Events

Look out for our upcoming events! Social book club, fantasy book club, walk & talk book club, writing courses and clubs, and quiet reading nights as well as loads of 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!

 

BOOK CLUB - monthly; get in touch to sign up and get the book!

Each month we run a book club, bringing authors, writers, and translators along to join the discussion. To secure a place at an upcoming book club, and to get copies of the books to read ahead, please pop into the shop, message on Instagram, or email us at hello@collectedbooks.co.uk


APRIL BOOK CLUB - Angst by Helene Cixous with translator Sophie Lewis
Wednesday 22 April, 7.30pm
FREE! - but get in touch to sign up and grab a copy of the book to read ahead...

 Cixous is an iconic French feminist writer and theorist who in 1975 coined the term écriture féminine to describe a uniquely female style of writing. In Angst, a woman replays her abandonment by her mother, who is sometimes addressed as a male mother-god. She is also abandoned by her lover, to whom she is in thrall. She tries repeatedly to make or receive phone calls with the beloved figures, without success. She waits for their letters and imagines their contents. In a dream-like, torrid sequence, suffering, fear, fatigue and imperfection are apostrophised. Forgetting is examined and toyed with from every angle. Mythical hybrid creatures are invoked: a snake-headed lion, wolf-snakes, a wolf-peacock. How did this come to be?

In a cunningly, wittily wrought rush, the unique, unpredictable voice of the narrator speaks from multiple perspectives to express powerful anguish and, ultimately, catharsis.

Readers might also find this article of use and interest: The Laugh of the Medusa

Sophie's translations have been listed for numerous prizes, including the International Booker Prize, and April's book club is an incredible opportunity to engage with and explore a strong, challenging, but essential bit of writing that you might not otherwise read.
This event is supported by Institut français in the UK


UPCOMING BOOK CLUBS

MAY: Once the Deed is Done with author Rachel Seiffert - Wednesday 27 May, 7.30pm
Out now!
June TBC
JULY: Life Cycle of a Moth with author Rowe Irvin - Wednesday 15 July, 7.30pm
Paperback edition available from 4 June