Cliff

As our winter/spring Afternoon Author series drew to a close, we were privileged to welcome Dr Todd Gray MBE to The Bookery for a thought-provoking session on Writing Challenging History in Devon. Known for his meticulous research and dedication—working twelve-hour days, six days a week—Dr Gray has published over fifty books that explore lesser-known aspects of Devon’s history. Guests were settled with tea and biscuits before Dr Gray provided a trigger warning, acknowledging that some of his material would be … Read more

Hosting the UK’s bestselling author at The Bookery? Wow. Just wow. We had the absolute honour of welcoming Julia Donaldson CBE last weekend, and what an action-packed morning it was— book signings, photos, and a whole lot of happy readers! The excitement was palpable as children eagerly exchanged their Gozzle tokens for a copy of Julia’s latest book before lining up to meet the beloved author herself. Each ticket holder received a copy of Gozzle, which Julia signed – along … Read more

On a delightful spring evening at The Bookery, a packed house gathered to welcome conservationist, author, editor, and columnist Patrick Galbraith for a rich and vibrant conversation about land, access, and identity in the British countryside. Just 24 hours earlier, the High Court had ruled in favour of restoring the right to wild camp on Dartmoor — a landmark decision that resonated powerfully throughout the evening’s conversation. It was a timely and deeply thought-provoking event, full of insight, reflection, and … Read more

We were delighted to welcome a full house once again for a truly spellbinding evening of folklore and storytelling, embellished by an amazing of themed cake that Alexandra had baked for us to all enjoy! This special event celebrated the rich folkloric traditions of Devon, led by Crediton’s own Mark Norman, author of The Folklore of Devon, in conversation with Alexandra Dawe, author of The Stitchwort Curse and passionate supporter of The Folklore Podcast—which, as we learned, has now surpassed … Read more

A Thursday night, a full house in The Bookery with three Crime authors and the only incident to report being an abundance of laughter! Perhaps not be the plot design for a typical police procedural, but we had a fabulous evening with Orlando Murrin, Diane Jeffrey and Tina Orr Munro who each provided us with a crime fiction masterclass. Kicking off the evening Diane Jeffrey explained to us the key principles typically found in psychological thrillers that are dominated by … Read more

For our latest Afternoon Author event and after a couple of false starts we were thrilled to finally welcome Sarah Easter Collins to The Bookery who was joined in conversation by our very own expert interviewer Alison Sweatman. On a lovely sunny afternoon, we were so happy to have several of our wonderful supporters join us for a really special afternoon. Dominic welcomed Sarah explaining that we have Sarah to thank for the launch of our Afternoon Authors following Sarah … Read more

The Bookery was delighted to welcome author and freelance writer Lucy Brazier for our most recent author event. We had hoped that Lucy was to be joined in conversation by her good friend, novelist, TV scriptwriter and journalist Veronica Henry but she (understandably) had to withdraw due to her son having an operation on his ankle that afternoon. We all, of course, wish him a speedy recovery. Stepping in at late notice to replace Veronica was our very own Bookshop … Read more

Five years on from the start of the pandemic, The Bookery marked this somewhat melancholy anniversary by welcoming author and environmental journalist Marianne Brown, who’s recently launched book The Shetland Way was conceived in the first months of lockdown. Marianne arrived in Voe, Shetland with her partner and daughter in February 2020 to attend her father’s funeral having packed only enough clothes to last a short trip, but as COVID19 swept through the UK they would be unable to leave … Read more

For the first session of our Spring sessions of Afternoon Author events we were delighted to welcome local poet and friend of The Bookery Michael Hartland, who opened his talk inviting the audience to recall a memorable experience from the natural world and to think of a word or phrase to describe this experience. Before proceeding to read extracts from acclaimed poets that have inspired his own poetry Michael explained that he would be building in some moments of silence … Read more

For the final session of our winter Afternoon Author events we were delighted to welcome local author Jonathan Crofts, who was joined by Monica, his wife and editor of The Portsmouth Connection. Jonathan provided us with some fascinating insights and stories that he unearthed during his time researching the history of the Eggesford Estate and the Earls of Portsmouth. Jonathan began by introducing Monica, describing a little bit about her 40-year career as an editor. He then went on to … Read more