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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 13h

It’s Bookshop Day so here’s a poem in celebration of all those amazing bookshops out there.

Never Judge a Bookshop by its Cover

It may call itself a bookshop, but don’t be fooled by that.
There may be books in the window, on the tables and shelves,
but really, it’s a travel agent selling all-immersive holidays,
weekend breaks, first-class tickets to other worlds,

with a low carbon footprint. It’s a pharmacy as well,
dispensing medicines, pick-me-ups, balms: if symptoms persist,
please consult your local bookseller; it’s a tailor’s, offering
a made-to-measure service to achieve the perfect fit;

and a hardware store, with a range of empowering tools
to fix you up, recharge your batteries, switch on lightbulbs.
Its walls are lined with treasure as precious as any jeweller’s,
and twice as bright. Spines shine gold, silver, sapphire, emerald;

there are diamonds amongst them. It’s a garden centre,
a place where ideas get planted and a thousand stories bloom,
and a greengrocer, selling fresh, locally-sourced produce,
as vital as your five-a-day and more readily consumed.

It’s a multiscreen cinema. Peek behind the curtain
of each jacket and you’ll find a movie waiting silently to begin.
A stationer’s supplying notepads, reams of paper,
with the words conveniently filled in

to save you both the time and bother. A wholefood store
and a fast-food joint. A cosy haven from the cold.
A friendly, family restaurant: Today’s special will revive
a flagging spirit and restore a lagging soul.

It’s a tourist information centre equipped with maps
and helpful guides to steer us on our way.
A busy square in which a whole town gathers
or just a place to hold the world at bay

for a few untroubled stolen minutes. It’s itself,
and yet it’s something larger, a universe so vast
you could spend ten thousand lifetimes there –
it may call itself a bookshop, but don’t be fooled by that.

Brian Bilston

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The Society of Authors @societyofauthors.bsky.social · 11h

Today is Bookshop Day, a day to celebrate ALL bookshops on our high streets.

Bookshops are an integral part of an author's livelihood, and we celebrate all the talented booksellers who share their guidance and expertise.

Visit your local bookshop today and show them your support.

#bookshopday

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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 1d

Tomorrow!

Bookshop Day!

You know what to do!!

(Go to a bookshop…)

(Buy book…)

Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 3d

It’s bookshop day on 11th October. A day to celebrate your local bookshop.

You could even go totally bananas and buy my latest, Saltburn, which is about, after all, small businesses being assailed by big business. Well, that’s one thing it’s about…

booksaremybag.com/BookshopDay/...

The bookshop day poster. It asks you to choose bookshops:

Local jobs
Local economy
Local community
Real passion
Real people
Real conversations
Proper service
Perfect gifts
(and taxes paid!)

The cover of Saltburn. Candy stripes coming from a picture of a seal sitting under a beach umbrella.

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 1d

😍

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BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 1d

One of my publishers, as several other indies/small presses, recently went out of business. My memoir, linked to my recent PhD, will be republished by the Haywood Press arm of @renardpress.com next spring. New intro, cover, and textual links. Delighted. I LOVE working with them. #booksky 📚💙

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Alys Werewilfred Earl @alysdragon.bsky.social · 2d

Absolutely thrilled to find myself on the shortlist of @renardpress.com’s Interwoven Poetry competition.

Really looking forward to getting the anthology and reading the other poems on the list - please do support their crowdfunder if you can!

renardpress.com/interwoven-a...

Interwoven Anthology – Poetry Competition – Renard Press

Interwoven: Poetry Celebrating Connectedness Following the success of the New Beginnings project in 2021, the Spectrum project in 2022, the Kinship project in 2023 and Building Bridges in 2024, the In...

renardpress.com

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 2d

Some rather lovely #bookpost to start the day – welcoming this #modernist murder mystery to the Gertrude Stein collection.

One of her most avant-garde pieces, this is a brilliant snapshot of a summer spent in the French countryside, where all is not as it seems…

renardpress.com/books/blood-...

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 3d

Yes! We have a tweet to thank for the wonderful 🦭 ⛱️

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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 3d

My last two published books have been thanks to social media. Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel @beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social and Saltburn @renardpress.com

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 3d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 3d

In November the 2nd & final #curae anthology is published by @renardpress.com with all profits, as in 2023, to @carerstrust.bsky.social and Carers UK. Beyond? I’m establishing the Curae Foundation to offer a substantial scholarship for online creative writing study or research for an unpaid carer!

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 3d

🥁 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT 🥁

Delighted to say the Interwoven announcement is out! Such a pleasure to see such a depth of talent and experience on this list, and can’t wait for you all to meet the poems!

renardpress.com/interwoven-a...

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 3d

Ah, they are fab! Thanks so much for letting us know, and thanks to the fab @dauntbooks.bsky.social for hosting our pocket-sized classics! Viva indie bookshops!

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 6d

Gorgeous! Lovely to see this. Which Daunt? 🥰😍

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Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings @kaggsy59.bsky.social · 6d

Some lovely little @renardpress.com books spotted in the wild yesterday at the equally lovely @dauntbooks.bsky.social ! 😊📚💙

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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 6d

The writing life.

Nothing happens forever & then last week a new story published, Collateral, I did an interview (appearing soon) and 2 reviews for Saltburn. @renardpress.com

The latest below. Thanks @dlgladwin.bsky.social for this. It’s lovely.

David Gladwin @dlgladwin.bsky.social · 7d

A review for Drew.

@drewgum.bsky.social

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

David Gladwin's review of Saltburn

5/5: As the author points out at the start, this is not the actual Saltburn but a counterfactual, transmogrified version with features, like the nuclear power station, found elsewhere. And others, lik...

www.goodreads.com

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 10d

Delighted to wish @annmorgan.bsky.social a happy #publicationday!

A book about leaning into uncertainty to see the richness in lit from across the globe, in three slightly different covers, with a foreword by @lucycaldwell.bsky.social that will leave you beaming. 😁

renardpress.com/books/relear...

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Lawrence Moore @lawrencemoore.bsky.social · 14d

Here's my review of 'a quarter dead and half alive', the new poetry collection by @steverinod.bsky.social, out now with Renard Press.

Some purchase links:

UK amazon.co.uk/dp/1804471607
US amazon.com/dp/1804471607
CA amazon.ca/dp/1804471607
AU amazon.com.au/dp/1804471607

#poems #poetry #books

Steven Denehan’s new poetry collection, a quarter dead and half alive, is a triumphant return from a poet much admired for his gentle, poignant honesty and wry, self-effacing humour.
A deeply personal, yet highly relatable work, it draws heavily on Denehan’s own lived experiences as well as those of loved ones, most notably when talking about his daughter’s childhood and his father’s struggles with dementia.
Regardless of theme, the consistent clarity of his writing style serves as a welcome mat, inviting us to settle down and make ourselves comfortable within the lines.

‘the other one
is me’

Happy to be the butt of his own jokes, Denehan displays a complete absence of self-pride throughout, confessing to various dark thoughts and pessimisms, as if in hope of absolution from the reader.

‘I have gained on him
in the years since, while he
has moved further and further away’

a quarter dead and half alive assumes the peak of its powers when concerning those the writer holds dear. The emotional rawness in poems like ‘2013, Before Dementia’ is only made more palpable by the obvious tenderness with which it is laced.

‘her eyes, wet fireworks
add to the light
of a sun
that shines through her curls’

Nevertheless, Denehan’s glowing portrayals of an effervescent daughter’s childhood ensure it will not be rawness, but reverence and joy that remain with the reader long after the final page has been turned.

A quarter dead and half alive, a new poetry collection by Steve Denehan, published by Renard Press.

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Drew Gummerson @drewgum.bsky.social · 15d

Brilliant new review of Saltburn on GoodReads:

“I love what he represents - a regional, working class voice - that is only sporadically heard and rarely appreciated or encouraged by the UK publishing/literary world.”

@renardpress.com

renardpress.com/books/saltbu...

When I discovered that Drew Gummerson had another book published I wrote and posted the following:

'...could anything else provide more welcome news in 2025? - obviously we all know the big things one could wish for - the death of bogus billionaire presidents, justice in Gaza - I could go on and on - but in the absence of anything on that scale happening a new work from Drew Gummerson is the next best thing I could wish for. You are a fool if you don't go out and buy this book immediately.'

Now that I have read the book I wouldn't withdraw a single one of those words. 'Saltburn' is wonderful - and Drew Gummerson is a writer not simply of genius but the English writer who should have the success and recognition that Alan Hollinghurst has received and so little deserves. Maybe I love his writing because it is so English, and I am not English, but I love what he represents - a regional, working class voice - that is only sporadically heard and rarely appreciated or encouraged by the UK publishing/literary world.

Did I mention how funny this and all his books are? Well they are though again they are very English - I say that in praise and explanation - 'Saltburn' is very, very funny but also always verging on the farce of tragedy - two of the finest stories 'A Piece of Ass' and 'Sven goes to War' have endings that while apparently happy could also be read as tragic because 'Saltburn' is a cri de cœur against a world and circumstances that I believe Drew Gummerson hates and can't quite believe the England he grew up has turned into. Maybe I am seeking or finding my own beliefs in his writings but I don't think I am wrong. Gummerson loves ordinary people, respects them and their small lives and hopes and dreams. I love his beliefs and passion as revealed in these stories.

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 18d

🙌 Thank you for sharing! Hope you enjoy!

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Translating Women @translatingwomen.bsky.social · 18d

Came home to an exciting delivery... Can't wait to (re)read RELEARNING TO READ: ADVENTURES IN NOT-KNOWING, by @annmorgan.bsky.social
Congratulations Ann and @renardpress.com !

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 18d

Love that this ends with the groin quote 😂 Brilliant, thanks for sharing!

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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 18d

Just finished 'Never Laura' by Evgeniya Lyras, a boldly original work of speculative fiction.

My full review: bit.ly/46kof4x

@renardpress.com
#Booksky 💙📚
#Books 📚
#Literaturesky

"Never Laura" by Ewgeniya Lyras

An extraordinarily creative and original cyberpunk novel set in a dystopian world of artificial intelligence, human enhancement and hallucin...

bit.ly

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Disrupted Blue Indie Press Publicity @disruptedblue.bsky.social · 18d

That’s a wrap! @mayeroflondon.bsky.social’s Scottish Time/Life @renardpress.com mini-tour is complete! Book signing @ Waterstones Glasgow & Uni of Glasgow’s Creative Conversations in convo w/Nicky Melville. Edinburgh leg: @typewronger.bsky.social chatting & time-travelling w/wonderful Joanna Baker…

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 18d

To celebrate the publication of John Greening’s A High Calling, we’re delighted to be hosting an evening of poetry, John Greening & Friends, this evening at 6pm. Free and promises to be great fun! With Stuart Henson, Hilary Davies, Penelope Shuttle & Dana Gioia

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/john-green...

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Renard Press @renardpress.com · 18d

For this month’s #ShufflingtheShelves feature @ewgeniyalyras.bsky.social & @iainhoodwriter.bsky.social got together to talk about Lyras’ novel Never Laura…

Watch the full interview on YouTubeTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxsF...

read on and buy the book at renardpress.com/news-item/never-laura

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