The BRN's first themed event featured presentations from Dr. Will Smith and Professor Simon Eliot. Dr. Smith discussed the multi-generational history of Sam Read Booksellers, emphasizing oral histories and archival research. Professor Eliot highlighted the value of "unwitting testimony" in archives, using examples like public library catalogues and publisher correspondence to reveal hidden insights.
The second themed Bookselling Research Network event featured a round table discussing bookstores' financial and social dimensions. Three presentations explored the complexity of book retail (Dr. Simon Frost), bookstores as cultural and entrepreneurial nodes (Prof. Corinna Norrick-Rühl), and factors like community and curation explaining the resurgence of independent bookstores (Dr. Ryan Raffaelli).
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 […]
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 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.
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.
