by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
Giuseppi Levi is always shouting at his children and forcing them to march up mountains, his wife Lidia is always trying to slope off for a sit down. Their various children comply with their wishes, or not, all of them contributing to the routines and rituals, crazes, pet phrases, and stories, doubtful, comical, indispensable that make up a large Jewish-Italian family.
Written while Natalia Ginsburg was away from her family, and homesick for them, this lovely autobiographical novel, mainly composed of dialogue, builds layer by layer through repetition and pattern, a portrait of that family, their repeated phrases, the ties of affection and exasperation that bind them together. It is set against the rise of fascism in Italy through the 1920s and 30s, and the Levis, both Jewish and anti-fascist will have to ensure that their own family lexicon survives.
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
Chris Riddell, political cartoonist for the Observer, and prolific illustrator and writer of marvellous children’s books, has made a selection of his favourite classic and modern poems about ‘life, death and everything in between’. Exquisitely illustrated, this an absolutely beautiful book and the forty-six poems in this anthology have clearly been selected with great love.
Yeats and Christina Rossetti accompany poems from Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Carol Ann Duffy, Neil Gaiman and Roger McGough to create a very special collection.
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
Lucia Berlin’s collection of short stories, A Manual for Cleaning Women was published posthumously to great acclaim, and Evening in Paradise is a follow-up selection from Berlin’s remaining stories.
The stories are loosely autobiographical, arranged chronologically to follow the arc of Berlin’s life, and take us from a pair of seven year olds running a scam in El Paso, through the beauty and disillusionment of a young girl’s first romantic liaison, to young wives coping with kids, their husband’s addiction, abandonment, to a furious old woman on the roof of her own house while her family try to celebrate Christmas. Savage, funny, shocking and beautiful, they present some unforgettable images – the iridescent, sulphurous smoke of the smelter in a mining town, the yellow aromo blossom sticking to a couple’s skin – in concise writing that brings the reader up short with its power. The dark thread of alcoholism runs through many of the stories as well as the brighter threads of love, romantic and maternal, and of beauty found in the most unlikely places. Outstanding.
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
When Rosie and Robert Stewart’s mother died, they had to sort through the contents of her packed house. The last box in the attic, hastily emptied into plastic bags before the house clearance men came, proved to be a treasure trove, and a forgotten history. Hamish Mann had been their great uncle, unknown to them except as a single faded photo from their childhoods. The box was stuffed the brim with papers which contained Hamish’s brief life as an aspiring writer and soldier, before he died in the Battle of Arras in 1917.
The Stewarts enlisted the help of Steyning author Jacquie Buttriss to bring Hamish’s story to the wider public, and she has painstakingly pieced together his life, and with his own vivid accounts and poignant poems, has created a fascinating insight into life in the trenches and Hamish’s journey from teenage patriotic fervour, to the sadder, more fearful, wiser young man he became in two short years. A timely reminder of the horrors of war.
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
This a an absolutely gorgeous poetry anthology for children. There is a nature poem for every day of the year, laid out on each double page spread with a linking theme and beautiful illustrations. The poems range from simple nursery rhymes to longer ones, from poets such as WB Yeats, Carol Ann Duffy and Benjamin Zephaniah. A book that will be treasured for many years
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Nov 2018
Snow in the Garden
by Shirley Hughes
Walker £12.99
Collected here is a charming collection of stories, poems, crafts and recipes, all with a Christmas theme, from one of our best children’s authors, Shirley Hughes. With her trademark illustrations and gentle wit and empathetic understanding of a small child’s viewpoint, this is the perfect way for 3-6 year olds to get excited about Christmas.
by Gudrun Bowers | 1, Nov 2018
On Thursday 15th November join Steyning’s very own block printer and textile designer – and cheerful bookshop assistant – Sarah Burns, at the launch of her debut publication!
Sarah became fascinated by the lives and work of textile designers Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher when she was involved in a project to bring their beautiful block-print designs back into production.
Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher were pioneering English textile designers of the 20th Century – collaborating with the likes of Coco Chanel and running their own very successful block printing workshop during the 1920’s and 30’s. As designer-makers they formed a unique partnership producing innovative textiles & pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved with natural dyes and hand-cut wooden blocks.Their beautiful block-printed fabrics are reproduced here in this very first monograph of their work.
The book is produced with colour illustrations throughout, by ACC Art Books, and is a fascinating and inspirational insight into two remarkable, talented women.
This is a free evening event, with wine and canapes, open to all, but we do ask that you get in touch and add your name to the guest list if you’d like to come!
by Gudrun Bowers | 1, Nov 2018
On Thursday 15th November join Steyning’s very own block printer and textile designer – and cheerful bookshop assistant – Sarah Burns, at the launch of her debut publication!
Sarah became fascinated by the lives and work of textile designers Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher when she was involved in a project to bring their beautiful block-print designs back into production.
Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher were pioneering English textile designers of the 20th Century – collaborating with the likes of Coco Chanel and running their own very successful block printing workshop during the 1920’s and 30’s. As designer-makers they formed a unique partnership producing innovative textiles & pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved with natural dyes and hand-cut wooden blocks.Their beautiful block-printed fabrics are reproduced here in this very first monograph of their work.
The book is produced with colour illustrations throughout, by ACC Art Books, and is a fascinating and inspirational insight into two remarkable, talented women.
This is a free evening event, with wine and canapes, open to all, but we do ask that you get in touch and add your name to the guest list if you’d like to come!
by Gudrun Bowers | 1, Oct 2018
Monday 29th October, 7.30pm at the Gluck Studio.
A fitting literary celebration for the week of All Hallow’s Eve – it’s time to dive into the dark side with Elly Griffiths!
We are delighted to welcome Elly Griffiths (aka Domenica de Rosa) back to Steyning, to introduce her bewitching, terrifying new standalone novel. ‘The Stranger Diaries’ is a contemporary Gothic thriller, described by Louise Penny as “Goose-bump spooky, smart, and haunting. At once a re-imagining of, and a homage to, the great Gothic thrillers of the past.” Elly will tell us more about the book, her inspiration, and her fascination with the great Victorian Gothic novels.
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to tales of murder, as a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer R.M. Holland. Then Clare’s life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an R.M. Holland story by her body.
The investigating police detective is convinced the writer’s works somehow hold the key to the case. Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal. Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary. Writing that isn’t hers…
Elly Griffiths was born in London. She worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. Her bestselling series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her other popular series, the Stephens and Mephisto stories, is based in 1950s Brighton. She also writes romantic fiction under her real name of Domenica de Rosa.
Ticket price is £15 to include a copy of ‘The Stranger Diaries’ (£12 for Steyning Bookshop book group members), wine, and nibbles.
by Gudrun Bowers | 19, Sep 2018
Our October event will delight armchair travellers and intrepid explorers alike! As part of our celebrations for ‘Books Are My Bag’ week, we are delighted to welcome writer Travis Elborough to Steyning, for a fascinating illustrated talk on the joy of maps, and the extraordinary and bizarre destinations to which they can lead us.
Travis will share some of the obscure and unlikely discoveries included in his two beautiful books Atlas of the Unexpected (White Lion Books, 2018) and Atlas of Improbable Places (Aurum books, 2016), spinning tales of human ingenuity and nature’s own masterpieces, and will muse on the power of unknown places, maps, and atlases to enchant and inspire us.
Travis Elborough is a writer and cultural commentator, who has written books on subjects as diverse as the London Routemaster bus, the British Seaside, the history of the L.P record, and the sale of London Bridge to America! Most recently, in addition to the stunningly-produced and utterly fascinating Atlases, he has compiled and edited Letters to Change the World : From Pankhurst to Orwell; a collection of politically-inspiring letters from history, and Our History of the 20th Century : As Told in Diaries, Journals and Letters; a candid and insightful collection of diary entries charting the twentieth century from the perspective of those who lived through it – not only the headline-grabbing events but also domestic and personal moments.
Travis is a regular contributor to the Observer and the Guardian but has also written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, the Oldie, BBC History magazine and Kinfolk among others and frequently appears on BBC Radio 4 and Five Live.
He lectures on many subjects and is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster, teaching M.A. creative writing students. He has appeared at various literary and music festivals, including Latitude and Green Man.
We look forward to giving Travis a warm Steyning welcome – he grew up near Steyning and has fond memories of teenage drinking in the Chequers Inn!
Critical praise for Travis Elborough:
‘One of Britain’s finest pop culture historians‘ The Guardian
‘Elborough is an English nostalgist in the mode of John Betjeman …as a cultural commentator he is a terrific companion‘ Sunday Times
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