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The full line-up for Independent Bookshop Week 2023 (IBW) has been unveiled by the Booksellers Association (BA), with the likes of Ann Cleeves, AJ Pearce, Danielle Brown, poet laureate Simon Armitage and Pat Nevin among the authors getting involved.
Now in its 17th year, the annual celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland, will take place between 17th and 24th June 2023 and see a number of events take place, from discussions to open mic nights featuring Rebecca Smith, who will be doing an online event to discuss her new memoir Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside (William Collins), for example, with Will Smith, a bookseller at Sam Read in Grasmere and Reverend Richard Coles, who will be visiting Lingham’s Bookshop in the Wirral.
Other authors taking part in events across the country are Ben Kane, David Walliams and Rose Wilding, among many others. Indie presses David Fickling Books, And Other Stories and Arachne Books will also be twinning with independent bookshops as part of the week’s events.
Brixton Bookshop Round Table Books will be twinning with Arachne Press and hosting four free events at the bookshop during IBW. Norfolk Children’s Book Centre will be twinning with David Fickling Books for a visual comic book takeover of the store featuring display materials, a treasure hunt, colouring activities, competitions and the launch of “Design your own comic”, and And Other Stories is joining forces with a number of indie bookshops including Dormouse Books, Juno Books and Phlox Books.
A bespoke Independent Bookshop Week poem has also been written by Dean Atta, poet and the award-winning author of The Black Flamingo (Hodder Children’s Books), to support the campaign, titled "Thank You to the Independent Booksellers". The poem was filmed in Atta’s local indie bookshop Gay’s the Word (London) and will be shared on Books Are My Bag’s social media at 6 p.m. on Wednesday 21st June.
The #IndieBookshopWeek #BookTok Tour also returns to Independent Bookshop Week 2023 for the second time, with BookTokkers joining the celebrations from Coventry, Manchester, Kirkcaldy, Prudhoe, Lincoln, Bridgend, Watford and Norwich. They will be visiting their local indies and sharing content about the Indie Book Awards.
Emma Bradshaw, head of campaigns at the BA, said: “We’re delighted to have so many incredible events confirmed for Independent Bookshop Week 2023, with many more in the pipeline. With the number of UK independent bookshops at a 10-year high, we are looking forward to celebrating this milestone, and no doubt independent booksellers will know how to make the week extra special. There will be something for everyone, so we encourage all book-lovers to make the most of this week that brings the wonderful indies together”. More information can be found here.