In the market for cosy evening plans?
Music nights are back + our full November events line-up
My colleague Darby, our events manager, has been toiling hard to pull together an amazing November events line-up, including the return of our music nights. She’s here to tell you more:
IT’S BEGINNING to happen: the leaves kissed by gold and red, the breeze growing chillier by the day, the boots and jumpers and scarves appearing from the back of wardrobes. Autumn is well and truly underway! I’ve had quite a busy year and am personally very ready for cosy nights reading, baking pumpkin bread, and completing yet another Harry Potter movie marathon.
If anyone out there is craving a cosy night outside the home, get excited! Backstory is bringing back our music nights this November and December, the Backstory Winter Sessions. Perhaps I’m biased being from Nashville, but I can’t imagine a better wintry evening than listening to live music while browsing books, wine glass in hand.
We have an incredible line-up of musicians with a mix of new and familiar faces. Just as we did with our summer sessions, we’re ticketing these, to help us monitor numbers and so that we can support our lovely artists. So please book on our website to secure your spot. (If there’s space, we’ll have a few walk-ins on the night, too, but booking ahead is the best way to be sure of a place.)
These nights will happen fortnightly on Friday evenings. Doors will open at 6pm to give you time to grab a drink and catch up with your friends before the music starts at 7pm. Check out our stellar line-up below.
And if live music isn’t your thing, don’t fear! We also have a spectacular line-up of author events this November to check out. From learning about French cheese (tasting included!) to the rise of AI to the historical impact of borders—we’ve got you covered. Check out our November events line-up below as well.
- Darby
8 November: Jack Mac
Heavyweight Jazz and Funk Saxophonist Jack Mac is a highly talented multi-instrumental musician and has been active on the scene for over a decade now. Enterprising and innovative with his work, Jack Mac is the leader of several successful, high-quality outfits across a number of different genres.
Specialising in blending music from a variety of different sources and genres, Jack Mac’s performances are unique, high quality and entertaining experiences. His repertoire consists of regularly played jazz standards, original compositions, and an eclectic collection of popular covers.
22 November: Alex Cambridge
Born in London, UK but having spent seven of her formative years raised in St Lucia, Alex Cambridge is a singer songwriter influenced by the Folk and Country music she grew up listening to. Described as having “songs that reflect maturity and lyrical ability beyond her years”, honest and vulnerable storytelling is at the heart of her music which journals her navigation through what she calls a “strange world” of personal traumas, coming of age and the ups and downs of relationships.
6 December: HerOrangeCoat
Hailing from West Yorkshire, HerOrangeCoat’s music – original, soulful and heartfelt – is a beguiling mixture of her life experiences to date, woven into a rich tapestry of sound. Armed with her ukulele, she crafts songs that show a remarkable ability to turn melancholy into an enticing musical journey that demands to be heard.
20 December: Average Ginger
‘AG’ short for @averageginger is an acoustic singer/songwriter who is known for his poetic flow and rhythmic guitar accompaniment.
November Events Line-Up
Susanna Crossman at Backstory — 30 October, 7:30pm
In the turbulent late seventies, Susanna Crossman grew up with her mother and sisters in a commune, with 50 residents from all over the world, armed with worn paperbacks on ecology, Marx and radical feminism, drawn together by utopian dreams of remaking the world. Decades later, Crossman revisits her past, turning to leading thinkers in philosophy, sociology and anthropology to examine the society she grew up in, and the many meanings of family and home.
Ned Palmer at Backstory - 5 November, 7:30pm
Following up on his book about the history of British cheese, cheesemonger Ned Palmer sets his sights abroad to explore the cheese of France: its history, identity and landscape. We’re thrilled to welcome him to Backstory to hear about his journey around France’s cheese regions, meeting the remarkable cheesemongers who carry the torch for France’s oldest and most treasured traditions. A sample of French cheese will be included in the ticket.
Madhumita Murgia at Backstory - 13 November, 7:30pm
Come out to Backstory to hear the AI Editor at the Financial Times, Madhumita Murgia, discuss the new technology that’s changing our world. Through the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society.
Jonn Elledge at Backstory - 20 November, 7:30pm
People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does — and about the scale of human folly.
6 November, 7.30pm Andrew O’Hagan, Caledonian Road SOLD OUT
28 November, 7.30pm Tim Shipman, Out SOLD OUT
The Backstory chart
Click on the links to order any of these books from our website with free UK delivery
Hardback
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney This week’s bestseller by a country mile. Megan loves this book about two brilliant brothers, a treat for people who know a thing or two about chess, weird siblings, grief, and thinking deep thoughts but sometimes struggling to express them to the people you love the most.
Want by Gillian Anderson The actress collects and introduces the anonymous fantasies of women from around the world.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman The Thursday Murder Club author is back, with a new series of cosy crime.
What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci Everyone’s favourite home cook/actor/martini maker Stanley Tucci presents a compelling look at his year in eating: a joy from beginning to end, though it will make you hungry…
Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari The author of Sapiens returns with a history of information networks, deep diving on how we’ve adapted our means of sharing stories, knowledge and secrets.
Paperback
Butter by Asako Yuzuki Still going strong.
Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang This novel about an ambitious novelist who steals her dying frenemy’s manuscript and attempts to pass it off as her own was a lot of fun to read.
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan Winner of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, coming to our Backstory fiction book club in November.
Kala by Colin Walsh One of my favourite books of last year. A dark, twisty tale of friendship and suspicion set on the Irish coast.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano Denise loved this book, an homage to Little Women set in Chicago.
Join our club
Want to have more Backstory in your life? Why not:
Join our fiction or non-fiction book clubs, which meet every month on Zoom with each book’s author. We’ve heard from winners of the Pulitzer, Nobel and Women’s prizes, and big names like Patrick Radden Keefe, Caleb Azumah Nelson and Christina Lamb. Join for £15 a month or come to a one-off session for £16.
Take out a Backstory book subscription, tailored to each individual recipient. These start from £60 for three months (or £45 for kids) and make brilliant presents.