children while you wait to meet Julia. We are sorry, but Julia will not sign books purchased elsewhere or brought from home.
About the Books Colours, Colours Everywhere is Julia’s third book with the talented illustrator Sharon King-Chai, following the stunning Animalphabet and Counting Creatures. In lyrical rhyme, follow the adventures of a little girl and her tree frog friend as they discover a world of colours, sumptuously illustrated with fold-out pages and peep-through cut-outs. What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas is the fifth book in Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks’ best-selling What the Ladybird Heard series, and sees the plucky little ladybird once again foiling the dastardly plans of those baddies, Hefty Hugh and Lofty Len as they plot to steal the children’s Christmas presents from their stockings! A lively rhyming story with vibrant illustrations.
To celebrate release of the book The Repair Shop: Life in the Barn, Kirsten Ramsay,ceramics expert from the smash hit BBC TV show will be joining us for a very special event. Hear how Kirsten developed her craft and her most memorable restorations to date, and dive behind the scenes of the show to reveal the inside stories from guests and presenters. Also – you may bring interesting / unusual ceramic items for Kirsten to examine – but not repair! Evening format: Interview ‘in conversation’ with Kirsten Ramsay, Audience Q and A, book-signing. Complimentary tea, cake and soft drinks will be served.
Join us for an evening with best-selling thriller writer Peter James, as he celebrates the release of his latest thriller, Picture You Dead – the 19th book in his well-loved DS Roy Grace series – now a hit ITV series starring John Simms as Grace. Picture You Dead finds Roy Grace plunging into the rarified world of fine art, pitting his wits against a deadly collector who’ll stop at nothing to get his hands on the rare landscape painting that Harry and Freya Kipling discovered hidden beneath a drab portrait they purchased at a car boot sale. Beneath the gentlemanly veneer, this is a world of greed, deception and violence… We are so excited to welcome Peter James back to Steyning, and can’t wait to hear all his intriguing research and inspiration from the cloak-and-dagger world of international art dealing! Event tickets are £20 per person which includes a hardback copy of Picture You Dead, or £27 for a couple, to include one copy of the book. Enjoy a complimentary glass of wine / soft drink upon arrival, and of course, the chance to get your copy personally signed & dedicated by Peter after his talk! Peter’s backlist titles will also be on sale and available for signing at the event, payment by cash / card will be accepted.Peter will not have time to sign books purchased elsewhere or brought from home.
Come and meet Julia Donaldson at a special book-signing to celebrate the release of her 2 brilliant new books, The Baddies and Rock a Bye Rumpus, with special guest THE GRUFFALO!
Saturday 17th September, timed slots from 2pm. How it Works:
Your ticket to the signing admits 1 FAMILY GROUP of up to 5 people, and includes EITHER: 1 copy of The Baddies (£12.99 ticket), 1 copy of Rock a Bye Rumpus (£14.99 ticket) or BOTH books (£27.98 ticket).
You will receive your book/s when you arrive at your allotted time, and will have the opportunity to buy additional books before you go to meet Julia. Julia will sign all books purchased at the Steyning Bookshop.
Each family will have a couple of minutes with Julia. Photographs are permitted.
There will be free refreshments and activities for children while you wait.
You do NOT need to book more than one ticket if you want multiple copies.
You will be able to purchase additional copies of both new books AND all Julia’s other books from the Steyning Bookshop on the day of the signing, or if you prefer to pre-order additional books please phone the shop on 01903 812062 or shop via our website here selecting LOCAL PICKUP as your delivery option, and adding in the ORDER NOTES that you’ll be collecting it at the signing.
We are sorry, but we cannot allow customers to bring books from home for signing by Julia.
The signing may take place in the bookshop garden if the weather is fine.
THE SIGNING IS NOW SOLD OUT. PLEASE CALL US ON 01903 812062 IF YOU WISH TO CHANGE YOUR BOOKING OR ASK ABOUT A PLACE ON THE WAITING LIST FOR TICKET RETURNS.
We are delighted to welcome best-selling author Jess Kidd back to Steyning to talk about her astonishing new novel The Night Ship. Jess has many fans amongst our staff and book group members for her previous books Things in Jars, The Hoarder, and Himself, which all share a certain gothic sensibility, quirky humour, and supremely inventive writing. The Night Ship, published on 11th August, is inspired by the infamous shipwreck of the Dutch merchant vessel The Batavia, in 1629, and interweaves the stories of two compelling child narrators, 350 years apart, who both find themselves stranded on the remote atoll where the Batavia met her end. The book is an incredible feat of imagination: bold, visceral, haunting, and unforgettable – we can’t wait to hear more! EVENT FORMAT: Author talk ‘in conversation’ followed by audience Q&A and book signing. A complimentary glass of wine / soft drink will be served upon arrival. This is to be an ‘open book group’ style evening – we encourage audience members to purchase our ‘book with ticket’ option and pop in to the shop to claim your book and read it prior to the event, where you’ll be joining our 3 book groups, who will have read the book. But we will try to guarantee no spoilers on the night for those who prefer to wait!
Click HERE to book via Ticketsource (NOT Steyning Bookshop book group members)
About Jess Kidd
Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has a PhD in Creative Writing from St. Mary’s University. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016. She won the Costa Short Story Award the same year. Her second novel, The Hoarder was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2019. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club Picks. Her next book, the Victorian detective tale Things in Jars, attracted widespread critical acclaim. Jess’s work has been described as ‘Gabriel García Márquez meets The Pogues.’ She is also currently developing her own original TV projects with leading UK and international TV producers.
Join fabulous author / illustrator SOPHY HENN for some fact-filled, fascinating LIFESIZE fun in the bookshop garden! Sophy’s LIFESIZE books are ingenious, interactive non-fiction picture books which invite children to see how they measure up against some of the world’s biggest and smallest creatures. Discover a wealth of fascinating facts, from how fast a hummingbird can flap its’ wings, to just HOW giant is a giant squid, at this fun, interactive event, which will finish with a spot of animal DRAW-ALONG, in classic Sophy style!
This event is for children aged 4-10, accompanying adults do not need a ticket but are welcome to hang around and watch! Your ticket price of £5 will knock a fiver off any LIFESIZE book purchase, and Sophy will be happy to sign all books purchased.
A fascinating evening with two Sussex crime writers: Graham Bartlett and Lesley Thomson.
Graham Bartlett will introduce his new novel Bad for Good – a gripping, gritty and authentic thriller set in Brighton. Graham Bartlett was a Sussex policeman for over 30 years, rising to become Chief Superintendent and police commander of Brighton & Hove, and now works as a crime consultant, advising writers such as Peter James, Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths, as well as running courses and seminars. He is the author of 2 best-selling ‘True Crime’ books; Babes in the Wood, and Death Comes Knocking.
Lesley Thomson will introduce her new novel The Companion, a gothic thriller set in the heart of Sussex, with echoes of Agatha Christie and Barbara Vine. Lesley is a seasoned, award-winning crime writer, the author of the Detective’s Daughter series, which feature a feisty, methodical cleaner as their heroine, as well as many standalone novels. Lesley teaches creative writing at West Dean College and runs her own crime writing course. Lesley and Graham will be in conversation with Gudrun from the Steyning Bookshop, who’ll be teasing out all their most grisly research stories! A glass of wine / soft drink will be served on arrival.
Welcome to the World is Julia Donaldson’s beautiful new book – a magical, lyrical celebration of babies’ first experiences, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. To celebrate the book’s publication, Julia will sign copies of Welcome to the World, plus her latest paperback Counting Creatures, andall her other books purchased on the day or pre-ordered, at The Steyning Bookshop on Saturday 7th May from 10.30am.
To attend this signing you MUST book a place. Each booking admits 1 family (of up to 5 people). There are 2 family ticket prices: the £12.99 price includes 1 copy of Welcome to the World in hardback, the £10.99 price includes 1 copy of Counting Creatures in paperback. Additional copies of these and Julia’s other books may be purchased from us on the day. Julia will sign all books purchased at our shop, but we are afraid that customers may not bring their own copies from home to be signed.
There are 3 signing sessions: 10.30am, 11.15am and 12 midday. Each session lasts 40 minutes and 20 families will meet Julia during this time, so there will be time to have a little chat!
Have you ever wondered what it takes to run an ultramarathon? Find out more at this sociable evening at Steyning Athletic Club with writer and runner Matt Whyman, whose new book ‘Failure is an Option’ is the story of an average runner who sets out to discover just how far he can go. With the support (and misgivings) of his family, and aware that his quickest years are behind him, Matt Whyman leaves the Saturday morning 5K to push towards 100-mile ultramarathons and beyond. By slowing things down to run a very long way, he joins a growing number of men and women from all walks of life striving to do something extraordinary. Warm, witty, entertaining and at times, deeply moving, Matt’s story will have you rooting for him, as he travels far beyond his comfort zone and sets his sights on a six-day mountain ultra that even hardened veterans consider to be the most formidable on earth: the Dragon’s Back Race. Copies of ‘Failure is an Option’ will be on sale for the ticket-holders bonus price of £10 (RRP £12.99). EVENING FORMAT: Doors open 7.30pm, refreshments (wine/ soft drinks & nibbles) will be served, interview with Matt from 7.45pm followed by Q & A, then book signing. Tickets: Steyning Athletic Club members £3 / general admission £5
It’s AGES since we’ve had a kids holiday activity, because of you-know-what! So, we are excited to announce that we’ll be celebrating all things SPRING with stories, games and a craft activity for children aged 4-7, on Wednesday 20th April at 11am.
Space is limited so 15 children is the max!
There will be an indoor and outdoor element, if the weather is fine, so dress accordingly. Free refreshments for hens & chicks! £3 per child, gives discount against book purchase.
Come and meet Julia Donaldson at the Steyning Bookshop on Saturday 5th March, from 2pm onwards, to celebrate the release of her 2 wonderful new books A Pocketful of Songs and Mole’s Spectacles. For COVID safety, this event will be organised in timed slots, each 40 minutes long, admitting 20 families per 40 minutes. Your ticket booking entitles entry to the signing for 1 family group of up to 5 people, and includes a copy of either Pocketful of Songs (£14.99 ticket) Mole’s Spectacles (£6.99 ticket) , or both books (£21.98 ticket)
Additional Julia D books for signing can be purchased at the bookshop on the day – we will have a huge selection of ALL Julia’s books on display for customers to browse, buy and get signed, but if there is a particular book that you really want, you can add it to your ticket order by phoning the shop on 01903 812062 or shopping via our website here, selecting LOCAL PICKUP as your delivery option, and adding in the ORDER NOTES that you’ll be collecting it at the signing.
We are sorry, but we cannot allow customers to bring books from home for signing by Julia.
There will be activities for children while they wait to meet Julia!
Pocketful of Songs is the latest collection of Julia’s songs, including family favourites from Stick Man and Superworm to Tiddler and The Highway Rat, collected in a beautiful hardback gift edition, richly illustrated by Axel Scheffler and accompanied by a CD featuring Julia Donaldson herself performing the songs, which will have the whole family singing and clapping along. The book also includes music scores for piano and guitar.
Mole’s Spectacles is the 7th book in Julia and Axel’s beloved Acorn Wood series, perfect for pre-schoolers, produced in sturdy board book format with fun flaps to lift on every page…. Mole has lost his spectacles. He searches all around his house, in the garden and even in Weasel’s sweetshop, but he can’t find them anywhere! Where could they be? Lift the flaps to help him find them!
We are delighted that our favourite thriller writer, Elly Griffiths, will join us live on Zoom, to discuss The Locked Room – the 14th novel in her bestselling ‘Ruth Galloway’ series. Proceedings will be ably managed by fellow crime writer, William Shaw.
Wednesday 9th February, 7.30pm, Online via Zoom.
Tickets are £5, and ticket-holders are entitled to £5 off a SIGNED copy of The Locked Room – please pop in or call the bookshop to arrange your signed (and name-dedicated, if you wish!) copy. Ticket holders will receive an email with the Zoom link after booking. Click HERE to book! Or the button below!
The Locked Room sees Ruth and her daughter return to their Norfolk cottage, only for COVID to strike. While Ruth struggles with home schooling, she and her daughter strike up a friendship with the new next door neighbour, Zoe. Meanwhile, Nelson is investigating a series of mysterious deaths, women who may, or may not have died by suicide. An archaeological discovery unearthed during the investigation leads Nelson to Ruth’s door – breaking curfew – where Nelson finds Ruth chatting to her neighbour …a woman Nelson recalls from a long ago case….
