Blackwell's Presents...

Blackwell's Oxford Event coordinator, Alex, talked to Ben Aaronovitch about his latest book in the River of London series, False Value. Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Our Bookseller at Blackwell's Broad Street, Aleida, sat down with Lennie Goodings to discuss her book, A Bite of the Apple. "A Bite of the Apple is a celebration of writing, of publishing, and of reading." Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Events coordinator for Blackwell's Oxford, Alex, sat down with Edward Parnell to discuss his book, Ghostland. 'Ghostland is Parnell’s moving exploration of what has haunted our writers and artists – and what is haunting him. It is a unique and elegiac meditation on grief, memory and longing, and of the redemptive power of stories and nature.' https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Ghostland-by-Edward-Parnell-author/9780008271992 Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Blackwell's Fiction Bookseller Ray was delighted to sit down with James Attlee, author of Isolarion, to discuss the republishing of this classic book. A travel writing classic, with a new preface by the author and an afterword by Geoff Dyer. ‘A time may come in your life’, Isolarion begins, ‘when you feel the need to make a pilgrimage.’ But when it does, how is a parent with a full-time job to respond to the call? Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Blackwell's were honoured to be joined by Chelsea Kwakye who was in conversation with Daisy J Hung on her hugely important book, Taking Up Space: The Black Girl's Manifesto for Change. As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. Recent Cambridge grads Chelsea and Ore experienced this first-hand, and wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change. "FOR BLACK GIRLS:Understand that your journey is unique. Use this book as a guide. Our wish for you is that you read this and feel empowered, comforted and validated in every emotion you experience, or decision that you make.FOR EVERYONE ELSE:We can only hope that reading this helps you to be a better friend, parent, sibling or teacher to black girls living through what we did. It's time we stepped away from seeing this as a problem that black people are charged with solving on their own.It's a collective effort. And everyone has a role to play." Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, Taking Up Space goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today. Chelsea Kwakye is a first-class honours History graduate from Homerton College, Cambridge. Whilst at Cambridge she was the only black girl in her year group of around 200 to read History. In her final year, she was Vice-President of the African-Caribbean Society and competed in a Cambridge vs. Oxford Varsity Athletics match. She is currently studying at the University of Law in preparation for a training contract with a city law firm in London. #Merky Books was set up by publishers Penguin Random House and Stormzy in June 2018 to find and publish the best writers of a new generation and to publish the stories that are not being heard. #Merky Books aims to open up the world of publishing, and this year has launched a New Writer's Prize and will soon be launching a #Merky Books traineeship. Daisy J Hung is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Blackwell's were delighted to host a special Hallowe'en event exploring black magic, with Thomas Waters and Lucie McKnight Hardy as they discussed their books 'Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times' and 'Water Shall Refuse Them'. Follow us on Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

Lyrical and boundary-breaking, Saltwater explores the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, the challenges of shifting class identity and the way that the strongest feelings of love can be the hardest to define. Beth, one of our fiction booksellers sat down with Jessica Andrews to talk gentrification, language and how we shape ourselves. Follow us on Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

We were delighted to be joined by Garth Nix and R. F. Kuang on Thursday 17 October to discuss Garth's first adult fantasy novel, Angel Mage. Garth is the author of the fantastic Old Kingdom series for young adult, including Sabriel, as well as many other novel for young readers. R. F. Kuang's The Poppy War won the Reddit Fantasy Award for Best Debut last year, which has been followed by The Dragon Republic. Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Website: http://www.blackwell.co.uk

Join booksellers Beth, Cat,Chiara and Alex as they discuss the ghost stories of Blackwell's and recommend you some creepy reads! Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/blackwells-oxford-11264382560

Learn how to cook an array of literary feasts with Kate Young as she discusses her beautiful cookery book 'The Little Library Cookbook'. Containing over 100 delicious recipes taken from Kate's favourite works of fiction, 'The Little Library Cookbook' showcases delights such as Paddington Bear's marmalade, a Neopolitan pizza with Elena Ferrante and afternoon tea at Manderley. 'The Little Library Cookbook' was voted as on of the Guardian's Best Books on Food of 2017, Shortlisted for the Fortnum and Mason's Debut Food Book Award and Winner of World Gourmand Award for Food Writing. Kate Young is an award-winning food writer and cook. As a dedicated bookworm, Kate's reading inspires her in the kitchen. After mastering the treacle tart from Harry Potter, Kate started blogging about her creations and was named Blogger of the Year in 2017 by the Guild of Food Writers. Kate has written for the Guardian, Sainsbury's Magazine and The Pool. She is currently writing 'The Little Library Year' which is due to be published by Head of Zeus in October 2019. Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/blackwells-oxford-11264382560

Blackwell's Broad Street was thrilled to be joined by author of the best-selling Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter. Max was in conversation with fellow author, Ali Shaw, discussing his latest book, Lanny. There is a village outside London, no different from many others. Everyday lives conjure a tapestry of fabulism and domesticity. This village belongs to the people who live in it and to the people who lived in it hundreds of years ago. It belongs to England's mysterious past and its confounding present. But it also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort who has woken from his slumber and is listening, and watching. He is watching Mad Pete the village artist. He is listening to ancient Peggy gossiping at her gate, to families recently moved here and to families dead for generations. Dead Papa Toothwort hears them all as he searches, intently, for his favourite. Looking for the boy. Lanny. ‘It’s hard to express how much I loved Lanny. Books this good don’t come along very often. It’s a novel like no other, an exhilarating, disquieting, joyous read. It will reach into your chest and take hold of your heart. It’s a novel to press into the hands of everyone you know and say, read this.’ MAGGIE O’FARRELL ‘The writing is stunning and deeply affecting. The plot thunders along. This is a book that resolutely refuses to be categorised but to get somewhere close, think: Under Milk Wood meets Broadchurch.’ NATHAN FILER ‘It takes a special kind of genius to create something which is both so strange and yet so compulsive.’ MARK HADDON Max Porter’s first novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers’ Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. It has been sold in twenty-nine territories. Complicité and Wayward’s production of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy opened in Dublin in March 2018. Max lives in Bath with his family. Ali Shaw is the author of The Trees, The Man who Rained and The Girl with Glass Feet, which won the Desmond Elliott Prize for first novels. He grew up in Dorset and studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. He has worked as a bookseller and at Oxford’s Bodleian Library. He lives with his wife and two-year-old daughter. Instagram: @blackwelloxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Youtube: Blackwell's Bookshops Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/blackwells-oxford-11264382560

In February 2019, we were lucky enough to be joined by Kristen Roupenian, author of the phenomenon ‘Cat Person’, in-conversation about her debut book, You Know You Want This, with Man Booker shortlisted author, Daisy Johnson. Emerging from a seven-year relationship in her mid-thirties, Kristen Roupenian thought she’d be much better at dating – she was older, wiser and boasted a finely tuned bullshit detector. Instead, a memorably bad encounter planted the seed for the story ‘Cat Person’, which became a viral sensation after being published by the New Yorker in December 2017. Kristen Roupenian spent the early part of her twenties travelling the world in the Peace Corps, as well as working in a bookshop and as a nanny. She went on to study for a PhD in African literature at Harvard. When ‘Cat Person’ happened, Kristen was coming to the end of an MFA at the University of Michigan and putting the finishing touches to You Know You Want This, her first book. With a nod to classic horror, You Know You Want This examines the pull and push of revulsion and attraction between people. Daisy Johnson is the author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection Fen. Her debut novel Everything Under was short listed for the Man Booker Prize. She is the winner of the Harper's Bazaar Short Story Prize, the A. M. Heath Prize, and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. She has a Master's in Creative Writing from Oxford and was once a bookseller at Blackwell's on Broad Street. Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford Youtube: Blackwell's Bookshops Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/blackwells-oxford-11264382560

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Zool, the Sales Development Manager. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford.

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Ulic, manager of the Norrington Room. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford.

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Dave, Blackwell's Oxford's Sales Manager. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford. Blackell's Oxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Books Are My Bag Twitter: @booksaremybag

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Alex, who works in Events. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford. Blackell's Oxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Books Are My Bag Twitter: @booksaremybag

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Zoe, who work works in the Norrington Room. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford. Blackell's Oxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Books Are My Bag Twitter: @booksaremybag

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Dan, who works in the fiction department. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford. Blackell's Oxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Books Are My Bag Twitter: @booksaremybag

As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we want to share with you some of the stories of our booksellers from Blackwell's Broad Street. We are lucky enough to work with such wonderful people who are incredibly passionate about books. This episode features Becky, who works in our travel department. Sian Cain is the online editor for The Guardian Books and a former bookseller of Blackwell's Oxford. Blackell's Oxford Twitter: @blackwelloxford Books Are My Bag Twitter: @booksaremybag

Candice Carty-Williams sits down with our bookseller, Alex, to discuss her debut novel, Queenie. Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwellsoxford YouTube: Blackwell's Bookshops Eventbrite: Blackwell's, Oxford Events Music: Borrtex - Children's Joy

Blackwell's were delighted to be joined by Carcanet poets on the 7th of February for a wonderful evening of poetry and discussion with three of Carcanet's most prominent poets, Beverley Bie Brahic, Alison Brackenbury and Nina Bogin. Beverley Bie Brahic is a poet, translator and occasional critic. Her collection White Sheets was a finalist for the 2012 Forward Prize; Hunting the Boar (2016) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and her translation, Guillaume Apollinaire, The Little Auto, won the 2013 Scott Moncrieff Prize. Other translations include Francis Ponge, Unfinished Ode to Mud, a 2009 Popescu Prize finalist, and books by Hélène Cixous, Yves Bonnefoy, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. Brahic was born in Saskatoon, Canada, grew up in Vancouver, and now lives in Paris and the San Francisco Bay Area. Alison Brackenbury was born in Lincolnshire in 1953 and studied at Oxford. She now lives in Gloucestershire, where she works, as a director and manual worker, in the family metal finishing business. Her Carcanet collections include Dreams of Power (1981), Breaking Ground (1984), Christmas Roses (1988), Selected Poems (1991), 1829 (1995), After Beethoven (2000) and Bricks and Ballads (2004). Her poems have been included on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and 1829 was produced by Julian May for Radio 3. Her work recently won a Cholmondeley Award. Nina Bogin, poet and translator, was born in New York City and has lived in France since 1976. Her previous collections are In the North, The Winter Orchards and The Lost Hare. In addition to numerous translations in the domain of art history, her translation of The Illiterate by Agota Kristof was published in 2013. The evening will be chaired by Bernard O’Donoghue, Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, where he taught Medieval English and Modern Irish Poetry. He has published six collections of poetry, including Gunpowder, winner of the 1995 Whitbread Prize for Poetry, and Farmers Cross (2011) which was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot prize as well as a verse translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2006). Music: Borrtex - Children's Joy.

On Saturday the 2nd of February, we were joined in the bookshop by Johann Hari and Nigel Warburton as part of the Philosophy in the Bookshop series. Johann Hari - Lost Connections https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Lost-Connections-by-Johann-Hari-author/9781408878729 Nigel Warburton - Little History of Philosophy https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/A-Little-History-of-Philosophy-by-Nigel-Warburton/9780300187793 Music: Borrtex - Children's Joy.

On Wednesday the 16th of January, we were joined by Paul Luna as part of our 'For Learning, For Life' series taking place in the Norrington Room. Typography, the art of designing printed words, touches our life now more than ever. The widespread use of mobile phones, tablets and social media means that we are regularly asked to make decisions about the fonts, sizes, and layouts we use in our writing. We now see typography as a way to express our personalities rather than just make our writing legible. Paul Luna offers a broad definition of typography as design for reading, whether in print or on screens, where a set of visual choices are taken to make a written message more accessible, more easily transmitted, more significant, or more attractive. Paul Luna both researches and designs complex texts. He designed the last two editions of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and has written on the relationship between typography and lexicography, including a study of the typography of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary. Paul is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Reading and co-editor of the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication’s publication Typography Papers.