Collection: Events

Look out for our upcoming events - opportunities to hear writers talk about their work, buy signed copies, and meet fellow readers. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find details of ticketed events we have coming up!

INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP WEEK 2024 - bringing festival feels!

We've put together our own Collected Books Festival to celebrate this year's Independent Bookshop Week, 15-22 June! We'll be open as usual throughout the week, handing out High Five £5.00 National Book Tokens to the first 100 book buyers of the week, and bringing you a series of brilliant book events with amazing authors:

Lauren Elkin on her debut novel, Scaffolding

Edith Hall on Facing Down the Furies

Clare Finney on Hungry Heart

Amy Twigg on Spoilt Creatures

(event listings for ticket purchases are at the bottom of the page)

And then... BOOKS&BEATS is BACK!

Friday 21 June, late night shopping and live dj through to 10pm

BOOK CLUB - monthly on Wednesdays (usually!); get in touch to book your space

Each month we run a book club, bringing authors, writers, and translators along to join the discussion as often as possible. To buy book club books and secure your place, please pop into the shop or email us on hello@collectedbooks.co.uk

We'll be joined by Claire Gilbert to talk about her fictionalised autobiography of Julian of Norwich, I, Julian - a stunning retelling of the life of the first woman to write a book in the English language.

In 1347, the first pestilence rages across the land. The young Julian of Norwich encounters the strangeness of death: first her father, then later her husband and her child. When she falls ill herself, she encounters mystical visions that bring comfort and concern. But in the midst of suspicion and menace, when the Church is actively condemning heretics, Julian is not safe.

I, Julian is the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story.

Battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations, and compelled by her powerful visions, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church. Helped by Thomas, a Benedictine monk from Norwich Cathedral, she writers of what she has seen and offers word of counsel to others. Julian's manuscripts are protected by trusted sisters and are passed from hand to hand, become the first book to be written by a woman in English.

'So I will write in English, pressing new words from this beautiful plain language spoken by all. Not courtly French to introduce God politely. Not church Latin to construct arguments. English to show it as it is. Even though it is not safe to do so.'

Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'

FULLY BOOKED - but get in touch to be added to the waiting list. Books available to buy at the shop now!