Event announcement
Anna Funder is coming to Backstory!
We’re thrilled that the Stasiland author will be joining us in person, all the way from Australia, to talk about her latest book, a biography of Eileen O’Shaughnessy — George Orwell’s wife. Get your tickets here
Other upcoming events:
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KIDS EVENT: Sam Copeland — Friday 10th May, 4pm
Meet children’s author Sam Copeland at our free ticketed event and find out more about his brand new fantasy series Alex vs Axel. There is also a chance to get your copy of the book signed by Sam.
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Fiction book club on Zoom, 14th May: Michael Magee, Close to Home
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Non-fiction book club on Zoom, 28th May: Daniel Chandler: Free and Equal
Our magazine, making headlines
I’m delighted to feature in the latest ‘at work with’ interview by MagCulture, a fabulous shop in Clerkenwell devoted to all things magazine. You can read the interview here.
It was also lots of fun to talk about the magazine and some of my favourite non-fiction reads on the latest episode of the Book Club Review podcast. Listen here.
Our book of the month
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor
Set on a remote Welsh island in the 1930s, this lyrical debut studies the tension of in-between spaces.
A young woman is torn between desires to leave and to stay. A community is in danger of dying out.
This story stays with you long after the last page — Team Backstory
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MANY OF YOU lovely people chipped in to our great bookcase crowdfunder nearly two years ago. Several have your names on them to prove it. Well, I’ve caught wind of an even worthier bookshop fundraiser and I thought you’d like to hear about it.
One of our lovely regulars, Mark Robinson, who has been a stalwart of our fiction book club since the start, is cycling from Balham (in fact, from Backstory) to Bootle on Merseyside next month to raise funds for a children’s bookshop there that is doing wonders in addressing low rates of literacy through creativity and storytelling.
I’ve let Mark take over the newsletter this week to tell you more. We’re chipping in, and I hope you’ll consider doing so, too — Tom
Hi there!
If you are reading this, I guess you don’t just like books, you probably love books.
Your bibliophilia probably started before you could even talk; the touch and feel of the written word are why you’ve supported Backstory over Bezos. This love you will generously pass to your kids and grandkids without a second thought.
Not everyone is so lucky. The culling of SureStart has decimated early years learning, but in Bootle, one of the UK’s most deprived communities, an amazing children’s literacy initiative Kingsley and Co is making a difference to young lives.
So what connects Balham (one of the UK’s wealthiest boroughs) with Bootle?
Quite simply me (a Backstory stalwart), 239 miles of road, a bicycle and a love of Mr Gum.
Though I admit to a passing resemblance to Mr Gum, I have never stolen a child’s skateboard or recently tried to poison a whopper of a dog. Even so, 18 years after first reading Andy Stanton’s amazing stories, my daughter Lily can still remember Polly’s full name (Jammy Grammy Lammy F'Huppa F'Huppa Berlin Stereo Eo Eo Lebb C'Yepp Nermonica La Straypek De Grespin De Crespin De Spespin De Vespin De Whoop De Loop De Brunkle Merry Christmas Lenoir, of course) by heart.
Every penny raised speeds up the opening of Kinsgley’s new, improved Explores Emporium. Just a handful of you giving the equivalent of a glass of Tom’s reasonably priced Chin Chin or making a donation instead of buying Ten Years to Save the West would give them rocket boosters.
Find out more here and give a couple of quid, you lovely little tunglers….
With love,
Mark