Author: GRB

it’s just two weeks until we have the honour of hosting the great Spanish author and translator, Munir Hachemi. Munir will be discussing his wonderful novel, The Mulai, in conversation with the author, poet and creative writing teacher, Constantine Blintzios.

The novel’s publisher, one of our absolute favourite indie presses, Fitzcarraldo Editions, consider The Mulai to be their first science fiction publication which is adding to our excitement very much! The book, translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches, is many things: a deep examination of the fragility of civilisations, the ever evolving essence of language, the lure of religion, and much more besides.

The Mulai is the work of an extremely fertile and fascinating mind; just the kind of writer from whom we love to hear! There are a few tickets left for what will undoubtedly be a great evening.

An archaeologist travels to a distant planet to spend time among a mysterious community, a people who live in temperature-controlled domes, worship a deity called Dog, and repeat an elliptical phrase from which they draw their name: mulai, the tree comes. The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognizable.

Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi’s singularly playful and eclectic style.

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‘Wild, insightful and impressive.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A beguiling tale of Otherness that is not only a translation from another language but another planet, a story told so well that every familiar word feels as new as an alien horizon.’ — Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity

‘If Borges wrote hard science fiction, it might well look like this … You can almost feel the author grinning at you as you read, and I daresay you’ll end up grinning back by the end.’ — Drew Broussard, LitHub

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Munir Hachemi’s career as a writer began with them selling their stories in the form of fanzines in the bars of the Lavapiés neighbourhood of Madrid. They are the author of Living Things and The Mulai, and are also a translator from Chinese and English. In 2021, they appeared on Granta’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists list.

Constantine Blintzios is a writer, translator and academic whose debut novel, The Smoke is Me, Burning was published in 2022. He has had poetry, short stories and reviews published in journals such as Visual Verse, Ash magazine, Paris Lit-Up, the Oxonian Review and the Literary Review.

Photo of Munir Hachemi credit: Carlos Gil

it’s just under three weeks until our very special event with former Booker Prize winner Marlon James at Lantern Hall, when he will be discussing his 2026 Booker-longlisted novel, The Disappearers, with the wonderul Vanessa Kisuule.

Today is the novel’s official publication day, so to mark the occasion and just in case you need any more persuading to buy a ticket for the event before they all get snapped up, we thought we’d share some quotes from a few of the many amazing early reviews The Disappearers has received. And the best place to start is this stunning piece in The New York Times:

‘James has written a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.’ The New York Times

‘(An) exceptional and important novel.’ Financial Times

‘The most celebrated book of the year.’ Harper’s Bazaar

‘Melancholic and unyielding … The strength of the novel … is in its scope.’ Los Angeles Times

‘Captivating and epic … a gritty, powerful, and gripping read.’ Booklist

‘Breathtaking … ambitious and astonishing.’ Publishers Weekly

‘It’s a harrowing, hilarious, magnificent novel that will stand the test of time.’ Boston Globe

‘Even when it stress-tests your senses, this sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica is galvanizing.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘There’s no denying this is a monumental novel.’ Ron Charles

‘Epic’ NPR

We couldn’t be more excited about what will be an evening to remember with one of this century’s great writers! The book is also now in stock, so you can see for yourselves what has captivated readers so much.

Tickets for Marlon James in conversation with Vanessa Kisuule are available from Bristol Beacon’s website, here.

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it’s such a delight for us to be hosting the great Spanish author and translator, Munir Hachemi, next month. Munir will be discussing his wonderful novel, The Mulai, in conversation with the author, poet and creative writing teacher, Constantine Blintzios.

Set on an imagined,far off planet, The Mulai, translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches, is a deep, off-kilter examination of language and the fragile nature of civilisations. It is the work of an extremely fertile and fascinating mind; just the kind of writer from whom we love to hear!

An archaeologist travels to a distant planet to spend time among a mysterious community, a people who live in temperature-controlled domes, worship a deity called Dog, and repeat an elliptical phrase from which they draw their name: mulai, the tree comes. The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognizable.

Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi’s singularly playful and eclectic style.

A great evening is undoubtedly in store!

—

‘Wild, insightful and impressive.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A beguiling tale of Otherness that is not only a translation from another language but another planet, a story told so well that every familiar word feels as new as an alien horizon.’ — Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity

‘If Borges wrote hard science fiction, it might well look like this … You can almost feel the author grinning at you as you read, and I daresay you’ll end up grinning back by the end.’ — Drew Broussard, LitHub

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Munir Hachemi’s career as a writer began with them selling their stories in the form of fanzines in the bars of the Lavapiés neighbourhood of Madrid. They are the author of Living Things and The Mulai, and are also a translator from Chinese and English. In 2021, they appeared on Granta’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists list.

Constantine Blintzios is a writer, translator and academic whose debut novel, The Smoke is Me, Burning was published in 2022. He has had poetry, short stories and reviews published in journals such as Visual Verse, Ash magazine, Paris Lit-Up, the Oxonian Review and the Literary Review.

Photo of Munir Hachemi credit: Carlos Gil

we’re thrilled to be starting our autumn events programme by welcoming the brilliant Karishma Jobanputra to the shop in September. Karishma will be discussing her scintillating short story collection, The Body of the Thing, in conversation with award-winning poet and novelist, Nell Osborne.

One of 2026’s most anticipated debuts, the stories in The Body of the Thing, at their core, examine the myriad ways in which women negotiate all manner of body politics. Written with great wit and a fierce sensitivity, it’s a stunner of a first outing, making this is an event not to be missed!

A lyrical and visceral short story collection, The Body of the Thing unpicks the hierarchies that thrum under our relationships. Moving from bougie neighbourhoods in Manhattan to the sun-drenched piazzas of Italy, from coastal Maine to the bustle of London, these stories chase the fallout when women’s bodies are valued for their beauty and youth, dismissed and discarded when ill, or made useful as parents and caregivers. Fluid, sensual, and fearless, The Body of the Thing explores motherhood, body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and celebrates female desire in all its complicated wonder.

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‘Arresting, beautiful, humorous, observant, serious, all at the same time.’ Paul Beatty, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout

‘These stories are contemporary portraits of life across continents. Jobanputra’s careful prose depicts all the anxiety and claustrophobia of being alive. I can’t remember the last time I read a collection so compulsively.’ Sarvat Hasin, author of Strange Girls

‘Lyrical and specific, eloquent and real.’ Raffaela Barker author of Come and Tell Me Some Lies

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Karishma Jobanputra is a British-Indian writer currently based in London. A graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Fiction Programme, where she was awarded a partial merit scholarship, a Chair’s Fellowship, and the Dean’s Travel Grant, her work has been listed for the Brick Lane Short Story Prize and The Disquiet Literary Prize. The Body of the Thing is her debut publication.

Nell Osborne is a poet and novelist. Her poetry pamphlet, Thank You For Everything was published by Monitor Books in 2024, and her next pamphlet, Seances Near Me, is forthcoming from Spite Press in 2027. Her debut novel, Ghost Driver (Moist Books, 2025), jointly won the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize in 2026. Judge Marina Benjamin described the novel as ‘administrative noir in the orbit of body horror, as if Ottessa Moshfegh had written Severance.’

Photo of Karishma Jobanputra: credit Grace Shirley

we’re delighted to see that two of our event authors this year, Marlon James and Luke Kennard, have been longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize, the UK’s most prestigious literary award. Big congratulations to two outstanding writers!

We’ll be welcoming Marlon, already a previous Booker winner, on September 23rd when he’ll be discussing his 2026 Booker-longlisted novel, The Disappearers, at the Beacon’s Lantern Hall in conversation with the wonderful Vanessa Kisuule.

The novelfollows a hard-up actor as he lands the starring role in a university professor’s experiment. The role involves him sitting at the back of a series of lectures, zipped up and hidden away in an oversized bag. As the experiment progresses, the actor’s childhood friend and flatmate plots a very 2020s-style moneymaking opportunity, bringing chewy dilemmas about – amongst other things – masculinity, the economic model’s extremes and human interaction.