This short post is not going to be about what happened one year ago, it’s going to be about what’s on tomorrow and next week: it’s Independent Bookshop Week! This year, it runs from 24 June to 1 July and about 400 bookshops on the British isles are participating.

“Independent Bookshop Week (24th June – 1st July 2017) is part of the Books Are My Bag campaign, and seeks to celebrate independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland.  We do this with events, celebrations, reading groups, storytelling, author signings, literary lunches and face painting!  Your local bookshop will have their own way of celebrating, and we encourage you to visit to celebrate with them.” (IBW website)

Bookshop Crawl

One of these events is the annual bookshop crawl at the start of  Independent Bookshop Week. Similar to what you do during pub crawls, you wander from indie bookshop to indie bookshop, discover (and buy!) books, chat with other ‘crawlers’, and have a good time.

Participating bookshops – i.e. those celebrating indies during IBW – can be found here: link. But I’m sure that all other independent bookshops will also be happy if bookshop crawlers pass by. If you can’t participate on site, you can still enjoy some impressions on twitter, instagram, facebook etc.: #bookshopcrawl

Independent Bookshop Week Book Awards

All must have prizes – and the IBW is no exception. Three prizes are awarded, one in each category: adults’, children’s and picture books. One of my current favourites, The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla (Unbound), was shortlisted in the first category. If you’re interested in the complete shortlists, here’s a link to the 2017 IBW awards & shortlists.

This years winner were just announced. They are:

• Adults: Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
• Children: A Poem for Every Night of the Year, edited by Allie Esiri (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• Picture Book Category: Tidy by Emily Gravett (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Enjoy this year’s Independent Bookshop Week – and support your local dealer!