The new novel from Polly Barton – writer, translator, festival collaborator, friend of the shop, Bristol resident, and all around good egg – is making its way out into the world on March 26th. It already has the distinction of being the only book read by all five of your humble booksellers here. My own brief report is below, but the understated headline is that we are keen.

We are delighted to say that we have secured an allocation of the limited special edition, which is available for pre-orders now via the link below. We expect these to go quickly.

We’re more than delighted to say that the acclaimed author and poet, Luke Kennard, is coming to the shop to discuss his dazzling new novel, Black Bag, with award-winning poet, author and performer, Bristol’s very own Stefan Mohamed.

Join Luke as he reveals all about this gloriously unfettered, riotus and heartening tale.

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“Such a smart and philosophical novel really has no business being this entertaining. Black Bag is hilarious, profound, tender and deranged.” Anna Metcalfe

“Black Bag is a masterpiece from one of the best writers at work today. In his endlessly quotable prose, Kennard explores modern masculinity with compassion and brutal honesty, warmth and despair.” Joe Dunthorne

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Luke Kennard is an award-winning poet and novelist; he also lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. In 2014 he was named one of the ‘Next Generation Poets’ by the Poetry Book Society in their once-per-decade list. Hie poetry and fiction have won or been nominated for numerous prizes including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Forward Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize.

Stefan Mohamed is an award-winning author, poet, performer and creative writing tutor based in Bristol. He is the author of five novels and four books of poetry, with a fifth forthcoming in 2026. He also DJs.

Tickets on sale for

International Booker Prize event in Bristol!

We’re thrilled to say that Translated By, Bristol – our collaboration with good friends Storysmith Books and the award-winning author and translator, Polly Barton – are joining forces once again with The International Booker Prize to host the prestigious award’s annual shortlist readings event in Bristol!

The event will take place at Bristol Beacon on May 15th and will feature readings and discussion from this year’s shortlisted authors and translators. The full line-up for the event will be confirmed after the shortlist has been announced on March 31st.

To whet your appetite, and to see who might be appearing at Bristol Beacon in May, take a look at the International Booker Prize longlist which was announced earlier today.

There is a good mix of different genres and subjects, a couple that I’ve read and loved myself, and plenty of books that would be well worth taking a chance on even at the cover price.

These will all be sold at 40% off, strictly while stocks last. If last year is anything to judge by, they will go quickly. They can be browsed in store or online, and can be ordered for collection or delivery. Follow the link below to peruse.

In the words of the novel’s publisher, Penguin imprint Hamish Hamilton: “It (Tarantula) is a novel about individual and collective inheritance, individual and collective violence; about memory, trauma, connection and estrangement… and how the past lives on in the present.”

We are very fortunate and honoured to be hosting Eduardo and Daniel for what will be an unforgettable occasion.

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‘Among [Halfon’s] preoccupations are the legacy of violence and mass murder in Europe and Latin America; the frequency and facility with which the past intrudes upon the present; the quixotic effort to separate family myth from historical fact; and the ways in which pleasure consoles us’ New York Review of Books

‘This novel about a violent and traumatic childhood episode is eerily current – the questions it raises about identity, resistance and history are both deeply personal and universal.’ Mariana Enriquez

‘This taut, magisterial novel explores the possibility of disentangling one’s trauma and one’s roots’ Le Monde Des Livres (France)

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Eduardo Halfon is the author of fifteen novels examining questions of identity, memory and history as a Jewish man, as a Guatemalan, as a descendant of European and Middle Eastern refugees, including The Polish Boxer, Mourning and Canción. He has received numerous awards around the world including the Prix Médicis Étranger, the Prix Roger Caillois and the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in France, the Premio de la Crítica and the Premio José María de Pereda in Spain, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and the International Latino Book Award in the US, and the National Prize in Literature of Guatemala, his country’s highest literary honour. Eduardo Halfon was named one of the thirty-nine most promising young Latin American writers by the Hay Festival in Bogotá and is a Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation. His work has been translated into sixteen languages.

Daniel Hahn is a translator, writer, and editor with almost ninety books to his name. His work has won the International Dublin Literary Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the Blue Peter Book Award, and has been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among others.

Photo credit: Eduardo Halfon by David Herranz