by Gudrun Bowers | 4, Apr 2024
THURSDAY 2nd MAY at 7.30pm
Join award-winning journalist Rafael Behr as he discusses his book ‘Politics, A Survivor’s Guide: How to Stay Engaged without Getting Enraged‘.
We live in an age of fury and confusion. A new crisis erupts before the last one has finished: financial crises, Brexit, pandemic, war in Ukraine, inflation, strikes. Prime Ministers come and go but politics becomes ever more divided and toxic. It is tempting to switch off the news, tune out and hope things will get back to normal. Except, this is the new normal, and our democracy can only work if enough people stay engaged without getting enraged.
But how? To answer that question, award-winning journalist Rafael Behr takes the reader on a personal journey from despair at the state of politics to hope that there is a better way of doing things, with insights drawn from three decades as a political commentator and foreign correspondent.
Rafael will be in conversation with our very own local political poet, Simon Zec.
ABOUT RAFAEL BEHR
Rafael Behr is a political columnist for the Guardian. He is a former Political Editor for the New Statesman, Chief Leader Writer and Online Editor for The Observer, a business news reporter for BBC online and a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, based in the Baltic region and Russia. Rafael is a regular contributor to Prospect Magazine, a guest on BBC and Sky News and a speaker at UK think tanks. His book, Politics, A Survivor’s Guide, is published by Atlantic. He hosts the Politics on the Couch podcast.Before becoming a journalist, Rafael was a political risk analyst covering countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He studied modern languages at Merton College, Oxford and took a Master’s degree in Russian Studies at the School for Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. He lives in Brighton with his family.
TICKETS
£10 Ticket Price includes a drink upon entry.
£15 Ticket Price includes a copy of Politics, A Survivor’s Guide and a drink upon entry.
Tickets avaiable from the bookshop or online via link below (booking fee applied to online bookings)
by Gudrun Bowers | 28, Feb 2024
This is going to be a really special evening!
We are delighted to welcome writer, literary critic and cultural historian ALEXANDRA HARRIS to Steyning to discuss her new book The Rising Down.
Alexandra grew up in Sussex and was educated at schools in Storrington and Horsham, so the Arun valley, the Wealden mud and the chalky sweep of the South Downs are in her blood, and The Rising Down sees her returning to West Sussex to consider the layers of buried lives beneath this familiar landscape…Who has stood here, she asks; what did they see?
As Alexandra excavates archival records and everyday objects, hundreds of unexpected stories and hypnotic voices emerge from the area’s past, from the painter John Constable and the modernist writer Ford Madox Ford, to the lost local women who left little trace. She uncovers the unexpected stories behind hidden places: an ancient church sheltering a medieval anchorite who chose to be buried alive, the country estate parading a menagerie of exotic animals, the cottage where William Blake received the poetic spirit of Milton, and a safe house harbouring secret agents from wartime French resistance networks.
Alexandra will be ‘in conversation’ with an interviewer (TBC) and will also answer audience questions and sign books at the end of the evening.
ABOUT ALEXANDRA HARRIS
Alexandra Harris is a British writer and academic. She was born in Sussex and spent her childhood in the Arun Valley area. She is the author of Romantic Moderns, on modernism in inter-war Britain, and Weatherland on weather in English art and literature. She has also written a short biography of Virginia Woolf. Her radio work includes a series following Virginia Woolf’s walks, a ten-part ‘British History in Weather’, as well as programmes on candlelight, fireworks, coldness, and an excursion to ask shepherds about pastoral literature. She is a Professor of English at the University of Birmingham.
Tickets £8 ticket only or £20 including a signed copy of The Rising Down (RRP £25!!)
Book online via the button below, alternatively pop into the bookshop or call us on 01903 812062.
by Gudrun Bowers | 28, Feb 2024
This gorgeous book is an illustrated, children’s version of Isabella Tree’s fantastic Wilding, the story of the pioneering rewilding project at Knepp, near Horsham.
Angela Harding’s beautiful linocuts, as well as fascinating photos, illuminate the progression of Knepp from an intensively farmed landscape to a much wilder one, thrumming with life (and PHD students), with sections on different ecological processes and different species.
Informative, beautiful, and hopeful, this is a lovely gift. Age 8+
by Gudrun Bowers | 15, Jan 2024
Join writer, broadcaster, musician and all round bard & chronicler IAN MARCHANT, as he discusses his book ONE FINE DAY: A JOURNEY THROUGH ENGLISH TIME, upon its paperback release.
One Fine Day is Marchant’s story of digging around in his family history and discovering the detailed diaries, written from 1714 to 1728, of his Great (x7) Grandfather Thomas Marchant, a Yeoman famer and Jacobite sympathiser.
Thomas wrote about life on his family farm in Sussex, about fishponds, dung, horses, mud, and about the making and drinking of beer. Marchant was able to map, day-by-day, the life of Thomas in 1720 to his own, in 2020 – a letter from a world on the brink of industrialisation, to one now exhausted by it.
By exploring the Marchant family’s journey – and how their England (rainy, muddy, politically turbulent and illness ridden) became the England of today, Marchant discovers just how much we have to learn from our ancestors. By turns funny, lyrical, moving and illuminating, this is a conversation with the dead to find out what is still alive.
‘Bloody marvellous.’
Nicholas Lezard, New Statesman
ABOUT IAN MARCHANT
Ian Marchant is originally from Newhaven in East Sussex, and now lives with his family in neither England, nor Wales, but Radnorshire. He is the author of A Hero for High Times : A Younger Reader’s Guide to the Beats, Hippies, Freaks, Punks, Ravers, New-Age Travellers and Dog-on-a-Rope Brew Crew Crusties of the British Isles, 1956–1994, which was long-listed for the Gordon Burns Prize in 2018, the railway travelogue Parallel Lines, musings on nightime in Something of the Night and The Longest Crawl, a hilarious account of a month long pub crawl. He has played in numerous bands, written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times and Metro, and presented documentaries about talking trees, scary buses, ghost trains, the self-service nation and the history of barbed wire on Radio 4.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Doors open 7pm, Talk starts 7.30pm. Ian will be in conversation with SIMON ZEC, the Bard of Steyning. Plus Q & A at the end. No bar but teas and coffees will be served.
Ticket only price £7. Book with ticket £14 – includes a copy of One Fine Day in paperback. Additional books and hopefully a few of Ian’s previous books will be on sale on the night.
by Gudrun Bowers | 15, Jan 2024
Join children’s author HANNAH PECKHAM for an hour of stories and crafts to celebrate the release of her new book The Get Well Spell and to help children’s charity The Rockinghorse Charity.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Hannah Peckham will read her stories and lead a simple craft activity suitable for ages 3-7 – please bring a glass or plastic jar for each child if possible.
Ticket price of £4 is fully redeemable to get £4 off your purchase of The Get Well Spell.
Hannah Peckham and AWARD publications have teamed up with Rockinghorse Charity for a special ‘buy one, gift one’ offer – for every purchase of The Get Well Spell at The Steyning Bookshop, the publishers will gift a copy to a child in need with The Rockinghorse Charity. Doors open 10.45am event starts 11am.
ABOUT THE GET WELL SPELL
When Morris wakes one misty morning under the shadow of Dragon’s Ridge, the kind-hearted unicorn doesn’t feel well at all. As he sets out on a quest to find a fabled ‘Get Well Spell’, he discovers the need to fill his own cup back up, so that he can continue to share love and kindness and look after others. With delightful illustrations by Hannah Tkachenko, a Ukrainian / German artist.
ABOUT HANNAH PECKHAM
Hannah Peckham is a children’s author and young person’s counsellor, and is the author of Bronty’s Battle Cry, Climb, and Conker the Chameleon. She is passionate about encouraging children’s emotional literacy. Since her son Bodhi’s diagnosis of leukaemia, Hannah has raised thousands of pounds for leukaemia research and was appointed as an Ambassador for Leukaemia UK in November 2023.
ONLY 20 TICKETS AVAILABLE (due to space constraints) so we recommend you book in advance for this event
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Jan 2024
We are delighted to welcome author KATE MORGAN to talk about her new book THE WALNUT TREE: WOMEN, VIOLENCE AND THE LAW, A HIDDEN HISTORY.
Kate Morgan’s fascinating new book The Walnut Tree lifts the lid on the shocking history of women under British law, and what it means for women today.
ABOUT THE WALNUT TREE
“A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more they are beaten, the better they’ll be.” So went the proverb quoted by a prominent MP in the Houses of Parliament in 1853. But were things about to change?
Kate investigates the legal campaigns, test cases and individual injustices of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and explores the untold stories of women whose cases became cornerstones of our modern legal system; the uniquely abusive marriage which culminated in the dramatic story of the Clitheroe wife abduction, the domestic tragedies which changed the law on domestic violence; the controversies surrounding the Contagious Diseases Act and the women who campaigned to abolish it; and the real courtroom stories behind notorious murder cases such as the Camden Town Murder.
ABOUT KATE MORGAN
Kate Morgan is a writer and former solicitor. She worked as a senior in-house lawyer in the water industry for most of her legal career. Long fascinated with the darker side of the law, her writing focuses on British legal history and the stories behind the important cases that have shaped the law over the centuries. Her first book, Murder: The Biography, was published in 2021.
ABOUT THE EVENING
Kate will discuss her book, her research and inspirations with an interviewer from The Steyning Bookshop. The venue is the warm and comfortable Steyning Methodist Church.
Teas & Coffees will be available.
Doors open 7pm, start time 7.30pm.
‘Book with ticket’ option = £18 – Amazing value as the book alone is RRP £20
‘Ticket only’ option = £8 – Books available to buy on the night
Tickets available in the Steyning Bookshop, by phone on 01903 812062 or buy online tickets here:
by Gudrun Bowers | 9, Jan 2024
Saturday 17th February at 2.30pm
A creative writing workshop for budding writers with children’s author LIZ FLANAGAN.
Ideas are all around us – but how do you catch one?
In this fun, interactive workshop, author Liz Flanagan will lead children through a series of creative exercises to inspire and develop some new ideas. She will describe the surprising places she found ideas for the Legends of the Sky and Wildsmith series, before inviting children to start a story using material from their own lives. Dragons, pirates, witches … harness the power of your imagination!
For children aged 7-12
ABOUT LIZ FLANAGAN AND HER BOOKS
Liz Flanagan is an award-winning author who writes for children and young adults. Her books include the Wildsmith series of cute illustrated chapter books for emergent readers, wonderfully illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, the exciting, inventive Legends of the Sky fantasy series, and the YA novel Eden Summer, which was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
CHILD TICKET £5 – ticket can be used to get £5 off one of Liz Flanagan’s brilliant books! Accompanying adults do not need a ticket.
You can purchase tickets in the shop or click below to book via Ticketsource
by Gudrun Bowers | 13, Dec 2023
Manage your menopause symptoms and get in the best shape of your life.
We are embracing the spirit of January with a wellness event, welcoming author, menopause coach and personal trainer Kate Rowe-Ham who’ll discuss her new book Owning Your Menopause: Fitter, Calmer, Stronger in 30 Days.
Kate Rowe-Ham is a personal trainer who specialises in using exercise and fitness to help women through perimenopause and menopause. She is the founder of the app and website Owning Your Menopause which has supported thousands of women in the UK who are suffering from challenging menopause symptoms, and she has now turned this life-changing programme into a book.
Kate will discuss her own personal menopause story and her work as a personal trainer, and how these experiences have fed into her book. Kate’s book aims to transform your attitude to exercise and change your habits, and provides fitness plans as well as advice for every aspect of your life from alcohol and sugar consumption to mindfulness. Owning Your Menopause also includes a 30-day fitness plan complete with menu suggestions, movement goals and links to online videos.
Despite being a personal trainer, Kate found herself totally derailed in her early 40s as perimenopause started. Her usual strategies to stay well weren’t working and HRT wasn’t the magic bullet she hoped it would be. Only when she started changing the way she exercised, what she ate and drank, and lifting weights did she feel better… and now, a few years down the line she feels more energised than ever before. Kate wants to empower other women to experience the same revelation.
Kate will be in conversation with Hannah Ebelthite, a Steyning-based health & wellness writer.
DOORS OPEN 7pm, EVENT STARTS 7.30pm
Tickets available in the shop or via Ticketsource
by Gudrun Bowers | 23, Nov 2023
As part of our celebrations for Steyning’s special ‘Christmas Shopping Day’ on Sunday 3rd December we have award-winning, best-selling author VASHTI HARDY stopping by at 2pm to sign copies of her fantastically inventive books, including her new magical Christmas picture book Santa’s Marvellous Mechanical Workshop.
Vashti is the celebrated author of many exciting, imaginative fantasy novels for older children, including the award-winning Wildspark, the brilliant Brightstorm Chronicles, the shorter Harley Hitch novels for emergent readers, and the exciting Griffin Gate series for dyslexic / reluctant readers. Santa’s Marvellous Mechanical Workshop is her debut picture book. It’s a lovely story for ages 3-5 containing many of Vashti’s trademark features; ingenious contraptions and inventive recycling, all with a sprinkle of Christmas magic!
We’ll have ALL Vashti’s amazing books on sale and she will be happy to meet readers and sign any books purchased on the day or pre-ordered via our website. We can also take orders for customers who are not local or can’t attend, just order via our online store here, and add the names / messages for dedication in ORDER NOTES at checkout. Be sure to add postage if you are not picking up in store!
by Gudrun Bowers | 21, Nov 2023
On Saturday 25th November at 3pm we are thrilled that explorer, entrepreneur, author and self-confessed ‘adventureholic’ Neil Laughton will be stopping by the shop to sign copies of his new book Adventureholic – Extraordinary journeys on seven continents by land, sea and air.
Please ORDER YOUR COPY of Adventureholic via this link and state in ORDER NOTES whether you’ll be coming to meet Neil & get the book signed in person, OR add the name / message for dedication if you’d prefer the book to be posted.
Neil Laughton is a successful business entrepreneur, multiple Guinness World Record breaking adventurer and a former Royal Marine Commando, helicopter pilot and Special Forces Officer. Neil has a passion for travel, sport and adventure. He has organised and led more than 50 expeditions on 7 continents – by land, sea and air. Adventureholic tells the stories of Neil’s most unforgettable and daring adventures yet. From summiting Mount Everest with Bear Grylls and playing cricket at the Geographic South Pole to piloting the world’s first road-legal flying car on a 10,000km journey across the Sahara Desert to Timbuktu, running with bulls, and train-surfing in Myanmar, Neil really has seen and done it all.
Join Neil on a roller-coaster ride around the world, a perfect present for the (would-be?) adventurer in your life!
The book is a beautifully produced hardback published by WhiteFox Publishing at £20.
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