Reading, Wanting and Broken Economics: with Dr Simon Frost

An Interview with Dr Simon Frost Dr Simon Frost, Principal Academic in English at Bournemouth University and author of Reading, Wanting, and Broken Economics: A Twenty-First-Century Study of Readers and Bookshops in Southampton around 1900 (SUNY Press, 2021) part of SUNY, speaks with Dr Eben Muse (the Stephen Colclough Centre for the History and Culture of the Book) about […]

Feminist & Queer Bookshops – Community and Censure

Join Dr Kathy Liddle and Dr Sarah Pyke as they present their work on feminist and queer bookstores as places of contested cultural interactions. Kathy Liddle My presentation today will focus on two strands of my research on North American feminist bookstores. First, I will briefly discuss my published research on the role of feminist bookstores as what I […]

The Spaces of Bookselling with Kristen Highland

The talk delves into sidewalk bookselling in New York City as a space for negotiating cultural, social, and legal belonging. Despite municipal regulations, booksellers create inclusive spaces on these contested sidewalks. Kristen Highland, an Assistant Professor, discusses her research on book history and will be interviewed post-talk, followed by a Q&A session.

Booksellers and Bookstores in Mainland China: the Age of Common Prosperity

This talk explores the significance of books in Chinese society and their role in achieving common prosperity. It provides new insights into the relationship between government policies and the growth of physical bookstores in China. Simon Mahony discusses how official publications and government plans highlight the importance of literacy and culture.

The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century

Join Josh Cook, a bookseller and co-owner of Porter Square Books, as he discusses his new book "The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century." Cook, an author known for "An Exaggerated Murder," shares his literary journey and insights from his extensive experience in the book industry.

Conversation with Re-Imagining Bookstores

Join Praveen Madan, Peggy Holman, and Amanda Hall in discussing the Re-Imagining Bookstores movement, which advocates for bookstore support in the U.S. They envision new business models, community engagement, and sustainable practices to strengthen and reinvigorate bookstores, promoting literacy and civic engagement. Madan, Hall, and Holman bring extensive experience and innovative ideas to the cause.

Bookselling in India: The ‘Proper’ and the ‘Parallel’

The presenters retain copyright for all images in the presentation except those listed below. Images may be re-used with permission of the copyright holders, either Pritha Mukherjee or Kanupriya Dhingra. Slide 2: Photograph of the book launch of India Book Market Report, 2022. Image of Nielsen Bookscan India Book Market Report 2022 from “New report […]

Conversation with Mark Pearson of Libro.fm

Mark Pearson is the CEO and co-founder of Libro.fm, the digital audiobook platform for more than 2,600 independent bookshops around the world. Before that he was the publisher at Pear Press. You can learn more about Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/story and through our annual social purpose reports.

Publishing Your Friends: Interwar Booksellers and Their Literary Networks

Matthew Chambers, Author of London and the Modernist Bookshop (CUP 2020), will be discussing his work on the role of literary communities and networks in the growth of the bookshop. The event will be recorded. A “bookseller” could once describe a retailer, publisher, printer, or even binder, and while these roles were more definitively disambiguated […]

Lanora Jennings on The Bookseller Oral History Project

The Bookseller Oral History Project, initiated by Lanora Jennings in 2023, aims to preserve the voices and experiences of booksellers, highlighting their roles in supporting societal movements and balancing commercial and social profits. The project underscores the historical significance of bookstores as community hubs and platforms for resistance and progressive discourse.

Conversation with Evan Friss, Author of The Bookshop

Evan Friss's The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore is "an affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations." Matthew Chambers, author of London […]

In Conversation with Jane Cholmeley

In 1982, in the midst of Thatcherite-Britain, Jane Cholmeley, Sue Butterworth and Jane Anger decided they needed to open a feminist bookshop in London. The result was the Silver Moon Bookshop. For seventeen years, the Silver Moon survived commercially, selling books by women or about feminist concerns, and was able to serve as a safe […]