David Nicholls & Lyse Doucet at Backstory
And eight more excellent events
A COUPLE OF EXCITING things to share with you. First, the lovely people at Faber have named Backstory their independent bookshop of the month. Thanks guys! Their write-up is here.
Second, and arguably of slightly more excitement to the rest of you, here’s the big events reveal I promised you. We have an embarrassment of big names coming to Backstory over the next three months, not least David Nicholls and, fresh from reporting this week in Tehran, the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, who will be talking about her work and her new book, on the recent history of Afghanistan.
It’s a huge honour to welcome both of these authors to Backstory (for the second time, in Nicholls’s case), but I’d encourage you to take a good look at our other mind-expanding delights, too, from chef José Pizarro to south London author and Backstory favourite Julia Armfield. Elsewhere there’s the refugee crisis, crime, big questions of intergenerational fairness and the chance to share your own creative work.
So snap up your tickets, grab a glass of wine (or one of our fancy new cocktails) from the bar and make sure you’re sitting comfortably. We’re about to begin.
This Wednesday, a Backstory favourite
Julia Armfield, Private Rites
Wednesday 2nd July, 7:30pm
Award-winning author of Salt Slow and Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield will be joining us at Backstory to talk about her latest, which is our June book of the month. Private Rites is a family saga about three sisters confronting their complicated relationships with each other after the death of their father. It's beautifully written and thought-provoking, set against the backdrop of a near-future Britain that's slowly flooding.
Share your work
Poetry Open Mic Nights
This Friday, 4th July, and Friday 12th September, 7:00pm
Come and join us at Backstory for our regular poetry night. We'll have a mic set up in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere for anyone to come and share their poetry or prose. It's completely free, and open mic-ers can sign up at the door. Once called up, you'll have five minutes (though no need to fill that all up!)
There’s no need to book tickets for this one. Just turn up.
Gateway to the (quite far) south
José Pizarro, The Spanish Pantry
Monday 21st July, 7:30pm
For those who can't travel to Spain this summer, we're bringing award-winning chef and food writer José Pizarro to Backstory to tell us how to bring a taste of Spain to our kitchens. In addition to having three restaurants across London, José was the executive chef at Brindisa and has written a number of cookbooks. The Spanish Pantry emphasises simple, ready-to-hand ingredients, making Spanish classics accessible.
Longing for a different future
Horatio Clare, They Came By Sea — in aid of Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees
Tuesday 29th July, 7:30pm
Join us for an evening of talking humanely about refugees for once. Tom will be in conversation with Horatio Clare, whose book We Came By Sea tells the human story behind the small boats crisis: of the volunteers in Calais and the lifeboat crews on the frontline. It is a hopeful picture of Britain, one that celebrates humanity and looks toward a better future.
We’re proud to be donating all ticket sales from this event to Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees.
David Nicholls is back!
David Nicholls, You Are Here
Tuesday 9th September, 7:30pm
The nicest man in publishing is coming back for another sit-down event. You’ll probably have read at least one of One Day, Us, Sweet Sorrow and Starter for Ten. We’ll be discussing his latest novel, You Are Here, which comes out in paperback this week.
I lapped up this gorgeous, gently told tale of mud, love and long-distance walking. It’s a bittersweet story of a geography teacher, a coast-to-coast walk and an unexpected romance and it’s vintage Nicholls.
Bring your magnifying glass (and maybe a scarf)
Tom Hindle, Death in the Arctic
Wednesday 17th September, 7:30pm
For all our cosy crime lovers, we're bringing in Tom Hindle, bestselling author of Murder on Lake Garda, to discuss his latest novel. Death in the Arctic is a thrilling mystery in an unusual setting, following an aspiring travel writer whose trip aboard a luxury airship doesn’t quite go to plan. When a fellow passenger is discovered dead in their cabin, everyone is a suspect.
Our woman in… Balham
Lyse Doucet, The Finest Hotel in Kabul
Tuesday 23rd September, 7:30pm
One of the BBC’s most recognisable faces (and voices), chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet will be joining us to discuss her book The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan. Doucet recounts a recent history of Afghanistan through the lens of the Inter-Continental Kabul, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel, which opened in 1969.
An essential evening for anyone interested in recent events in the Middle East, we’ll be covering the Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban.
After the Ottomans
Lea Ypi, Indignity
Monday 29th September, 7:30pm
Some of you might remember I raved about Free, the fabulous memoir by LSE professor Lea Ypi about growing up in communist Albania. Now Ypi is back with Indignity, heading further into the past to her grandparents’ lives from the Ottoman empire through the making of modern Greece and Albania, a global financial crisis and the horrors of war to the dawn of communism in the Balkans.
I love Ypi’s writing and welcome her to Backstory.
The bank of mum and dad
Eliza Filby, Inheritocracy
Tuesday 30th September, 7:30pm
It’s a touchy topic, but arguably one of the most important, especially if you’re renting (or, whisper it, buying) in London. Historian and author Eliza Filby will join us to talk about her Sunday Times bestselling book Inheritocracy: It's Time to Talk about the Bank of Mum and Dad. She lays bare an inheritocracy where what matters most is parental financial support, from university funds to help with a housing deposit.
Want more Backstory?
Request a book to pick up in the shop (we can usually get a book for the next day)
If you’re further afield, order a book from our website
Happy reading,
Tom