Events
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The Woolf of Regent Street
Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United KingdomSunday Sessions in The Heronry Join us on the first Sunday of the month in September, October and November to discuss Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and a A Room of One's Own. We will meet in the shop, 4.30-5.45 to discuss two of Woolf's novels and her argument about the barriers to women writing. Whether you have read them before or never read anything by Virginia Woolf, we are curious to hear your thoughts and share our experiences of reading her work. 6 September: Mrs Dalloway 4 October: To the Lighthouse 1 November: A Room of One's Own In order to sign up we ask that you buy the three books from us or a £30 Heron Books voucher. Spaces are limited and we ask that you only sign up if you can make all three discussions.
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Calculation Party
Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United KingdomIt's the eighteenth of November. You know what that means: it is still the eighteenth of November. It's been the eighteenth of November for a really, really long time. If you too are obsessed with Tara Selter, time and the unfolding of the best series since Ferrante's Neapolitan novels/Ali Smith's quintet/Eva Baltasar's triptych/The Sopranos/The Cornetto Trilogy/the end of the Roman Empire, please come to our party. You need to have read all five books. There will be spoilers. There will be discussion. There will be a drink or two. To sign up, please order book five from us and tell us you want to come. On the Calculation of Volume V is published on 5th November. Don't read the blurb if you haven't yet read books one through four yet. This is your warning notice to plan your reading accordingly . See you in, I do mean in, 18th November.
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The Poetry of Phoebe Giannisi
Wills Memorial Building Queens Road, Bristol, United KingdomHeron Books is delighted to support this event organised by the Institute of Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition: A Performance with Phoebe Giannisi and Poet-Translator Brian Sneeden.
A leading contemporary Greek poet, Phoebe Giannisi brings together poetry, performance, ecology, and antiquity in explorations of language, place, and the living world. Copies of her book, Goatsong, will be for sale on the night.
Phoebe Giannisi is the author of eight collections of poetry. A 2016 Humanities Fellow of Columbia University, Giannisi is a professor of architecture at the University of Thessaly, and co-editor of the literary journal frmk. She has translated Ancient Greek lyric poetry as well as the poetry of Barbara Koehler, Gregor Laschen, Jesper Svenbro and André Pieyre de Mandiargues. She lives in Volos, Greece.
Brian Sneeden is the author of Last City (Carnegie Mellon, 2018). His poetry and translations have received the Iowa Review Award in Poetry, an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship, the World Literature Today Translation Award for Poetry, the Constantinides Memorial Translation Prize, a PEN/Heim Translation Grant and other recognitions. He is a lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University.
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Brian Bilston: How To Lay An Egg with a Horse Inside
St George's, Bristol St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, United KingdomWe are very much looking forward to hosting a book stall and signing at St George's for an evening with Brian Bilston. Full details and tickets on their website.
With over 500,000 followers on social media and a host of sell-out shows across the country, Brian Bilston is one of the UK’s most popular poets.
He has published several bestselling collections of poetry, including You Took the Last Bus Home, Alexa, what is there to know about love? and Days Like These. His novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and he has also written collections of poetry for younger readers. In 2025 he released an album of his poetry set to music, Sounds Made by Humans, in collaboration with The Catenary Wires.
This autumn sees Brian return to the stage with his latest book, How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside. Get ready for an evening of comedy and laughter, as he takes us through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.
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Philosophy Salon: Free Speech under Fire
St George's, Bristol St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, United KingdomDoes free speech have limits? Can and should social media platforms control what their users say?
In his new book Setting Fire to Reason, philosopher Jeffrey Howard argues that free speech is among our most important moral rights, but—like all rights—it has limits, determined by moral duties we owe to each other. Howard will be unpicking the law, morality and limits of free speech with and host Julian Baggini and political theorist Judith Squires. In the second half, the conversation will be led by your questions. Come not only to hear about free speech, but to participate in it.
Jeffrey W. Howard is professor of political philosophy and public policy at University College London, where he is director of the Digital Speech Lab. He is the author of Setting Fire to Reason: The Ethics of Free Speech and co-editor of the journal Political Philosophy.
Judith Squires was Professor of Political Theory and Dean of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol before becoming its Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost. The New Politics of Gender Equality is among her many publications and commissioned reports.
Tickets from the St George's Bristol website: https://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/whats-on/philosophy-salon-free-speech-under-fire/
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Bristol Humanists: Mark Williamson on making life happier
Bristol Grain Store Bristol YHA, 14 Narrow Quay, BristolWe look forward to supporting this event organised by Bristol Humanists.
Full details to follow.
Dr Mark Williamson is co-founder and Director of Action for Happiness.
His book offers 23 practical ways to make life happier. It's based on evidence from the latest scientific research combined with unique insights from the author plus proven ideas that he has helped thousands of people to adopt successfully in their everyday lives. It goes much deeper than typical self-help advice, covering a wide range of themes which contribute to lifelong wellbeing.
