We've made another magazine

The perfect romcom, and other stories

Newsflash: event with one of my favourite writers

24th March, 7.30pm at Backstory — Wright Thompson, The Barn

Wright Thompson is comfortably on my list of all-time top 10 favourite writers. Less known this side of the Pond, he is a phenomenon in the USA, writing for The Atlantic and ESPN and publishing bestselling books on sports and bourbon.

He joins us to discuss The Barn, an extraordinary work of reportage about an horrific racist lynching in his home state of Mississippi. Join us for a fascinating discussion of racism and the fragile state of American politics with a white Mississippian calling for a reckoning with the past.

We will be serving bourbon cocktails on the night. The ticket-only option does not include a cocktail, but you are welcome to buy one on the night. The book+ticket+drink option includes a cocktail.

Issue 3 of our magazine

NEVER MEET YOUR HEROES, they say. Presumably they fear that those our imaginations have made dazzling will be revealed on closer inspection to be pompous, rude or plain dull. It’s the flipside of Walter Bagehot’s famous advice to the monarchy: “We must not let in daylight upon magic.”

Well, I reckon “they”, whoever they are, have never worked in a bookshop. Meeting our heroes is one of the loveliest bits of the job. In the two years since opening Backstory, I’ve had the honour of interviewing some of my favourite writers, from novelists Nickolas Butler, Jessica Andrews and David Nicholls to non-fiction titans like Patrick Radden Keefe, Ed Caesar and Barbara Demick.

And, though I’ll admit breathing a relieved sigh each time, not one of them turned out to be an arsehole. (Admittedly, they all had books to sell.)

Editing three issues of our very own magazine — also called Backstory — has given me the same joy. What a treat it has been to lap up the work of debut writers like Colin Walsh, Yael van der Wouden or Ferdia Lennon and then get to commission them to do something original and sparky just for us.

The same goes for those whose reporting I most admired in my previous career as a journalist. If I’m honest with you, it was a thrill to ask Simon Parkin – whose prose has previously made me care about subjects as seemingly dull as carp fishing – to write a profile of Richard Coles for this issue of the mag.

Likewise Sophie Elmhirst, author of what I can only describe as the definitive reportage on condoms. Her lovely piece about whether non-fiction or fiction actually gets closer to the truth adorns issue 3, too.

Better still has been championing new talent. A particular shoutout in this regard to my ex-colleague Amy Strong – whose lovely valedictory column I’ll share with you next week – and current colleague Savannah Sullivan, whose gorgeous illustrations adorn our endpapers and several spreads inside.

This third issue of Backstory will also be our last. You’d think I’d have known this already from a decade working in newsrooms, but it turns out that editing and publishing your own magazine is a full-time job. And I have one of those already, running the bookshop that I already cherish more than I can say. I’ve had a lot of fun making a mag from scratch (and then figuring out how to sell it around the world in order not to make money but ideally not to lose it), but it’s also, at times, driven me a bit mad.

So thank you for joining us on this adventure. I hope you get as much pleasure from this final issue as we, the Backstory team, did, sitting at the bar in our bookshop just before press day, trying to spot typos, each with a different coloured pencil.

You can buy the magazine in our bookshop, of course, or from our website for £6.95. If you prefer, it might well be in your local indie bookshop or your nearest branch of Waterstones in the UK or Barnes & Noble in the US. (If you’re a subscriber, you’ll be receiving your copy in the coming days; or, if you live outside the UK, by the end of the month.)

— Tom

Upcoming events at Backstory

• 18 February, 7:30pm Rachel Thompson, The Love Fix

  We’re excited to welcome sex and dating journalist Rachel Thompson to Backstory. Her book The Love Fix discusses modern dating, interweaving research, interviews, and her own anecdotes.

• 19 February, 7:30pm Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, Get In SOLD OUT. Order the book

• 26 February, 7:30pm Sophie Elmhirst, Maurice and Maralyn SOLD OUT. Order the book

• 10 March, 7.30pm Charlie Colenutt, Is This Working?

  We’re welcoming Charlie Colenutt to discuss something most British adults have in common: Work. In Is This Working? Colenutt compiles two years of research where he traveled across the UK talking to ordinary people about their jobs—from bakers to care home workers to investment bankers. This is a wide-sweeping look at modern Britain, focused on how we spend our working hours.

• 14 March, 7pm Poetry Open Mic Night No need to book, sign up at the door

• 19 March, 7.30pm Ellen Jones, Outrage

  We’re thrilled to see award-winning writer, speaker, and campaigner Ellen Jones to Backstory. Her debut book Outrage explores the prejudice and danger still faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, from sports to education to mental health and more. She also highlights individuals already working hard to make change and presents practical actions we can all take.

• 24 March, 7.30pm Wright Thompson, The Barn See above!

• 26 March, 7.30pm Nicola Dinan, Disappoint Me

  Critically-acclaimed author of Bellies Nicola Dinan will be joining us at Backstory to talk about her second novel. Disappoint Me follows 30-year-old Max as she enters a heteronormative relationship for the first time. Funny, moving, and poignant, Disappoint Me reckons with the pressures of living the 'right' kind of life and making peace with the past.

• 1 April, 7.30pm Orlando Whitfield, All That Glitters

  We’re excited to have at Backstory art dealer and writer Orlando Whitfield. His book All That Glitters tells the story of greed and money in the art world with the insight of someone who experienced it all firsthand.

• 2 April, 7.30pm Roopa Gulati in conversation with Diana Henry, Indian Kitchens

  For our local foodies, we’re bringing in Roopa Gulati who will discuss her beautiful cookbook in conversation with celebrated food writer Diana Henry. Indian Kitchen presents a joyful journey through India, celebrating the rich heritage of food across the subcontinent.