Freewheeling with Xani Byrne & Yara Rodrigues Fowler
Essays on Cycling - An Independent Bookshop Week Event
WithXani Byrne and Yara Rodrigues Fowler
On:18th June 2025, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Attendance options:
We're delighted to be twinning with Daunt Books Publishing for Independent Bookshop Week and as part of our celebrations, we're excited to be hosting an event for Freewheeling: Essays on Cycling with two of its contributing writers, Xani Byrne and Yara Rodrigues Fowler. They'll be discussing their joint essay and its Portobello connection, as well as how it fits into the anthology as a whole.
Freewheeling is the latest Daunt Books Publishing anthology, following on from At the Pond, In the Kitchen, In the Garden (which we hosted an online event for back in 2021), Dog Hearted and By the River.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of Freewheeling – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on our website against a single copy of Freewheeling.
About Freewheeling: Essays on Cycling:
Cycling? It’s one of my life’s constants, it feeds my need for beauty, for delight and for aimless exploring. It makes my body hum and brings me safely back to the present . . . I hope to continue pedalling, nice and slowly, for the rest of my life, with the same curiosity that ignited my childhood.
In these essays twelve writers consider the joys of cycling, whether in a city late at night, or along country lanes on a summer’s day. Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Xani Byrne write a moving essay on coming to terms with loss through tandem biking, Jon McGregor reminisces on the significance of cycling to Dunwich Beach throughout his life, Annie Lord sings the praises on cycling home on Lime Bikes from parties and the late Dervla Murphy regales us with stories of her cycle to India on her bike, named Roz.
These essays are a celebration of life on two wheels, touching on the joy, exhilaration and serenity to be found while cycling, and how bikes become an extension of ourselves, a type of armour, and a metaphor for life.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Xani Byrne Author
Xani Byrne is a cyclist from Edinburgh. He is an Educational Psychologist and Trainee Clinical Psychologist working in the NHS. Xani's 'Tandem Against Suicide' project received a Prime Minister's Points of Light award in 2023 for a fundraising cycle around the coast of Great Britain with families bereaved by suicide.
Yara Rodrigues Fowler Author
Yara Rodrigues Fowler is from South London. Her first novel, Stubborn Archivist, was published in 2019 and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, and Yara was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2029. Yara's second novel, there are more things, was published in 2022 and nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and Goldsmiths Prize. It was one of the Sunday Times, BBC Culture and New Statesman's books of the year. In 2023, Yara was chosen as one of Granta's 'Best Young British Novelists' in their once-a-decade list.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.