BRN26: Registration
Come back to this page for more updates on the BRN 2026 Bookselling Conference!
BRN Bookselling Conference 2026: Spaces of Bookselling
“For such a space entails the unexpected. The specifically spatial within time-space is produced by that—sometimes happenstance, sometimes not—arrangement-in-relation-to-each-other that results from the multiplicity of trajectories. In spatial configurations, otherwise unconnected narratives may be brought into contact, or previously connected ones may be wrenched apart. There is always an element of ‘chaos.’ This is the chance of space.”
How Queer Bookshops Changed the World
With A. J. West, author of How Queer Bookshops Changed the World (Oneworld, 2026). A.J.West is a Sunday Times bestselling, multi-award-winning historical fiction novelist and historian. Prior to publication he was a breakfast host on BBC television news. He appears regularly...
From Market to Margin: The Growth of Queer Literature in the UK
Queer writing is no longer a niche but a significant cultural and economic force.
BA research into the Cultural and Community Value of Bookshops
It has long been the contention of the Booksellers Association (UK and Ireland) that its members – chains and indies – play an outsize role in enriching the cultural lives of their communities.
The British Book Trade and the Book War of 1906
With Dr Maria Vassilopoulos (University of Wales Press) Maria Vassilopoulos has worked as a bookseller, for The Bookseller magazine and in publishing sales for her whole career, spanning over twenty years. She currently works for University of Wales Press as Global...
BA Bookshop Mentoring Scheme with Creative Access
Throughout 2025, the Booksellers Association (BA) collaborated with Creative Access to deliver a mentoring programme designed to support young people seeking to enter—or advance within—the bookselling profession.
Literature for the People: How the Pioneering Macmillan Brothers built a Publishing Powerhouse
Sarah Harkness speaks on her recent book, "Literature for the People: How the Pioneering Macmillan Brothers built a Publishing Powerhouse"
StoryBrand, conversations with pioneering booksellers
As a form of qualitative research and learning, StoryBrand, conversations with pioneering booksellers is an hour-long conversation with people who have deep and diverse perspectives on the art and science of bookshop creation. Each vodcast focuses on a different aspect of...
The Cultural and Community Role of Scotland’s Bookshops
The Booksellers Association launched a new research report on ‘The Cultural and Community Role of Scotland’s Bookshops’ on 19th November, to coincide with Scottish Book Trust’s annual Book Week Scotland. The report spotlights the vital and growing role Scottish bookshops play as...
