8th May Newsletter
What’s On At Veranda
Welcome, welcome! May is well underway, and the team’s feeling reinvigorated by their Bank Holiday excursions. New books on the tables, in-store events underway, a new neighbour to befriend on Seymour Place, the energy feels good. Join us to browse, to get (or make) a recommendation; for an event, for a few minutes of peace and quiet in a comfy chair – look forward to seeing you soon.
Shop News
May events at the shop
Our new events season got underway on Thursday with an eye-opening exploration of Anger under the guidance of Jen Cox, a psychoanalyst, and Sam Parker, a journalist. With a diverse crowd including therapists, teachers, writers and a few plain old human beings, the unifying factor was the sense that anger is a prevalent emotion in the world just now, and one that we all need to understand, harness and even embrace. Sam, who wrote Good Anger, based largely on his own experiences, pointed out that while anxiety and depression have been destigmatised in recent years, anger still carries shame and can be damaging to individuals and society. Jen explores gendered anger in her writing and podcasting (check out Women Are Mad to find out more), and is working on new material – as the evening ended, we were left feeling that we’d only really scratched the surface of this fascinating, and timely, topic.
Mediterranean Month at Veranda
Maltese books in translation
- Praspar Press –We don’t know how she does it all, but powerhouse translator/writer/educator Jen Calleja founded this micro press with Kat Storace in 2020, to support contemporary Maltese literature both written in English and in translation. We love their series Scintillas, anthologies of bite-sized writing across poetry and prose and a great way to get a flavour of the island’s literature
- Foundry Editions – this charismatic indie publisher focuses entirely on work from the Mediterranean, and will be publishing their first Maltese book in June – You Know The Sun Bothers Me by Ryan Falzon (tr. Joe Gatt), which caused a sensation when it was published in Malta. Featuring a regular guy in his early 30s trying to get a grip on love, life and growing up in the “contradictory mind-blast that is Malta”.
Now Booking
An evening with Imani Thompson
Our Recommended Reads
How To Kill A Language by Sophia Smith Galer
In a Guardian article last year, Sophia Smith Galer addressed the “criminal” neglect of language learning in British schools. The piece struck a chord with Alison, who has been counting down to publication of this, Smith Galer’s second book – and would like to recommend it to you now. A richly-researched investigation into the mass extinction of languages, and of what we lose, beyond the words and grammar. Some languages die out naturally with the older generations of speakers. But some are the victims of ‘linguicide’ – languages killed by war, climate change, nationalism or neglect. The chapter on Ukrainian is especially eye-opening. An important book for our times.
Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
What we’re loving this week…
Be the first to hear
Sign up to the newsletter to get this delivered to your inbox weekly
