The Bookery, Author at The Bookery

T. S. Eliot Prize 2017 Shortlist

July 26, 2019October 27, 2017 by The Bookery

From a record 154 submissions, the T. S. Eliot Prize judges have chosen this year’s shortlist. The T. S. Eliot Prize is an annual prize that goes to the best new poetry collection published in the UK or Ireland. It was inaugurated in 1993 to celebrate the Poetry Book Society’s 40th birthday and to honour its founding poet. This year, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Prize, the value of the Prize has been increased. The winner now receives … Read more

Black History Month 2017

October 26, 2021October 20, 2017 by The Bookery

CCB invited local educator, activist and Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow Malcolm Richards to curate a special selection of books celebrating Black History Month 2017. CCB are proud to have a wide selection of books in the shop all year round and are excited to see which books Malcolm has selected.

Man Booker Shortlist and Fiona Mozley’s Elmet

August 5, 2019October 15, 2017 by The Bookery

Last month saw the announcement of the Man Booker Prize shortlist, and the winner will be revealed on October 17th. At the shop, our team have been reading our way through the shortlist, and have to say we are, with complete bias, rooting for the author who works part time in a bookshop. See below for the other shortlisted titles and a review of our favourite. Man Booker Prize Shortlist: 4321 by Paul Auster History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund Exit West by … Read more

Anthony Wilson: Books for the Aspiring Poet

August 5, 2019September 28, 2017 by The Bookery

Ahead of National Poetry day we asked Exeter based poet Anthony Wilson to recommend five books for the aspiring (or established!) poet to read. Anthony and fellow poet Lawrence Wilson will be appearing at the bookshop on Friday 29th September, reading a mix of their own and others’ poems which they have chosen to explore this years theme, Freedom. Writing Poems by Peter Sansom A brilliant guide to the process of putting pen to paper. Contains a great reading list, … Read more

Lawrence Sail: Five Poems for the Poetry-Shy to Try

August 5, 2019September 22, 2017 by The Bookery

Collage with text - 28th September - Freedom = Poetry

To celebrate National Poetry Day well known Exeter poets, Lawrence Sail and Anthony Wilson, will be reading their own and others’ poems which explore this year’s theme, Freedom. Find out more about the event here. Ahead of the event we asked Lawrence Sail for five poems for the poetry-shy to try, and being a generous man, he gave us six. “Where might anyone possibly begin to fish in the great ocean of poetry? To pick out such a small number … Read more

Interview: Jenny Balfour-Paul

February 3, 2021September 19, 2017 by The Bookery

Jenny Balfour-Paul is a writer, artist, international lecturer and intrepid traveller, with a life-long love of India. On Thursday 5th October we’ve an event with Jenny entitled Independence Blues: Stories of India, Indigo and Gandhi. Our favourite question to ask authors is ‘What book changed your life?’ and Jenny Balfour-Paul had a cracking answer. Q: What book changed your life? A: E. M. Forster’s last novel, A Passage to India, was a set book in my school English class and … Read more

Review: I am I am I am

September 8, 2019September 8, 2017 by The Bookery

Told in Maggie O’Farrell’s flowing yet penetrating style, this memoir is a delicious series of vignettes. Her eighth book and first autobiographical work was conceived of while caring for her daughter who lives with a severe auto immune disorder, and describes her own brushes with death. ‘Most of us tend not to dwell on our mortality since that way madness lies, but many have stood on the precipice, often several times over, and stared it squarely in the face.’ This … Read more

Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

September 8, 2019September 1, 2017 by The Bookery

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Blog Image

Eleanor Oliphant has organised her life to ensure unexpected events do not occur. Keenly timetabled, she wears the same clothes to work every day and follows the same weekly routine. Eleanor’s understanding of life is touching in its clarity, funny and sad. Perhaps inevitably her world begins to unravel with what initially appears to be a minor event. Her subsequent insights into her past are heart wrenching and although it isn’t easy, her willingness to engage in the process is … Read more

Review: How to Stop Time

September 8, 2019August 18, 2017 by The Bookery

Aging slower than the rest of humanity, Tom Hazard appears to be 41, but is actually over 400 years old. This is a well written love story full of old fashioned romance and a yearning for a happy ending, yet the time twist means Tom is an outsider. Always changing his identity and location to avoid detection, Tom becomes a history teacher. This role enables him to bring alive the tales of the past to classes of present day schoolchildren. … Read more

Man Booker Longlist 2017

August 14, 2019August 6, 2017 by The Bookery

The longlist, or ‘Man Booker Dozen’, for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize was announced on Wednesday 26th July. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the UK. This year’s longlist of 13 books was selected by a panel of five judges: Baroness Lola Young (Chair); literary critic, Lila Azam Zanganeh; Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist, Sarah Hall; artist, Tom Phillips CBE RA; and travel writer, Colin Thubron CBE. The list was chosen from 144 submissions published in the UK … Read more