 TIM HOPGOOD WORLD BOOK DAY STORY TIME & BOOK SIGNING THURSDAY 3RD MARCH 4.00pm at Booka Come along on World Book Day and meet award winning children's author and illustrator Tim Hopgood as he reads some of his engaging and colourful stories for young ones, including, Wow Said the Owl and Hooray for Hoppy.
This is a FREE event suitable for ages 3-6. Please book in advance. World Book Day vouchers can be redeemed against copies of Tim's books. |  ROB COWEN - COMMON GROUND TUESDAY 12TH APRIL - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start)
at Booka Join us for an evening with one of the UK's most exciting nature writers as journalist, author and broadcaster, Rob Cowen, talks about his highly acclaimed book, Common Ground. After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob Cowen finds himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he sets out to find it - a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it feels unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it. Obsessively revisiting this contested ground, Cowen ventures deeper into its many layers and lives, documenting its changes through time and season and unearthing histories that profoundly resonate and intertwine with transformative events happening in his own life. Common Ground blurs the boundaries of memoir, natural history and novel and offers an enthralling way of writing about nature and our experiences within it. Rob's book was one of the most talked about non-fiction literary titles of 2015. We are delighted to welcome him to Oswestry for the paperback publication of Common Ground. Tickets: £5 (redeemable against book purchase) Includes glass of wine / soft drink on arrival Please book in advance. For tickets, call in at the shop, give us a call, or book online via our Eventbrite page. |  KATHERINE WEBB - THE ENGLISH GIRL THURSDAY 21ST APRIL - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at Booka Join us for an evening with bestselling author, Katherine Webb, as she talks about her new novel, The English Girl - a story of feuds, secrets and turmoil in 1950's Arabia. Joan Seabrook, a fledgling archaeologist, has fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Arabia by travelling from England to the ancient city of Muscat with her fiancé, Rory. Desperate to escape the pain of a personal tragedy, she longs to explore the desert fort of Jabrin, and unearth the treasures it is said to conceal. But Oman is a land lost in time - hard, secretive, and in the midst of a violent upheaval - and gaining permission to explore Jabrin could prove impossible. Joan's disappointment is only alleviated by the thrill of meeting her childhood heroine, pioneering explorer Maude Vickery, and hearing first-hand the stories that captured her imagination and fuelled her ambition as a child. Joan's encounter with the extraordinary and reclusive Maude will change everything. Both women have things that they want, and secrets they must keep. As their friendship grows, Joan is seduced by Maude's stories, and the thrill of the adventure they hold, and only too late does she begin to question her actions - actions that will spark a wild, and potentially disastrous, chain of events. Will the girl that left England for this beautiful but dangerous land ever find her way back? Katherine Webb is the bestselling author of The Legacy, The Night Falling, The Misbegotten and The Unseen. We are delighted to welcome Katherine to Oswestry to talk about The English Girl. Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed hardback copy of The English Girl). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Please book in advance.
For tickets, call in at the shop, give us a call or purchase online via our Eventbrite page. | |  OSWESTRY LITFEST 2016 LONG LIT WEEKEND THURSDAY 17TH - SUNDAY 20TH MARCH - VARIOUS VENUES This year the seventh Oswestry LitFest takes place over a Long Lit Weekend from 17-20 March 2016, when some fabulous authors, storytellers and entertainers will be descending on the town for an action packed and inspiring programme of events for adults and children. Click here to download the FULL PROGRAMME For tickets visit the ONLINE BOOKING PAGE or call in at the LITFEST BOX OFFICE at Booka Bookshop. Tickets for events being hosted by Oswestry Library are available from the Library. This year we are delighted that author Cathy Rentzenbrink is taking on the role of Guest Director and that author, poet and playwright, Owen Sheers, will deliver the Wilfred Owen Lecture. Hope to see you at some of the events! |  CHRIS CLEAVE - EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN TUESDAY 19TH APRIL - 7.00pm (for 7.30pm start) at The Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry Join us for an evening with award winning author Chris Cleave as he talks about his breathtaking new novel, Everyone Brave is Forgiven – one of the literary highlights of 2016. In a powerful combination of both humour and heartbreak, this dazzling novel weaves little-known history, and a perfect love story, through the vast sweep of the Second World War – daring us to understand that, against the great theatre of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs, that change us most. Chris Cleave's debut novel, Incendiary, was an international bestseller and multiple prize-winner. His second novel, the Costa-shortlisted, New York Times #1 bestseller The Other Hand, has found phenomenal worldwide success. His third book, Gold, confirmed his status as "one of our most powerful, important and psychologically insightful novelists". A new novel from Chris Cleave is always something to look forward to. We are delighted to welcome Chris to Oswestry two days before publication. Tickets: £10 (£5 redeemable against a signed hardback copy of Everyone Brave is Forgiven.) Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Please book in advance.
For tickets, call in at the shop, give us a call or purchase online via our Eventbrite page.
If you can't make the event but would like a signed First Edition copy of Everyone Brave is Forgiven you can pre-order here. |  CHRIS PACKHAM - FINGERS IN THE SPARKLE JAR THURSDAY 12TH MAY - 12.30pm (doors open 12 Noon) at The Wynnstay Hotel Oswestry TV presenter, photographer and conservationist Chris Packham is one of the nation's favourite naturalists, best known for the BAFTA-winning The Really Wild Show and fronting Springwatch and Autumnwatch. As a boy, his intense fascination with wildlife marked him out as 'the weird kid' and his childhood in Hampshire was spent as a solitary, silent observer of miraculous, miniature worlds populated by ants, bats, otters and snakes. But it was a single act that would change his life forever: taking a young kestrel from its nest. He would form an all-consuming friendship with this tiny fledgling and their remarkable bond would teach him what it meant to love. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, he weaves back and forth through time, gloriously capturing a child's view of the 70s – the music, the clothes, the cars, the freedom – alongside recent, more exposing recollections from adulthood. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar is unexpected but it truly glitters. We are delighted to welcome Chris to Oswestry for what should be a great event. Tickets: £10 (£5 redeemable against a signed hardback copy of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar) Includes refreshments. Please book in advance. For tickets, call in at the shop, give us a call, or purchase online via our Eventbrite page. If you can't make the event but would like a signed First Edition copy of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar you can pre-order here. | |
