Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights

                                                                                                         Bath's most delightful independent bookshop

Home

 About us Online Shop What's new? Events Reading Spa Treatments Gifts & Vouchers Book Groups Newsletter New! Mr B's Blog of Bloggy Delights Contact  Vlashka's Vanity Page Bath's Independent Shops

 

 

 

 

          

 

           

 

 

Mr B's events by author

 

Carrie Etter/Richard Lambert/Emily Dening

Simon Callow

Edward Docx

Ismail Kadare

 

 

Mr B's Delightful Events Program

 

In an event-rich city, we wanted to add something a little extra by giving a proper focus to our events program. Responding to your requests for high quality literary events, thought-stimulating readings, a keen interest in other cultures and a less frantic pace of life, we have put together some groupings of events which we hope will continue to inspire and delight you.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr B's Events by Theme

 

Wednesday 11th June - 6.30pm at Mr B's - Tickets £3 (inc. wine & nibbles)

▲Back to top

Booker long-listed author Edward Docx

A young English author with a very bright future. Ed's first novel "The Calligrapher" set in modern day London received great critical acclaim and his most recent novel "Self-Help" was long-listed for the 2007 Booker Prize.

 

A cleverly structured novel centered around a Russian émigré family with many secrets and a dark, disturbed history. Masha Glover returns home from exile, where she dies suddenly and alone. Her twins, Gabriel and Isabella, must come together and confront the contorted legacy of the past in the shape of their estranged, malevolent father, Nicholas, and the pitiless stranger, Arkady Artamenkov.

To read more about Ed, he has a great website written by his sister, Charlotte! http://www.edwarddocx.com/index.htm

"Self-Help" comes into paperback in May.

 

Ed will be reading at Mr B's and answering questions. Vlashka will be asking about what it's like to be devilishly handsome and a great author.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 23rd May - 6.30pm at Mr B's - A Delightful evening of Poetry - Tickets £3 (includes wine and nibbles)

▲Back to top

Come and help us celebrate the release of three wonderful new collections by two local poets and a local publisher.

    

Carrie Etter is an American poet now living in Bath and is an associate lecturer at Bath Spa University and a tutor for The Poetry School. In the UK, her poems have appeared in, among others, The Liberal, Oasis, Poetry Review, PN Review, Shearsman, Stand, and TLS, while in the US she has been published in Aufgabe, Barrow Street, Columbia, Meridian, The New Republic, Seneca Review, and many other journals. She will be reading from her latest collection.

 

Emily Dening is an English poet, living in Cambridge. She has been widely published in poetry journals and in 2003 one of her poems, "Lifeline" was workshopped at the Aldeburgh Poetry Masterclass. "A Stash of Gin" is a striking first collection, published by local publisher Mainsail. "An unusual collection of poems, some that sear through you, others raising a wry smile. They are poems where you can relive your own experience, the good and bad brushes with life." Michael Bayley (Seam April 2008). Founded in 1991, Mainsail Press is a small press based in Bath and Cambridge. It has published "Shakespeare's Insults, Educating Your Wit" and brought back into print Francis Cornford's "Microcosmographia Academica".

 

Richard Lambert is an English poet who studied at Bath Spa University. He has published poems in Poetry Review, The Rialto, The Shop, and the Bloodaxe anthology, The Poetry Cure and has also had his plays read at the Bristol Old Vic and the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol. He will be reading from his first pamphlet "The Magnolia" which has just been published by The Rialto.

 

▲Back to top

For the moment there are no events listed under this theme. There will be soon though, so watch this space!

  ▲Back to top

Sunday 1st June - 6pm - Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Sq, Bath  - Tickets £5

Ismail Kadare

A rare major literary appearance by the world-renowned Albanian poet and novelist and winner of the Man International Booker Prize  - in conversation with his translator David Bellos

 

To celebrate the first ever English translation of his most powerful novel "The Siege" and to talk about his other great works including The Palace of Dreams, The Successor, Agamemnon's Daughter and Broken April.

 

Kadare's "The Siege" chronicles the bloody and complex struggle between the Ottoman Army and the inhabitants of a Christian Fortress in the mountains of Albania that ends in defeat and desolation for both sides. A long meditation on human relations, human folly, the ambiguities of power and the meaning of history.

 

The Successor is simultaneously a mystery novel and a historical novel based on the sudden, mysterious death of the man who had been handpicked to succeed the hated Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?

 

Agamemnon's Daughter is the prequel to The Successor, written in Albania and smuggled into France a few pages at a time in the 1980s. A psychologically incisive tale of a disappointed lover's odyssey through a single day, we are given a true sense of how hard it can be to remain human in a world ruled by fear.

 

▲Back to top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Friday 9th May

▲Back to top

Mr B's & The Little Theatre Cinema present

an afternoon double-bill with Simon Callow celebrating Orson Welles

 

12.30 - 1.30pm at Mr B's - Tickets £5 (including lunchie nibbles and wine)

Simon will give a reading and answer questions focusing on his acclaimed biography of Orson Welles.

 

2:30pm at The Little Theatre Cinema Tickets £6.20

Simon will introduce the classic Orson Welles film The Magnificent Ambersons.

 

TICKETS FOR BOTH EVENTS £10 (Concession and student prices available)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr B's Events by Date

▲Back to top

 
Thinkers & Makers
Friday 9th May

Mr B's & The Little Theatre Cinema present

an afternoon double-bill with Simon Callow celebrating Orson Welles

 

12.30 - 1.30pm at Mr B's - Tickets £5 (including lunchie nibbles and wine)

Simon will give a reading and answer questions focusing on his acclaimed biography of Orson Welles.

 

2:30pm at The Little Theatre Cinema Tickets £6.20

Simon will introduce the classic Orson Welles film The Magnificent Ambersons.

 

TICKETS FOR BOTH EVENTS £10 (Concession and student prices available)

 

 

 

 
Our Local Writers
Friday 23rd May - 6.30pm at Mr B's - A Delightful evening of Poetry - Tickets £3 (includes wine and nibbles)

▲Back to top

    

Carrie Etter is an American poet now living in Bath and is an associate lecturer at Bath Spa University and a tutor for The Poetry School. In the UK, her poems have appeared in, among others, The Liberal, Oasis, Poetry Review, PN Review, Shearsman, Stand, and TLS, while in the US she has been published in Aufgabe, Barrow Street, Columbia, Meridian, The New Republic, Seneca Review, and many other journals. She will be reading from her latest collection.

 

Emily Dening is an English poet, living in Cambridge. She has been widely published in poetry journals and in 2003 one of her poems, "Lifeline" was workshopped at the Aldeburgh Poetry Masterclass. "A Stash of Gin" is a striking first collection, published by local publisher Mainsail. "An unusual collection of poems, some that sear through you, others raising a wry smile. They are poems where you can relive your own experience, the good and bad brushes with life." Michael Bayley (Seam April 2008). Founded in 1991, Mainsail Press is a small press based in Bath and Cambridge. It has published "Shakespeare's Insults, Educating Your Wit" and brought back into print Francis Cornford's "Microcosmographia Academica".

 

Richard Lambert is an English poet who studied at Bath Spa University. He has published poems in Poetry Review, The Rialto, The Shop, and the Bloodaxe anthology, The Poetry Cure and has also had his plays read at the Bristol Old Vic and the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol. He will be reading from his first pamphlet "The Magnolia" which has just been published by The Rialto.

 
 
World Wide Words

Sunday 1st June - 6pm - Elwin Room, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Sq, Bath  - Tickets £5

Ismail Kadare

A rare major literary appearance by the world-renowned Albanian poet and novelist and winner of the Man International Booker Prize  - in conversation with his translator David Bellos

 

 

To celebrate the first ever English translation of his most powerful novel "The Siege" and to talk about his other great works including The Palace of Dreams, The Successor, Agamemnon's Daughter and Broken April.

 

Kadare's "The Siege" chronicles the bloody and complex struggle between the Ottoman Army and the inhabitants of a Christian Fortress in the mountains of Albania that ends in defeat and desolation for both sides. A long meditation on human relations, human folly, the ambiguities of power and the meaning of history.

 

The Successor is simultaneously a mystery novel and a historical novel based on the sudden, mysterious death of the man who had been handpicked to succeed the hated Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?

 

Agamemnon's Daughter is the prequel to The Successor, written in Albania and smuggled into France a few pages at a time in the 1980s. A psychologically incisive tale of a disappointed lover's odyssey through a single day, we are given a true sense of how hard it can be to remain human in a world ruled by fear.

 

 

 

 

▲Back to top
 
Rising Talents
Wednesday 11th June - 6.30pm at Mr B's - Tickets £3 (inc. wine & nibbles)

 

Booker long-listed author Edward Docx

 

A young English author with a very bright future. Ed's first novel "The Calligrapher" set in modern day London received great critical acclaim and his most recent novel "Self-Help" was long-listed for the 2007 Booker Prize.

 

A cleverly structured novel centered around a Russian émigré family with many secrets and a dark, disturbed history. Masha Glover returns home from exile, where she dies suddenly and alone. Her twins, Gabriel and Isabella, must come together and confront the contorted legacy of the past in the shape of their estranged, malevolent father, Nicholas, and the pitiless stranger, Arkady Artamenkov.

To read more about Ed, he has a great website written by his sister, Charlotte! http://www.edwarddocx.com/index.htm

"Self-Help" comes into paperback in May.

 

Ed will be reading at Mr B's and answering questions. Vlashka will be asking about what it's like to be devilishly handsome and a great author.

 

 

 

 

 

Past Events at Mr B's

Some highlights from past events at Mr B's

▲Back to top

 

October 2007

 

 

 We had a very busy events line-up for the early Autumn. First up was Booker-prize winner Yann Martel who drew a huge crowd to the Elwin Room at BRSLI as he came to introduce a lavish new special illustrated edition of his masterpiece "Life of Pi" and to answer many, many questions about his intriguing work -like, "what was with the meercats?".

 

We then launched local author Caroline Kington's second novel "A Summerstoke Affair" to a merry crowd as well as Kirsten Elliott's "Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Bath" along with her and Andrew Swift's "Somerset Pubs". We were also joined by Bath Spa Uni professor Tessa Hadley as she read from her latest novel "Master Bedroom" and then had a great time tasting cider and organic apples in celebration of Apple Day as Sue Clifford and Angela King discussed their gorgeous new book "The Apple Source Book".

 

 

 

 

September 2007

Professor A.C.Grayling - discussing his new book "Towards the Light" - September 2007

We hosted a large crowd to a fascinating talk in the Elwin Room at BRSLI on the story of the struggle to win the rights and freedoms we enjoy in the West and how relevant this is to today, when these are gradually being eroded in the face of the "war against terror" and the rise of fundamentalism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Twigger - Reading from his new travel book "Lost Oasis" - August 2007

Modern-day adventurer Robert Twigger laid down his snake catching kit to follow in the footsteps of seasoned explorers in search of lost oasis.

 

Patrick Gale - Introducing his new novel "Notes from An Exhibition" - Thursday 19th July 2007

Another packed house came to hear the enigmatic Patrick read from his new book.  

 

Caroline Carver - Launch of her latest thriller "Gone Without Trace" - Thursday 12th July 2007

We had people pouring out onto the street for the launch of Caroline's latest book. A great night and thanks to all who came along to celebrate.

 

Julia Hailes - New Green Consumer Guide - Thursday 21st June 2007

Julia gave us a very lively and informative talk on all things environmental, introducing us to her new book "The New Green Consumer Guide", fully updated and packed with useful tips and a great green reference for all. Mr B's was One Year Old on that day too and Blackstones baked us a heavenly "Green" cake (i.e. with peppermint icing!)

Click here to buy/see review

 

Matthew Kneale - When We Were Romans - Wednesday 6th June 2007

We were honoured to  have Matthew to give the first ever reading from his much anticipated new novel "When We Were Romans". He gave us an interesting insight into how he went about writing from the point of view of a 9 year old boy.

Click here to buy/see review

 

Maureen Freely - Enlightenment - Wednesday 18th April 2007

To another sell-out crowd, Maureen read to us from her new novel "Enlightenment", a fiercely intelligent, political thriller set in modern day Turkey, where no-one knows who to trust anymore. She also gave us an insight into life growing up in Turkey, her translations of works by Orhan Pamuk and on the current day political situation in Turkey.

 

Tom Hodgkinson - How to be Free - Thursday 15th February 2007

To a sell-out crowd, Tom gave an incredibly interesting talk on how to free ourselves from the shackles modern day life binds us in. Drawing on medieval thinkers, US beats, British punks and all manner of writers and thinkers, his approach of starting to control our own time and money in an over-consumer based society was refreshing stuff indeed. From learning to play the Ukulele, making your own bread, not signing up to direct debit and breaking free from supermarkets he is striking a chord with many and we were lucky indeed to have him come to our "proper" shop (his words, not ours!). Thank you Tom and to all - be idle and be free.

Click here to buy/see review

 

Kate Lee - Touch and feel Santa kids' event - Saturday 9th December 2006

Kate read from her very fun Christmas Santa touch and feel book and brought in some Christmas tree cards and lots of glittery bits for the kids to stick on. Great fun and a big hit with the kids.

 

Jeremy Seal - Reading from and discussing his book history/travelogue "Santa: A life" - Thursday 7th December 2006

Jeremy gave a very engaging introduction to his book on the history of Santa and all the traditions that surround one of the world's most famous icons - from his origins as a Byztantine monk to the present day big fat man in red who comes down the chimney bearing gifts, we found out everything from where the reindeer and sleigh came from and why he's dressed in red to how he links in with Father Christmas. Very entertaining and a great question and answer session too. Thanks Jeremy.

 

Seeing in the Ski Season - Launch of "The Art of Skiing" by Jenny de Gex - Thursday 23rd November 2006

This gorgeous coffee-table book celebrates the art of the vintage ski posters from 1870 to 1950s. The author Jenny de Gex, a local lady, came to sign copies and partake of the warming mulled wine and divine Austrian nibbles provided by Hansel & Gretel (on Margaret's Buildings). It was fun and festive and we managed to steam up our windows, such was the crowd!

 

      

 

Jeremy Bowen - Wednesday 15th November 2006

We were honoured to have Jeremy Bowen come to speak about his memoirs of life as a BBC war correspondent which he's written about in a new book "War Stories". He gave an extremely honest and open presentation to a packed room at the Guildhall followed by dozens of questions on everything from his favourite war-time movies to his opinions on the current situation in the Middle East.

 

Shakespeare, Gunpowder & Plot - Wednesday 1 November 2006

Authors Alice Hogge and Claire Asquith gave us an intriguing look behind the scenes of the gunpowder plot and at the hidden code and politics in Shakespeare. Extremely interesting and lively question and answer session. Perfect for a pre-Guy Fawkes night!

 

Afternoon Tea and Book Signing - Mr & Mrs Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen - Wednesday 18th October 2006

The perfectly-tailored gurus of style arrived looking immaculate to sign their book "A Pinch of Posh - A Beginner's Guide to Being Civilised". They were as charismatic as you'd expect and were, frankly, perfectly charming. Even the Mayor of Bath came along (as a big LLB fan!). A few signed copies still available at the shop but are going like gateaux chauds!  Call 01225 331155 to buy one or email books@mrbsemporium.com.

 

To see what the Bath Chronicle had to say, click here

Here are some shots of the event. For the very fabulous photo of Vlashka with the LLBs, click here.

 

   

    

     

 

Launch of Mr B's Booktastic Hour for Kids - Saturday 23rd September 2006

With the lovely Joanna Nadin - author of the fun and gory pirate adventure book "Jake Jellicoe and the Dread Pirate Redbeard". A fun reading, some colouring-in of pirate ships and treasure maps and then a great big lucky pirate dip into Mr B's bath! Of course Vlashka also got right into the spirit of things with her pirate bandana.

 

 

Miles Kington - 31st August 2006

Hot on his wife's tail, broadcaster and writer Miles Kington came to Mr B's on 31st August to give a hilarious talk on how not to believe anything you read in autobiographies! and introduced his book "Someone like me" newly out in paperback - a kind of spoof autobiography. Click here to buy his book/see a review.

 

Caroline Kington - 17th August 2006

Local author Caroline came in on 17th August to read from her great new debut novel "A Tangled Summer" and fielded an array of questions from readers. Click here to buy her book/see a review.

 

Christopher Wakling - 3rd August 2006

Crime writer Christopher Wakling graced Mr B's on 3rd August to read from his third novel "The Undertow". It went extremely well and he signed a bunch more books for us, so you can still buy signed copies in store or online (please specify you want a signed copy).

 

Official Launch - Kathy Lette

We were honoured to have the flamboyant and fabulous Kathy Lette officially open our shop on 1st July 2006 and sign copies of her latest novel "How to kill your husband (and other handy household hints)". She was a great hit and opened the shop in style!

You can see the article about the opening in the Bath Chronicle by clicking here.

 

Ó Mr B 's Emporium Limited    14-15 John Street, Bath, BA1 2JL  Open: Mon - Sat 9.30am - 6.30pm    ( 01225 33 11 55    Email: books@mrbsemporium.com