The Portobello Bookshop's 5th Birthday Party
Join us to celebrate 5 years of bookselling!
In conversation withT L Huchu, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Roxani Krystalli, Heather Parry, Mary Paulson-Ellis and Michael Pedersen
On:24th July 2024, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
![The Portobello Bookshop's 5th Birthday Party at The Portobello Bookshop](https://cdn.theportobellobookshop.com/img/event--595852.png?p=in-house)
We're going to be five years old!
We can't quite believe five years have come and gone in such a flash and that we've been selling books, hosting events and chatting with our lovely customers for over 1800 days. Since we opened we've lived and worked through lockdowns, building a book-loving community, and sharing a love for the written word on Portobello High Street. We're looking forward to a celebration and we'd love to invite you to join us!
On the day of our birthday, Wednesday 24th July, we've invited some good friends of the shop to say a few words on their love of books and bookshops, community, Portobello and the written word – and it's free to attend!
Join T. L. Huchu, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Roxani Krystalli, Heather Parry, Mary Paulson-Ellis and Michael Pedersen alongside our team for an evening of conversation and drinks afterwards.
We hope to see you there!
Please note that in-person tickets are limited as we only have 100 seats in the shop so if you sign up but are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else on the waitlist.
We couldn't do what we do without the love and support we receive from afar so there will also be a free livestream of this event.
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:
T L Huchu Chair
T.L. Huchu’s work has appeared in ‘Lightspeed’, ‘Interzone’, ‘Analog Science Fiction & Fact’, ‘The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021’, ‘Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’, ‘Mystery Weekly’, ‘The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016’, and elsewhere. He is the winner of an Alex Award (2022), the Children’s Africana Book Award (2021), a Nommo Award for African SFF (2022, 2017), and has been shortlisted for the Caine Prize (2014) and the Grand prix de l’Imaginaire (2019). “The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle”, the third instalment in his Edinburgh Nights fantasy series, was published in July 2023. Find him @TendaiHuchu
Nadine Aisha Jassat Chair
Nadine Aisha Jassat is an award-winning writer and author of poetry collection Let Me Tell You This, shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. Her writing has featured in numerous anthologies, including It’s Not About the Burqa (shortlisted for the Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award). She has taught and performed across the UK and internationally, and delivers creative projects which often focus on community and social justice. The Stories Grandma Forgot (And How I Found Them) is her debut novel for children.
Roxani Krystalli Chair
Roxani Krystalli is an academic at the University of St Andrews. The animating question of her work is an inquiry into how people imagine worlds in the wake of loss and which relations and practices sustain life. She is currently co-leading a research programme on the political role of love, care, and joy in remaking worlds after mass grief.
Heather Parry Chair
Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer and editor, originally from South Yorkshire. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and her first nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, was published in March 2024 as part of 404 Ink’s Inklings series.
Mary Paulson-Ellis Chair
Mary Paulson-Ellis is an award-winning novelist writing across the boundaries of crime, historical and literary fiction. Her debut, The Other Mrs Walker was a Times bestseller and Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Mary’s work has featured in the Guardian and on BBC Radio 4 and in 2019 Val McDermid named her one of ten exciting LGBTQ+ writers working today. In 2023 she was appointed Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow by Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature for work on a new book about the city. Emily Noble’s Disgrace is her third novel.
Michael Pedersen Chair
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet, scribbler, stitcher. He’s produced two acclaimed collections of poetry (Polygon Books) with a poetic prose debut, Boy Friends, published by Faber & Faber in July 2022. He won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, the John Mather’s Trust Rising Star of Literature Award, and was a finalist for the 2018 ‘Writer of the Year’ at The Herald Scottish Culture Awards. Pedersen also co-founded the literary collective Neu! Reekie!, and has 15 Christmas Jumpers: responsibly sourced and worn shamelessly from mid-October. His new collection, The Cat Prince & Other Poems, will be published in July 2023.
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.