You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy plant-based food, especially when it’s delicious desserts! Find out how to create your own tasty ‘afters’ at October Books’ ‘We can learn to… make vegan and plant-based desserts. On Saturday 8th June, 11am – 12.30pm, join Lucy Parr, Cordon Bleu trained...
Books
Author talk on The Broken Promise of Infrastructure at October Books
New book The Broken Promise of Infrastructure tackles the divisive cultural politics that have been used to deflect attention away from Britain’s failing infrastructure, from Brexit through to the ‘levelling up’ agenda. Building on more than a decade of research, this book argues that infrastructure projects are always far...
Los Angeles poet laureate Lynne Thompson, author talk and book signing in Southampton
You can join Lynne Thompson, Los Angeles poet laureate, for her author talk and book signing of Blue on a Blue Palette at Southampton’s radical independent bookstore October Books, on Wednesday 8th May. Blue on a Blue Palette reflects on the condition of women—their joys despite their histories, and...
Book Review: Vague Wisdom by Will Vigar
By Anita Foxall Will Vigar’s new poetry collection, Vague Wisdom, should be top of your shopping list if you are looking for a good poetry book. It is rich in images and memories, some borrowed from art and cinema, some very personal. Poetry has always been present in his...
Southampton’s Itchen Bridge takes centre stage in BBC Radio 4 festive drama
By Carolyn Thomas Woolston-based author Ali Sparkes has written a new play for Radio 4, inspired by the tales of tollbooth workers on Southampton’s Itchen Bridge. Billed as a ‘festive romcom’ starring comedian Shaparak Khorsandi (pictured top with Ali), Tess of the Tollbooth explores the developing relationship between tollbooth...
Under the Covers books section December: Thriving by surviving separation
By Carolyn Thomas. Southampton-based drama teacher Daisy Harris-Reid, known to her 13.6k Instagram followers as ‘Mum about Town’, has written her first book, a self-help manual for women coping with separation and solo-parenting. The pocket-sized ‘Separation Survival Guide – How to Press the Reset Button’ is based on her...
Under the Covers books section: short stories big on thrills
By Carolyn Thomas. Those who find the lead up to Christmas all rather too saccharine may be delighted to lose themselves in the latest collection of creepy tales of terror and paranoia by local author Oli Jacobs. His newest nine short horror stories, wrapped up in a volume called...
Meet authors Kathryn Malcolm and Connor Irving in Southampton on Saturday
Perry’s Art Supplies, Southampton, hosts a book signing event featuring two notable local authors, Kathryn Malcolm, author of “The Shadow of the Scholar,” and Connor Irving, author of “The Salt of Angels Book 1: Pillars of Cloud” on Saturday (November 4). The event promises an engaging Q&A session, book...
Book launch: The Same Country, October Books
This autumn you can join author Carole Burns at Southampton independent book shop, October Books in Portswood, for the launch of her debut novel, The Same Country, about race and racism in America.‘The Same Country is an electric, emotionally charged novel: it seethes with its own energy. Pick it...
Under the Covers – August: Meet prize-winning Totton-born author/illustrator Kim Hillyard
By books editor Carolyn Thomas. Images by Jasmine Joynson. In just a few years Totton-born children’s author and illustrator Kim Hillyard has cornered the market in life-enhancing stories featuring quirky animal heroes. So far she’s featured a fly, a hamster, and a mammoth in her beautifully illustrated stories for...