As bookshops gradually begin to reopen in England following lockdown, here’s details of some of the events taking place as part of this year’s Independent Bookshop Week.
Running from the 20th to the 27th June, Independent Bookshop Week will feature a wide range of events including online events with bestselling authors, to a picture book celebrating key workers, to virtual bookshop crawls.
Organised by the Booksellers Association, this year’s celebration has been adapted to include online events to give book lovers across the country access to authors and books during lockdown. The week will celebrate the role indie booksellers have continued to play in building a sense of community during the pandemic, as well as encouraging customers to support their local high street by shopping local at what is a particularly challenging time for small retailers.
Events taking place during the week are set to include:
- Meg Rosoff, bestselling author of How I Live Now, will be joining the series of virtual events “At Home with 4 Indies”, created by booksellers from Book-ish (Crickhowell), Linghams (Wirral), Forum Books (Corbridge) and Booka Bookshop (Shropshire). The series, which since the lockdown began has included guests such as Joe Wicks, Robert Webb, David Baldacci, and Marian Keyes offers all book lovers a new, special kind of author event. The event with Meg Rosoff will be live on the At Home with 4 Indies Facebook page on Tuesday 23rd June at 8pm.
- Maggie O’Farrell, bestselling author of the Women Prize nominated novel Hamnet, will join At Home with 4 Indies on Friday 26th June at 8pm.
- Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate will be a holding a virtual bookshop tour on her social channels, featuring a different indie every day for the duration of IBW. Bookshops confirmed so far are Mainstreet Trading (Melrose), Little Ripon (North Yorkshire) and Silverwood Events (Kirkham, Preston), and Mr B’s Emporium (Bath).
- Damian Barr’s Literary Salon will be hosting a virtual Bookshop Tour during Independent Bookshop Week across all their social platforms, celebrating some of the best indies from across the UK.
- Griffin Books (Penarth) have put together a whole range of digital activities, including an Online Creative Writing Workshop via Zoom with Children’s Laureate Wales, Eloise Williams on Wednesday 24th June at 2pm (ticketed).
- Booktuber Lauren and the Books will be hosting a special Indie Bookshop Week #cosyreadingnight on Saturday 27th June between 7pm and 10pm.
Talking about the news, Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the BA, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted by the enthusiasm for Independent Bookshop Week 2020 from across the book trade. In this immensely challenging time, we hope that book lovers across the country will enjoy the many fantastic online events and exclusive editions on offer from indie bookshops, while remembering to choose bookshops and shop local.”
The Independent Book Week will take place from the 20th to the 27th June. To find out more about what is happening in independent bookshops in your area marking the occasion visit: https://indiebookshopweek.org.uk/Home