Dear walking book clubbers,
I’m looking forward to writing to you next week with some thoughts and info about our May book, The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner. In the meantime, you’ll find links to book into our May walks and Zoom at the bottom of this email, and don’t forget that Helen Garner is in conversation with Rachel Cooke at Daunt Books Marylebone on 28th May (I still can’t believe my bad luck in being out of town that week!!!!!).
Now, I’d love to take this opportunity to share with you news of Bookbanks, a charity I’ve spent the last 18 months bringing to life, which is launching in June. I’ve also been asked by some of you to give a bit more notice before events I’m chairing so that you have more of a chance to come along and support (thank you!). So after the section on Bookbanks, you’ll find details of three talks I’m chairing in May and June. I’d love to see you there if you’re free.
Bookbanks
Bookbanks is a new charity that partners with food banks to create pop-up stalls of donated books, free for food bank guests to browse, borrow, or keep.
Crucially, these Bookbanks stalls are staffed by volunteers from the books industry, so they become places that spark conversation, develop literacy and create a bridge with the local arts community.
How exactly does this work?
During a food bank’s opening hours, Bookbanks creates a pop-up, eye-catching and welcoming stall of freely donated books and printed materials. The books are donated by individuals, organisations and food bank guests. To date, at our first Bookbanks site in North-East London, we’ve given out over 2,500 books.
Books are brilliant gateways into conversations, and a fantastic means of building up relationships and community (as you walking book clubbers well know!). The Bookbanks stalls aren’t just about giving away books, they’re about talking and listening too, which also has a great impact on mental health. When I carried out a survey, 100% of Bookbanks users agreed with the statement: ‘This bookbank has helped me to feel more positive about the future.’
I’m not doing this alone. My co-director is Hattie Garlick, a fantastic journalist and good old friend, and I’m lucky enough to have a brilliant board of highly skilled trustees. We’ve just recruited our first round of volunteers to help staff the Bookbanks stalls. All volunteers have professional experience in the books industry - so will be able to impart their passion and expertise to guests. Bookbanks volunteers are trained by us, and commit to one 2-hour session a month, for a minimum of six months. I’m grateful to the organisations that have helped us, offering books, advice and more. These include Daunt Books, The Owl Bookshop, The Stoke Newington Literary Festival, and Indie Novella Press. The novelist Andrew O’Hagan is our first Ambassador.
What are our plans?
We are officially launching in June. (Fanfare please!)
In June, our first batch of volunteers will be ready to help me staff our original Bookbanks site in North-East London.
June is also when we’ll be opening our second Bookbanks site, in South Norfolk, which comes with the support of the wonderful Book Hive bookshop and other Norfolk literary institutions.
Then, we are aiming to open our third Bookbanks site in the Autumn, partnering with the Hammersmith and Fulham food bank in South-West London. We are taking the first steps towards this, and working hard to raise funds for it.
After that, we’re looking at opening another site in Norfolk, and have had interest in expanding from various places throughout the UK, including Oxford, Cambridge and Hastings.
How can you help?
There are many ways that you can help to get Bookbanks off the ground.
Spread the word:
Could you forward this newsletter on to a few friends or colleagues?
Follow Bookbanks on Instagram (@bookbanksuk here), and share our posts with your followers
Mention Bookbanks to anyone who might be interested
Send some contacts the link to our website www.bookbanks.co.uk
Sign up to our (yet-to-be-written) newsletter at the footer of our website (here).
Work with us:
Would you like to volunteer to help staff a Bookbanks stall? You need to have had some professional experience in the book industry, and be able to commit to one 2-hour session (currently on Tuesday lunchtimes) per month, for a minimum of six months, plus an evening’s online training.
Would your company like to collaborate with Bookbanks? If you work for an organisation in the book industry, we’d love to develop a partnership.
Give your time in another way. As we grow there will inevitably be jobs that need doing - driving a car load of books from A to B, sourcing bookcases and signs for us, printing off a load of word searches for us (we also give out printed activities at the Bookbanks stalls), take some photos for us, advise us on what to do on Instagram!
I’m grateful for all offers of help - please reply to this email if any of these options are of interest.
Donate to us:
Books Thanks to some recent generous book donations we currently have more than enough for our two Bookbanks sites in London and Norfolk, and can’t accept more at present. This will change, so do feel free to get in touch with us at a later date if you’ve got books you’d like to give to Bookbanks. Please ensure they are in good condition. The exception at the moment is cookbooks - so if you have a load of high quality cookbooks that you’d like to give to us, please let me know.
Towards our launch We are going to have a small launch event to thank people who have helped us, share our Bookbanks guests’ stories and garner press interest. The Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town is generously donating their space and staff. Would you like to contribute towards wine or snacks? Could you cover some of the cost of printing a batch of Bookbanks bookmarks (£160)? Or how about helping us fund Bookbanks notebooks and pencils, which we will also give away on our stalls?
We are fundraising:
to open our next site in South-West London
to keep our two Bookbanks stalls running
to support our volunteers
to develop partnerships
to grow the reach of our charity.
Do you have any fundraising ideas? If you know of any grants or trusts that might be willing to help fund Boobanks, please let me know. And of course we’d be ever so grateful if you were to choose Bookbanks as a cause for a sponsored event or activity.
If you are able to donate any funds, big or small, they will be put to good use. You can do so HERE.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a bit about Bookbanks. Drop me a line if you’d like any more info. Thanks!
Other events with me & a dating site offer
I’m excited to be hosting three author events over the coming months. I’d love to see you there if you fancy coming along.
Wednesday 8th May, 6.30pm
With Catherine Chidgey on her brilliant new novel, The Axeman’s Carnival at the Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop in Notting Hill. Tickets HERE.
Thursday 16th May, 6.30pm
With Emma Tarlo about her astonishing non-fiction book Under the Hornbeams, about the author’s friendship with two rough sleepers in Regent’s Park. Tt the Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town. Tickets HERE.
Thursday 20th June, 6.30pm
With Henry Eliot, who writes very entertaining books about classics, including Eliot’s Book of Bookish Lists at The Gilded Acorn bookshop, in Holborn. Save the date, tickets coming soon.
Book Lovers
If any of you are hunting for a lover who is also a book lover, you may like to use the new dating website Book Lovers. Members of Emily’s Walking Book Club get 10% the signing up fee by using the code “EMILY”. Hope it’s fun - looking forward to hearing how you get on!
May
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
This exquisitely polished, slim, spare novel is about the Fox family - Dexter, Athena and their two children - fracturing on collision with Dexter’s ex Elizabeth, and her entourage (teenage sister, boyfriend of sorts, plus his daughter). Australian writer, Helen Garner, is especially skilful at capturing the complicated dynamics between her characters, and their shifting misconceptions of one another.
Why did I choose it? First published in 1984, The Children’s Bach has just been republished in the UK and US, along with two of Garner’s other books, Monkey Grip and This House of Grief; it’s the perfect moment to discover this too-long overlooked Australian author. I’ve had an eye on her work for a few years ‘now, and when a kind publicist sent me this beautiful new trio, I was blown away by The Children’s Bach and keen to help bring Garner to a wider audience. It seems I’m not the only fan - these three books are getting rave reviews, and publishers are scrambling to print enough copies, which so rarely happens with so-called ‘backlisted’ books.
Intrigued? Have a read of THIS New Yorker review by Ben Lerner. N.B. I can’t believe either that this is happening or that I will be away for it, but Helen Garner herself is talking at Daunt Books Marylebone on 28th May!! DO GO and please tell me all about it - tickets HERE.
In Regent’s Park: Friday 17th May, 12-1.45pm, setting off from Daunt Books, 84 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW, £8-15
On Hampstead Heath: Sunday 19th May, 11.30-1pm, setting off from Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB, £8-15
On Zoom: Monday 20th May, 8-9pm, £1-15
On Our Reading Radar: Friday 24th May, 1.30-2pm: Australia Join this month’s discussion thread to share your cultural highlights from the month, as well as your recommendations on the theme of AUSTRALIA - What other great Australian novels and films should we know about?
Buy The Children’s Bach from Daunt Books HERE and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
Happy reading,
Emily
Fantastic initiative! I have some cookbooks I'd be happy to donate.
Wonderful initiative !