We are thrilled to welcome Nicholas Royle back to Blackwell’s to discuss his latest book Finders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-Hand Books, in conversation with Matthew Adamson.

Doors: 6.30pm, Starts: 6.45pm

Tickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy of the book in advance.

About the Book:

The author collects books. He collects books that contain bookmarks in the form of maps – he will read the book while walking the streets depicted on the map, provided he doesn’t have to get on a plane to get there. He collects books given as Christmas presents. He collects books that have the same title as other books – he’ll read both books and compare them. He might wonder – he might even ask – which one has the greater claim on the title. He collects books that he finds with business cards in them – instead of reading the book, he sends it to the individual named on the business card and asks them to read it instead. He collects ex-library books. He collects free books. Well, he looks at the books that people leave out on their garden wall in the rain and photographs then and mostly leaves them where they are.

Finders, Keepers tells the stories that hide between the lines of the second-hand books that fill the shelves of charity shops and second-hand bookshops up and down the country.

About the Author:

Nicholas Royle is the author of two previous books-about-books, White Spines and Shadow Lines (both with Salt), as well as seven novels and six collections of short stories, most recently Paris Fantastique (Confingo). In 2009, he founded Nightjar Press, which publishes short stories in chapbook format.