![‘The Crossway’ An Evening with GUY STAGG]()
by Gudrun Bowers | 29, Apr 2019
Tuesday 18th June at 7.30pm. The Gluck Studio
‘An extraordinary travelogue, strange and brilliant’
In 2013 Guy Stagg made a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem. Though a non-believer, he began the journey after suffering several years of mental illness, hoping the ritual would heal him. For ten months he hiked alone on ancient paths, crossing ten countries and more than 5,500 kilometres.
The Crossway is Guy’s account of this extraordinary adventure. Having left home on New Year’s Day, Stagg climbed over the Alps in midwinter, spent Easter in Rome with a new pope, joined mass protests in Istanbul and survived a terrorist attack in Lebanon. Travelling without support, he had to rely each night on the generosity of strangers, staying with monks and nuns, priests and families.
As a result, he gained a unique insight into the lives of contemporary believers and learnt the fascinating stories of the soldiers and saints, missionaries and martyrs who had followed these paths before him. The Crossway is a book full of wonders, mixing travel and memoir, history and current affairs. At once intimate and epic, it charts the author’s struggle to walk towards recovery, and asks whether religion can still have meaning for those without faith.
We are really looking forward to hearing Guy Stagg discussing his journey, with photographic slides.
‘Beautifully written, filled with strange encounters and extraordinary language, The Crossway is a meditation, an escape, a confrontation, a losing and a finding. It is a timely antidote to our disconnected times.‘ Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan.
A signed paperback copy of The Crossway is included in the ticket price of £12.
Tickets are available via Ticketsource or direct from The Steyning Bookshop on 01903 812062.
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by Gudrun Bowers | 29, Apr 2019
Tuesday 18th June, 2-4pm. The Gluck Studio
Novelist and creative writing coach Beth Miller will lead aspiring writers in a 2 hour workshop focussing on story and character development.
With lashings of tea and home-made cake to keep the creative juices flowing!
Beth Miller has published 5 books – 3 novels; The Good Neighbour, When We Were Sisters, and The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom, and 2 non fiction books; For the Love of the Archers and For the Love of Shakespeare. She also teaches on the Creative Writing Programme based at New Writing South, and works as a ‘book coach’, helping writers at all stages of their careers in one-on-one sessions.
“Beth helped me find the confidence and clarity in my writing to spur me on to complete my novel.” Martin Nathan, author of the novel A Place of Safety, published by Salt, June 2018.
Places on the workshop are limited to 15 participants, so do book early to avoid disappointment! Book here with Ticketsource or by phone / in person at The Steyning Bookshop.
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by Gudrun Bowers | 29, Apr 2019
Monday 17th June at 7.30pm. The Gluck Studio.
Author Lucy Foley will discuss her latest novel The Hunting Party, a fiendishly twisty murder mystery set in a remote Scottish hunting lodge. Bringing all of the appeal of an Agatha Christie-style house-party whodunit to a thoroughly modern thriller, it is a riveting read which will keep you turning the pages long after lights out!
A group of thirty-something friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands – the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves. They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world. Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead…..
Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry, before leaving to write full-time. The Hunting Party is her debut crime novel, inspired by a particularly remote spot in Scotland that fired her imagination. Lucy is also the author of three historical novels; The Book of Lost and Found, The Invitation, and Last Letter from Istanbul. Her journalism has appeared in ES Magazine, Sunday Times Style, Grazia and more.
‘Chilling. You won’t sleep.’ – Adele Parks
`Foley builds the tension cleverly and creepily, underlining the point that old friends aren’t always the best’ – The Observer
Tickets available at The Steyning Bookshop or online via Ticketsource.
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by Gudrun Bowers | 25, Apr 2019
Nick Sharratt’s Big Draw-Along.
Sunday 16th June. Doors open at 10.30 for bacon butties and coffee. Big Draw-along starts at 11am.
After the fabulous fun we had at last year’s Steyning Festival event, our favourite illustrator / writer, Nick Sharratt, is back for a Fantastic Father’s Day Family-Friendly-Fun-Filled hour of drawing.
Bring your favourite pens. Paper will be provided.
Free coffee and bacon butties for dads!
Adults £7 Children £5.
Tickets are available from the Steyning Bookshop or online this link to Ticketsource
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by Gudrun Bowers | 25, Apr 2019
THE GRUFFALO & FRIENDS with JULIA DONALDSON & COMPANY. Saturday 15th June at 2.30pm
Come and celebrate the Gruffalo’s 20th birthday with Julia Donaldson and friends – including the Gruffalo himself! Join them for a fun-packed show of dramatised stories, songs and audience participation!
The show will be followed by the opportunity to purchase Julia’s books and get them personally signed and dedicated.
AGE GUIDE: The show is ideally suited for ages 4+. All children will need to have a ticket.
Tickets available from the Steyning Booksshop or via this link to Ticketsource
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by Gudrun Bowers | 25, Apr 2019
‘Mapping Imaginary Worlds’ SATURDAY 15th JUNE 10.30am
A creative writing workshop for budding writers aged 7-12, with children’s writer Vashti Hardy.
Vashti is the author of two novels for children, Brightstorm and Wildspark, both published by Scholastic. The lovely Vashti will guide children to create and map their imaginary worlds.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Vashti was a primary school teacher, and she has an MA in creative writing from Chichester University.
All equipment and free refreshments are provided.
Tickets can be purchased at the bookshop or online via this Ticketsource link
by Gudrun Bowers | 24, Apr 2019
Make sure you’re free on Monday 27th May for the Steyning Country Fair, when the High St will be a bustle with street entertainers, music, craft stalls, rare breed farm animals, and delicious produce.
True to time-honoured tradition, we will have free activities for children in our garden marquee, led by picture book writer / illustrator Bryony Thomson. Bryony’s delightful book ‘The Wardrobe Monster’, published by local press Old Barn Books, is a beautifully illustrated, humorous and reassuring story for any child who has ever though there might be monsters lurking in the dark.
Bryony will be leading a fun ‘MONSTER MASH’ drawing session, helping children to create their own ‘wardrobe monsters’. There’ll also be stories, crafts and free refreshments for children, and grown-ups can take the weight off their feet and relax in our lovely bookshop garden marquee.
There will be 2 sessions: From 11am till noon, then again from 2pm until 3pm. Just come along, it’s free, no need to book! Suitable for ages 3-9.
Bryony Thomson is a writer and illustrator based in Surrey. She graduated with a distinction from the MA Children’s Book Illustration Course at Cambridge School of Art, and also received a ‘Highly Commended’ in the Macmillan Prize. ‘The Wardrobe Monster’ is her first published book. Do check out her website, she has some gorgeous screen-printed tea towels and framed prints for sale there!
by Gudrun Bowers | 28, Mar 2019
Michelle Paver’s new novel is an outstanding feat of story-telling, firmly rooted in the Gothic tradition, which pays homage to the late, great master of the ghost story, M.R James.
A preamble, set in the 60’s, introduces us to elderly spinster Maud, who has lived alone in a decaying manor house deep in the Suffolk Fens ever since the tragic day in 1913 when her father committed murder in a fit of insanity. He has since become infamous for a trilogy of Richard Dadd-style paintings featuring medieval demons, but upon his death, Maud finds herself the subject of prying journalists.
The rest of the book follows the story of Maud’s lonely childhood, back in the early 1900’s. We learn how Maud’s father had dominated and sexually exploited his vulnerable young Belgian wife, and see his belittling attitude towards Maud and his scorn for her attempts to win his approval by taking on the housekeeping duties after the death of her mother. Maud, a clever, scholarly girl, dreams of becoming her father’s amanuensis and begins helping him with his research into a medieval mystic, but he is unimpressed by her efforts. After her father discovers a medieval ‘Doom’ painting in the local graveyard – based on the real-life Wenhaston Doom, found under whitewash in the 1890s – he is beset by strange dreams and becomes convinced that unhallowed demonic forces have been unleashed by the painting.
Maud seeks solace from her father’s tyranny in the dank beauty of the Fens, her friendship with Clem, a kindly gardener’s boy, and her pet magpie, Chatterpie, but after her father forbids her liason and has the magpie killed she begins to turn against him. Struggling to understand his behaviour, which has become increasingly deranged, she turns to reading his diaries. As the demons of her father’s past are revealed to Maud, and us, by the diaries and he unravels still further, Maud must stand strong to save her beloved Fen and discover the truth about her father.
‘Wakenhyrst’ is a truly compelling story – the brooding, stifling air of menace in Maud’s home, and the sinister superstitions of the Fen dwellers are vividly evoked and provide an air of impending doom which gathers pace deliciously. Maud is a wonderful heroine, full of nascent Suffragist spirit. Best of all, the book skilfully balances the supernatural with the possibility that the horrors are psychological in origin, keeping the reader on a tightrope of uncertainty throughout. Spell-binding stuff!
by Gudrun Bowers | 25, Mar 2019
We are very excited to be hosting a launch party for local writer Jonathan Scott’s new book ‘The Vinyl Frontier’, which tells the fascinating story of the Golden Record – an inter-stellar mix-tape sent into space with the Voyager Missions in 1977. Curated by Carl Sagan, the 90 minute disc contained music by JS Bach and Chuck Berry, ethnographic field recordings, and a message of peace by President Jimmy Carter – a field guide to Earthlings for the Cosmos. ‘The Vinyl Frontier’ follows the project from first phone call to final launch, and it is a truly fascinating story of an optimistic project with a cosmic vision of peace and unity.
Jonathan Scott has been fascinated by the Voyager Golden Record project ever since he first heard of it, and the book grew out of a magazine article on the subject that he penned for Record Collector Magazine. Formerly a contributing editor to Record Collector magazine, Jonathan has edited books about Prince, Cher and the San Francisco psych explosion, and written about Nirvana, the Pogues, the Venga Boys, Sir Patrick Moore and Sir Isaac Newton in a variety of magazines. He is a self-confessed astronomy geek who received his first telescope at the age of eight!
The launch party will start at 7.30pm with wine kindly provided by Bloomsbury Publishing, there will be delicious home-made canapes to nibble, and Jonathan will share a few stories from his research before signing copies of his book.
by Gudrun Bowers | 21, Mar 2019
We are very excited to unveil our April author event! Celebrated novelist Michelle Paver will be at the Gluck Studio on Wednesday 24th April, discussing her latest novel, ‘Wakenhyrst‘, a spell-binding masterpiece of Gothic fiction which enthralls and chills in equal measure.
The book is set deep in the Suffolk Fens, and follows the story of Maud, a lonely, motherless child who takes solace in the dank beauty of the Fen against the religious, repressive will of her historian father. When her father finds a medieval ‘Doom’ painting in a graveyard, unhallowed forces and a murderous obsession are awakened. Maud must hold strong in the face of the age-old legends of her beloved fen – and the even more nightmarish demons of her father’s past, as he becomes increasingly unravelled. Imbued with dark menace, the story maintains a tense ambiguity between the supernatural and the psychological. I cannot wait to hear Michelle tell us more about her research in the Suffolk Fens and the real-life ‘Doom’ which sparked the idea for the novel!
Michelle Paver is also the author of ‘Dark Matter’, a terrifying ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north in the 1930’s, and ‘Thin Air’, the chilling story of a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas which ends in disaster, but is perhaps best known for the compelling ‘Wolf Brother’ series of historical fantasy novels for children, which have achieved ‘classic’ status on school bookshelves across the world.
Tickets are £15 which includes a hot-off-the-press signed hardback copy of ‘Wakenhyrst’ and complimentary wine and canapes!
Tickets are available via Ticketsource or by calling / coming into the shop. tel 01903 812062.
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